Jim Burelbach Email & Phone Number

Greater Chicago Area

Greater Chicago Area

Technical project management, consulting, and business development for numerous analytical and experimental activities relating to nuclear waste cleanup and disposal efforts at Department of Energy and similar UK facilities including Sellafield, Hanford, INEL and Savannah River. Coordinates Post-Fukushima international efforts to assess and mitigate hydrogen risk from a severe accident, including PWROG and Nordic Owners Group initiatives. Supports MAAP5 severe accident computer code… Show more Technical project management, consulting, and business development for numerous analytical and experimental activities relating to nuclear waste cleanup and disposal efforts at Department of Energy and similar UK facilities including Sellafield, Hanford, INEL and Savannah River. Coordinates Post-Fukushima international efforts to assess and mitigate hydrogen risk from a severe accident, including PWROG and Nordic Owners Group initiatives. Supports MAAP5 severe accident computer code development and documentation, as well as safety analyses for new nuclear plant designs including AP1000 and APR1400. Continues to consult in the area of chemical process safety. Show less

Supported varied nuclear projects from processing and storage of spent fuel and nuclear waste to post-Fukushima hydrogen control. Active in fundamental research, software development, reactive chemical testing, emergency relief system design, and process safety management training while continuing to support global sales of chemical safety products. Designed and developed a practical software program (PrEVent) for emergency vent sizing for runaway chemical reactions. Nuclear… Show more Supported varied nuclear projects from processing and storage of spent fuel and nuclear waste to post-Fukushima hydrogen control. Active in fundamental research, software development, reactive chemical testing, emergency relief system design, and process safety management training while continuing to support global sales of chemical safety products. Designed and developed a practical software program (PrEVent) for emergency vent sizing for runaway chemical reactions. Nuclear experience includes severe accident and waste stream modeling and supporting experimental work, activities which are applicable both to commercial nuclear plants and processing facilities such as at Hanford and Savannah River. Experienced with MAAP and FATE safety software, as well as Westinghouse accident simulator applications, and recently supported AP1000 thermal-hydraulic calculations using RELAP5. Other diverse experience includes plant risk assessment, nuclear plant and DOE facility walkdowns, waste sludge characterization experiments, flammability testing, and equipment qualification testing. Show less

Developed an international network of distributors and technical partners to expand our global presence and add products and services in the area of chemical process safety. This cultivation process required frequent travel throughout Europe as well as India, China, and the Middle East to support agents and customers through technical training, workshops, installation of instruments and software, product demonstrations, and conference presentations. Developed a strategic partnership with the… Show more Developed an international network of distributors and technical partners to expand our global presence and add products and services in the area of chemical process safety. This cultivation process required frequent travel throughout Europe as well as India, China, and the Middle East to support agents and customers through technical training, workshops, installation of instruments and software, product demonstrations, and conference presentations. Developed a strategic partnership with the ChemiSens laboratory instrument maker (Sweden) to distribute their advanced reaction calorimeter systems and provide contract testing services. Also developed a business agreement with AKTS (Switzerland) to adopt and support their premier thermal safety software, which has since become our standard analytical tool for studying thermal stability of reactive chemicals. Show less

Responsible for all aspects of the contract chemical testing and consulting business including adiabatic calorimetry, flammability, and thermal stability testing, while specializing in DIERS emergency relief system (ERS) design methods, including vent sizing and quench system design. Scheduled testing activities, designed test plans, trained new employees and customers. Applied extensive hands-on mechanical expertise in developing and actively using our VSP2 and ARSST adiabatic safety… Show more Responsible for all aspects of the contract chemical testing and consulting business including adiabatic calorimetry, flammability, and thermal stability testing, while specializing in DIERS emergency relief system (ERS) design methods, including vent sizing and quench system design. Scheduled testing activities, designed test plans, trained new employees and customers. Applied extensive hands-on mechanical expertise in developing and actively using our VSP2 and ARSST adiabatic safety calorimeters and vent sizing software. Show less

Contract research supported Hanford nuclear waste remediation via experiments on buoyant mixing of hydrogen plumes, characterization of waste tank sludge for mechanical stability and organic intrusion, ignitability of waste solvent layers and flame spread over liquid fuel pools, natural convection enhanced evaporation in waste tanks. Other unique test campaigns addressed interfacial stability in liquid-liquid tube flows and thermal stability of battery materials. Designed thermite experiments… Show more Contract research supported Hanford nuclear waste remediation via experiments on buoyant mixing of hydrogen plumes, characterization of waste tank sludge for mechanical stability and organic intrusion, ignitability of waste solvent layers and flame spread over liquid fuel pools, natural convection enhanced evaporation in waste tanks. Other unique test campaigns addressed interfacial stability in liquid-liquid tube flows and thermal stability of battery materials. Designed thermite experiments to simulate cooling of molten nuclear core debris within the reactor vessel lower head during a severe accident. Other Hanford work included modeling of heat transfer in a multi-canister Overpack (MCO) for evaluation of ignition potential and thermal analysis of pool drain accidents at the Waste Encapsulation and Storage Facility (WESF).Subsequent responsibilities included analysis of emergency pressure relief and effluent handling designs for reactive chemical systems, using RSST and VSP2 adiabatic calorimeters along with best practice vent sizing methods based on DIERS two-phase flow methodology. Frequent speaker at industry forums (DIERS, EDUG, MKOPSS, AIChE). Provided onsite reactive systems testing, including work at the Savannah River Site. Performed equipment installations and technical training seminars. Developed new products including the ARSST and closed cell testing option, and SACHE training module on runaway chemical reactions for undergraduate process safety education.Supported chemical process incident investigations and nuclear plant risk assessment and accident management programs as well as the IDCOR program. Experienced in fault tree analysis, model development for simulation of severe accidents and two-phase flow transients, and large scale experimental work. Directed individual plant evaluations (IPEs) to assess severe accident consequences, supported MAAP model development and organized MAAP training courses. Show less

Ms, Phd, Chemical Engineering

Activities and Societies: Soccer, Softball, Sailing club

Bs, Chemical Engineering

Activities and Societies: Tau Beta Pi, AIChE, Boxing