Unit Operations and Engineering Specialties

COMBUSTION

  • Refinery fired heaters (furnaces) – process design, troubleshooting and start-up. Coking evaluations, debottlenecking studies, revamp and new burner process design and evaluation.
  • Fired heaters for low btu gas combustion – process design, rating, revamps
  • Low-NOx burner retrofits – Process and detailed design, installation, testing, start-up
  • Air preheat systems – process design, troubleshooting, start-up
  • Air emissions evaluations and permitting for refinery, chemical plant and utility fired heaters burning gas, oil and coal

ENERGY CONSERVATION

  • Cogeneration: gas turbine/steam turbine/fired heater/waste heat boiler. Process design, start-up, troubleshooting and operation
  • Alternative Fuels Studies – Orimulsion, coke, Low BTU Gas (LBG). Grass roots, revamps. Fuel systems, combustion equipment, heat transfer equipment and emissions control systems. Screening studies, economic evaluations, process design, start-up and troubleshooting
  • Site energy surveys to evaluate energy usage and develop prioritized list of potential energy saving projects.  Prepare process design for targeted energy savings projects.
  • High efficiency fired heater design including state-of-the art air preheater and process heat integration schemes

ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROL

  • Air emission control systems evaluations and selections
  • FCCU Wet Scrubbing Systems – process design, troubleshooting, start-up
  • Electrostatic Precipitators (ESP’s) (all processes) – process design, cost estimating, technology evaluation/assessment, bid evaluation, start-up, troubleshooting, performance evaluations, performance improvement
  • Cyclone Systems (all processes) – process design, cost estimating, technology evaluation/assessment, bid evaluation, troubleshooting, performance evaluation, performance improvement, start-up
  • Flue Gas Desulfurization (Wet, Dry, Throw Away, Regenerative)– process design, cost estimating, technology evaluation/assessment, bid evaluation
  • Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) Systems – process design, cost estimating, technical evaluation/assessment, bid evaluation, start-up, troubleshooting, performance evaluation and improvement
  • Selective Non-Catalytic Reduction (SNCR) Systems – process design, cost estimating, technical evaluation/assessment, bid evaluation, start-up, troubleshooting, performance evaluation and improvement
  • Fabric Filters [reverse air and pulse jet] troubleshooting, technology evaluation/assessment, commercial project development and project engineering
  • Carbon adsorption system applications and evaluations
  • Cryogenic (refrigeration) system evaluations
  • Absorption system evaluations
  • Condensation systems evaluations

FLUID MECHANICS

  • Solid – Liquid slurry system design, troubleshooting
  • Liquid – Gas system design and troubleshooting
  • Liquid, Gas and Slurry distribution systems
  • Piping network analysis

FLUID SOLIDS

  • Shale retort systems. Process design, technology development  Spent shale cooling system development, design and patent
  • FCCU performance/troubleshooting/ cold flow modeling: standpipe pressure buildup, regenerator entrainment, dilute phase conveying, regenerator air distribution, catalyst/vapor separation, stripping
  • FCCU design: main vessels, risers, standpipes, feed zones and injectors, cyclones, air spargers/grids, slide valves, stack valves, tertiary cyclone systems
  • Particulate morphology

FRACTIONATION

  • FCCU main fractionator: tray/packing design and rating, coke mitigation in desuperheating section. Process design, internals detailing, troubleshooting, start-up, operations
  • Simulation, design, debottlenecking and troubleshooting of ethylene plant primary fractionators, refinery and chemical plant light ends towers and amine and aqueous towers
  • Super-fractionator designs for polymer grade propylene and separation of isobutylene from butane-2

HEAT TRANSFER

  • Solids heating and cooling. Fluid bed conveyors, pneumatic conveyor systems. Patents on several devices for solids heating and cooling. Process design, operation, troubleshooting, debottlenecking, start-up
  • Simulation, design, debottlenecking and troubleshooting of heat exchanger networks and individual heat exchanger services
  • Design and operation studies for enhanced surface exchangers, plate exchangers, spiral exchangers, and high flux tubes

REACTION SYSTEMS

  • Extrusion based system for manufacture of organo-silane functionalized polymers. Process development, pilot scale testing, planning studies, process design
  • Design of CSTR and fixed bed reactors

RHEOLOGY

  • Developed laboratory test methodologies for assessing the behavior of dry (devolatilized) polymers, wet polymers and polymer solutions, at plant processing conditions
  • Extrusion processing specialist: reactive extrusion, dewatering, drying, direct devolatilization, dissolving (solventizing), melting

SEPARATIONS

  • Developed proprietary models for evaluating liquid – gas separation capabilities of structured packing CaCl2 Drier upgrade/expansion for C4 Unit: process engineering & design

WASTE WATER TREATMENT

  • Assessment of existing facilities: to handle increased loadings; to meet more stringent discharge requirements; alternative / modified operating conditions; debottlenecking; operating cost reduction; troubleshooting Process definition/design of new grass roots treatment facilities
  • Heavy metals removal and recovery
  • Evaluation of emerging technologies

WATER TREATMENT

  • Water softening: process design, planning
  • Clarification: process design, planning, troubleshooting.
  • RO systems: planning, process design and troubleshooting