Foreground life-cycle inventories · batch chemical processes

From the lab recipeto a traceable inventory.

EnerFlox is a desktop workspace that turns a chemical synthesis into a process-level inventory of materials, energy and greenhouse gases. Every constant carries a source, every energy duty carries an uncertainty, and the review checks say what is missing before anything is exported to openLCA.

Download for macOS or Windows Read the methods

Download

Ready-made apps, version 0.1.0

Unzip and run. Project data stay on your machine as JSON files; nothing leaves the computer except the lookups you trigger yourself. A first start opens on worked examples, including the aspirin demo.

macOS

Apple silicon · .app

Unzip and move EnerFlox.app to Applications. The app is not signed: the first time, right-click it and choose Open.

Download EnerFlox-macOS.zip

Built with PyInstaller on GitHub Actions · latest release

Windows

64-bit · .exe

Unzip and run EnerFlox.exe. SmartScreen will warn once: choose "More info" then "Run anyway".

Download EnerFlox-Windows.zip

Built with PyInstaller on GitHub Actions · latest release

Run from the source instead. With Python 3.12 or 3.13 installed, double-click Launch_EnerFlox.command on macOS and Linux, or Launch_EnerFlox.bat on Windows. The first run creates a virtual environment and installs the dependencies; later runs start at once. Or by hand:
git clone https://github.com/jakxsor/EnerFlox-Tool.git
cd EnerFlox-Tool
python3 -m venv .venv
./.venv/bin/python -m pip install -r requirements-docker.txt
./.venv/bin/python main.py

All releases, with checksums and change notes, are on the GitHub Releases page.

What it does

One auditable interface from process map to export

Process map

Hierarchical step trees drawn as a material flow map, with a Material view (MFA-style flows, origins, external feeds) and an Energy view (Sankey-style, with utilities, carriers and electricity lanes).

Step inventories

Input, output and waste rows per step, linked to upstream outputs or external feeds, so provenance and the step mass balance can be inspected where they are entered.

Energy duties

Heating, cooling, mixing, pumping, filtration, crystallization, drying, evaporation and HVAC, from shortcut engineering models. Each duty shows the equation and the inputs it came from.

Reusable setups

Boilers, chillers, cooling towers, agitators, pumps and separation equipment saved once in a machine library and reused across steps, so technology assumptions stay consistent.

Heat recovery

A step's heat can cover part of another step's demand. Flue-gas recovery on boilers (economizer, air preheater, condensing) is credited through the boiler efficiency, down to the dew-point limits.

Facility overheads

Room HVAC from ERA5 climate bins and room presets, offices and support areas from national benchmarks, equipment cleaning between batches, and a 3D plant layout that sizes equipment from the recorded volumes.

693constants

Every module-level modelling constant is audited against its source. None is unsourced; eleven are declared author-selected and listed as open gaps.

3exports

A PDF report for review, an Excel workbook for editing, and an openLCA package for impact assessment.

per batch · per kg · per year

Three reporting bases, with scope 1 and scope 2 greenhouse gases and a Monte Carlo on the pedigree-derived uncertainties.

Workflow

Seven steps, in the order the tool expects them

  1. Build the map

    Create the process and its step tree on the flow map.

  2. Enter the rows

    Inputs, outputs and wastes of each step, linked upstream or to external feeds.

  3. Assign operations

    A primary operation per important step, so the tool suggests the duties and streams usually missing.

  4. Add duties

    Energy duties only where needed, from a saved setup or a new one.

  5. Link recovery

    Heat-recovery pairs, then check the Energy view and Energy Insights.

  6. Clear the checks

    The Step Inspector lists what is still missing for a complete inventory.

  7. Export

    PDF for review, Excel for editing, openLCA for impact assessment.

Methods and documentation

Sourced, reproducible, and written down

EnerFlox is built for early-stage assessment, where process simulation data are unavailable but the foreground inventory still has to be transparent and defensible. The methods are documented to the table, equation or page each number comes from.

Methods reportSystem boundary, facility HVAC, site overheads, equipment cleaning, greenhouse-gas accounting and uncertainty, with worked examples. Aspirin batch demoThe bundled worked example, step by step, from the acetylation to the dried product. Constants auditEvery modelling constant with its role and the source written next to it, regenerated at each commit. ArchitectureHow the UI, the systems models, the stored data and the exports fit together. README and quick startInstallation, reliability level, data sources and the development workflow. ChangelogWhat changed in each release. Below version 1.0 the stored project format may still change.

Cite

Citing EnerFlox

Until the software paper is published, cite the tool and its version. A DOI for each release will be listed here.

Sorani, J. (2026). EnerFlox: a foreground life-cycle inventory and process-energy tool for batch chemical processes (version 0.1.0) [Computer software]. Technology and Society Laboratory, Empa, St. Gallen. https://github.com/jakxsor/EnerFlox-Tool

Methodological basis: Majó, M., Sorani, J., Nowack, B., Hischier, R. Generalized Scale-Up Methodology for Chemicals and Materials in Prospective LCA (in preparation).