Petrochemical Process Engineering, Refinery Operations and Fluid Catalytic Cracking Consultant

Expertise

• Process engineering and design experience integrating other disciplines including instrument, electrical and mechanical design in the petrochemical industries.
• Fluent with Aspen process flow sheeting software and good working knowledge of Aspen HYSYS.
• Process operations and troubleshooting, hands-on console and outside operator experience.
• Operator training.
• Project economic analysis.
• OSHA 1910 compliance.
• TCEQ and USEPA compliance and permitting processes.
• Working in diverse operations, process engineering and project development creating superior value for the client.
• Process hazards analysis-(HAZOPS).
• Universal oil products facilities design and start up.
• Fluid catalytic cracking front end processing, plant renovation, and optimize catalyst formulations.

Experience

Undisclosed Company, Senior Advisor, Present

Koch Refining Company, (Koch Petroleum Group/Flint Hills) Consultant and Advisor, 1979 - 2015

Process Engineering Advisor, Corpus Christi, TX Refinery

• Drove initiation of a study and led initial work to maximize value obtained from the naphtha portion of the crude mix.
• The major opportunity involving consideration of two process technologies that have been commercialized in the petroleum refining industry, but not fully utilized.
• The study identified a projected large profit potential.
• Lead process engineer on two large revamp projects to increase the refinery's ability to run an alternative crude mix.
• The initial phase of this work involved working with a consulting engineering contractor and Koch's internal business development team to establish a basis for ensuing process design work.
• Oversaw the process design work performed by a major engineering, procurement and construction contractor.

Responsibilities

• Establishing the constraints and desired flexibility for the design.
• Optimizing the design for improved yields and energy conservation.
• Leading the way to resolve issues that could impact reliability and life cycle costs.
• Reviewing the contractor work products including, process flow diagrams, heat and material balances, equipment data sheets and piping and material diagrams
• Participating in process hazards analysis from informal to formal (HAZOPS).
• Lead process engineer on a successful project to implement Belco LoTOxtm technology to control NOx emissions on one of FCC units.

Universal Oil Products Project

Lead for the UOP, Jacobs Engineering Group, Baker-Risk and local refinery operations to develop the scope, justify, design, and successfully start-up a project to significantly reduce the probability and impact of an accidental acid release from the alkylation unit.

• The results of this project: 50% reduction in acid inventory, elimination of two large acid circulation pumps, installation of a rapid dump system using equipment idled by the inventory reduction, installation of state-of-the art emergency isolation valves, and unit positioning for future installation of vapor pressure suppression technology.

Various Project Work

• Provided process engineering support and was a significant contributor to the technology selection team to revamp seventeen process heaters with Ultra Low NOx Burners. All of these projects have started up successfully.
• Provided front end process engineering support and technology selection for installation of a selective non-catalytic NOx reduction project on the CO boiler of one of the refinery's FCC units.
• Provided front end process engineering support of a project to build a new coke drum structure to replace existing drums on coker unit.
• Acted as technical consultant for the FCC consent decree NOx and SOx compliance work and as the lead representative for FHR on the joint EPA/industry FCC consenters technical team.

Capital Projects, Process Engineering and Scoping

• Gasoline blender debottlenecking
• FCC main column tray replacement
• FCC debutanizer reboiler heat medium switch
• Waste water plant H2S scrubbers
• Hydrocracker jet to ULSD blending system
• Power boiler replacement project
• City and utility water segregation for both East and West refinery sites
• Analyzing repair versus re-place options for FCC reactor cyclones and developing an economic justification package.

Fluid Catalytic Cracking Project (Koch Technology Group)
Technical Specialist, 1996 - 2000

• Justified and provided front end process engineering support to update the feed nozzle technology on one of the Corpus Christi refinery's FCC units with licensed technology. This renovation significantly improved profitability.
• Worked with the incumbent catalyst supplier to optimize catalyst formulations in the Corpus Christi and Pine Bend refinery FCC units that had a strong impact on refinery profitability.
• Justified and provided front end process engineering support to implement licensed short contact time technology on one of the Corpus Christi refinery's FCC units. This revamp significantly improved profitability.
• Justified and implemented a kinetic model for optimization of the refinery's FCC unit's.
• Improved FCC unit linear programming LP modeling vectors through modeling and plant performing testing.

Senior Process Engineer, Corpus Christi Refinery, 1994 - 1995

• Negotiated the license and process guarantee agreements with a leading technology company to implement updated feed injection technology and short contact time technology on one of the Corpus Christi refinery's FCC units.
• Justified and provided front end process engineering support to implement the updated feed injection technology.
• Revamp reduced low valued dry gas production by about 1 wt% and increased unit profitability by over $1/bbl. Co-authored a paper on the project with the process licensor and presented the paper at the NPRA annual meeting.
• Acted as the process engineering lead for performing due diligence on the acquisition of what is now the FHR Corpus Christi East plant from Kerr-McGee.

Process Engineering Account Manager - Pine Bend Refinery, 1993 - 1994

• Managed a group of 6 process engineers providing technical service and small capital project improvements to two of the six business team units in the refinery.
• Outside and console operator for the sulfuric acid alkylation unit during a strike.

Process Engineering Manager - Pine Bend Refinery, 1988 - 1993

• Managed a group of up to 30 process engineers providing technical service and process engineering support for small and large capital projects.
• Large capital projects included: new distillate desulfurizer, new naphtha desulfurizer, hydrogen plant, SRU/Amine/SWS and Reactor and feed/effluent exchanger replacement for Gas Oil hydrotreater

Assistant Operations Manager - Pine Bend Refinery, 1981 - 1988

• Responsible for day-to-day process operations in one-third to one-half of the refinery. This experience included significant trouble-shooting of operational problems.
• Filled in for the operations manager during absence.
• Operations lead responsible for operator training, start-up and debugging of three new grass roots units: 20 mbpd coker, C5/C6 Penex unit, and Cryogenic turbo-expander plant for liquids recovery from FCC fuel gas.
• Provided operations design input and was responsible for start-up of many small revamp projects.

Process Engineer Pine Bend Refinery, 1979 - 1981

• Responsible for technical service support and small capital project development, justification and design on the Crude-Vacuum units.
• Outside operator on the crude and vacuum units during a strike.

The Standard Oil Company(SOHIO), 1974 - 1979

FCC Technical Specialist/Senior Process Engineer/Operations Staff Engineer

• Outside operator on an FCC vapor recovery unit during strike.
• FCC catalyst recommendations, start-up support and troubleshooting.
• Process troubleshooting.
• Participated in energy conservation studies.
• Prepared AFE's for submission to top management.
• Technical support for industrial revenue bond financing.

Honors & Publications

Credentials

• HAZOPS.
• Compliance: OSHA 1910, TCEQ and USEPA compliance and permitting
• Microsoft Office products.

Publications and Patents

• Co-Author (paper) for low valued dry gas presented to NPRA

Education

• BSChE Chemical Engineering, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI