Petroleum Industry Fired Heaters, Boilers, and Burners Combustion Expert

Technical Consultant #2360

Refinery fired heaters performance and reliability improvements.
Industrial water tube boilers performance and reliability improvements.
Fired heaters and boilers performance evaluations and troubleshooting.
Assessment of firing equipment capacity limitations.
Development of performance follow-up programs and procedures for firing equipment.
Burner test witness and burner retrofitting and selection.
Management of downstream combustion and energy efficiency projects.
Assistance to company management in combustion engineering services team building.
Combustion classroom and on-site training for engineers and plant operators.

Undisclosed Company, Specialist, Operational Combustion Consultancy, 1994 - Present

Company currently established as a well-respected reference within the local oil and gas downstream community in the provision of operational consultancy combustion services.
Lead combustion consulting activities since company foundation. Participated in fired heater and boiler operational assessments and performance improvement activities in most local crude oil refineries and upgraders.
Assessments of crude and vacuum distillation units, delayed coking units, hydro processing fired heaters, methane steam reformers, sulfur recovery furnace-reactors and refinery steam boilers.
Unit thermal evaluations; mass and energy balances; steam boiler combustion tune-up; plant shutdown planning; periodical report writing and overall technical support.
Unit performance follow up, operational diagnosis and troubleshooting, examination of heater tube thermal infrared analyses (TIR) and technical expert support during on line spalling and turnarounds.

GSE Systems, Sykesville, MD, USA, Training Advisor for Latin America, 2011 - 2015

As independent consultant provided sales and technical support to EnVision e-learning solutions, coordinated contacts and conducted sales meetings with potential clients in Colombia, Mexico and Brazil.

Zilkha Biomass Energy, Houston, TX, USA, Latin American Consultant, 2012 - 2015

Provided sales and technical support to the Business Development unit, coordinated contacts and conducted sales meetings with potential clients in Peru, Chile and Argentina.

Undisclosed Company, Caracas, Venezuela, Combustion Specialist, 1982 - 1994

Worked in Research and Development, and operational consultancy activities for a major oil and gas company, managed the Combustion Section and was responsible for providing technical assistance to operating affiliates.
Conducting combustion research activities, including participation in the development of Orimulsion®, a heavy oil-in-water emulsion, introduced and successfully commercialized as a new boiler fuel in the late 80s.

Universidad Simon Bolivar, Caracas, Venezuela, Assistant Lecturer, 1977 - 1982

Worked as Assistant Lecturer at Process and Systems Department
Course Lectures on Chemical Reactors; Chemical Reactors Lab; Mass Transfer; and Coal Technology.

Credentials

Certifications and Technical Courses

Homogeneous Catalysis, Principles and Applications
Coal Preparation, College for Mineral Resources, West Virginia University
Applied Combustion Technology, Center for Professional Advancement
Industrial Safety, Intevep, Los Teques
Managerial Grid, Essain, Caraballeda
Project Management, Harold Kerzner, Caracas
Combustion of Solid Fuels, International Flame Research Foundation, Netherlands
Project Planning and Execution I, Stanford Research Institute - Intevep, Caraballeda
The Future for Coal in Power Generation, College for Petroleum and Energy Studies, Oxford
Development of Supervising Skills, Intevep, Caracas
Effective Work Delegation, Forja, Los Teques
Project Planning and Execution II, Intevep, Sartenejas
Flare Technology Course, NAO, Inc. (Philadelphia, U,S, and Caracas

Languages

Publications and Patents

Author-Co Author of over two dozen publications in peer reviewed journals, articles, domestic and international conference resources
Holding 7 U.S. patents.

M.Sc. Advanced Chemical Engineering, University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST), Manchester, U.K.
B. S. Chemistry (Technology), Simon Bolivar University, Caracas, Venezuela