Major assignments included the design of a new route for propane to be processed a second time to ensure product specification and safety concerns. This project required extensive use of the process simulation software, Aspen HYSYS, as well as the the process monitoring program, PI Datalink. The second major project was the daily monitoring and troubleshooting of the refinery-wide fuel gas balance to determine if the plant was within economic and environmental compliance.… Show more Major assignments included the design of a new route for propane to be processed a second time to ensure product specification and safety concerns. This project required extensive use of the process simulation software, Aspen HYSYS, as well as the the process monitoring program, PI Datalink. The second major project was the daily monitoring and troubleshooting of the refinery-wide fuel gas balance to determine if the plant was within economic and environmental compliance. Troubleshooting included mass balances within units and refinery boundaries, as well as the use of meter correction factor equations to account for fuel gas that may not have entered the system at normal conditions.Minor projects included an optimization project to retrieve propane and heavier vapor from a system that fed to the refinery fuel gas system to sell as product as opposed to burning it as fuel gas for a monetary loss. The inspection of a piping loop to determine if increased flow could be sustained without erosion concerns arising was another project during my term. Show less

Major projects included the preparation of a planned shutdown within the refinery. Review of the proposed changes to equipment and process lines was performed and presented to the engineers scheduled to provide shutdown coverage. Multiple weeks were spent providing shutdown coverage where duties included the review and final sign-off to new nozzle locations, the final inspection of distillation columns for completeness and cleanliness, and the walk down of process lines to confirm… Show more Major projects included the preparation of a planned shutdown within the refinery. Review of the proposed changes to equipment and process lines was performed and presented to the engineers scheduled to provide shutdown coverage. Multiple weeks were spent providing shutdown coverage where duties included the review and final sign-off to new nozzle locations, the final inspection of distillation columns for completeness and cleanliness, and the walk down of process lines to confirm correctness of piping and instrumentation diagrams to what was in the field. During a segment of that time, I was given the role as lead engineer for my shift to ensure that maintenance operations ran smoothly.My final project was composed of modeling the new unit in Aspen HYSYS, software used to model distillation, and determine pipe sections and nozzles that were at erosion risks with a higher throughout of process materials. Show less

Co-op in the Optimization Group of Technical Services at the Detroit refinery. Tasks included: identifying areas of wasted energy, developing solutions to harnessing the lost energy, and performing economical analysis on possible solutions. These estimates were used to propose paths forward for each project.My main project for the term was looking at the addition of a steam turbine to various steam letdown stations to serve as the power source for nearby pumps. This project proposed… Show more Co-op in the Optimization Group of Technical Services at the Detroit refinery. Tasks included: identifying areas of wasted energy, developing solutions to harnessing the lost energy, and performing economical analysis on possible solutions. These estimates were used to propose paths forward for each project.My main project for the term was looking at the addition of a steam turbine to various steam letdown stations to serve as the power source for nearby pumps. This project proposed a savings estimate of $1 million/year.Coordination with vendors and employees for an important sample of gas oils to aid in a $60 million Tier 3-ULSG (Ultra-Low Sulfur Gasoline) expansion is an example of a minor project that was completed. Show less