Michael Owsiany

Michael is a 20+ year veteran in the filtration industry, custom-designing filtration equipment and processes for worldwide customers in the refining, petrochemical, and specialty chemical industries. His industry experience and background in chemical engineering provides customers with a complete and optimized design solution from the lab and pilot scale, up to turnkey skid systems, and anything in between.

CatCracking Hall

Presentation: Advanced Liquid Process Filtration Using Porous Metal Technology

David Barrow

Sulfur Hall

Presentation: Considerations for a Reliable Tubesheet Protection Systems for use in Sulphur Service

Joe Brindle

A chemical engineer by training, since 2004 Joe has specialized in sulphur recovery and tail gas treating, as well as amine treating and sour water stripping. Joe has twelve years of experience as an engineer and technical supervisor in operating facilities and as a consultant. His experience includes project review and approvals, plant design and construction, commissioning and start-up, turnaround planning, and execution, failure investigations, and running plant optimization. He is a co-presenter of Sulphur Experts’ Sulphur Recovery Technical Training Course and provides virtual and on-site training for engineers and operators around the world.  

Sulfur Hall

Presentation:  5 Major Concerns in SRUs

Megan Percy

Megan is a Process Engineer (E.I.T) with Sulphur Experts and is directly involved in the testing and optimization of sulphur recovery plants, including a variety of tail gas clean-up units, sour gas processing, and oil refining industries. Prior to joining Sulphur Experts in 2022, Megan worked in the oil sands industry as technical operations support for sour water strippers, amine treatment units and SRU's, and completed her Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering at the University of Alberta. Her experience includes plant optimization, turnaround planning and execution, plant troubleshooting and failure investigation, equipment design, and control narrative development.  

Sulfur Hall

Presentation:  5 Major Concerns in SRUs

Bruce Thacker

Bruce Thacker has over 15 years of experience in the process heating and sulfur industry assisting clients with troubleshooting, heating technology selection, and system optimization.  

Sulfur Hall

Presentation: Best Practices to Prevent Corrosion, Plugging, and Related Issues in the SRU

Brandon Forbes

Brandon Forbes has worked in the process heating and sulfur industry for over 15 years with a focus on product development and engineering design. He has helped develop and support CSI’s most successful products including the bolt-on heating product suite and the SxSeal above-ground sulfur sealing device.

Sulfur Hall

Presentation:  Best Practices to Prevent Corrosion, Plugging, and Related Issues in the SRU

Becky Peterson

Becky has been working on RefComm for 12 years. She is happy to expand her reach within the CRU Events team to programming for CRU Nitrogen + Syngas USA and CRU Sulphur + Sulphuric Acid conferences. 

Coking Hall

Welcome Session

Stefan Jansen

Stefan started his career with Z&J in 2005, left the company in 2015 and joined again 2022 as Director of Sales for IMI Critical Engineering Europe. He is responsible for Z&J & TH Jansen product lines.   Stefan gained his sales and management skills as regional sales manager for Circor & SDM Engineering. His career was always related to the petrochemical and oil refining industry. He has university degrees in Mechanical Engineering, Welding Engineering, and an MBA.

Coking Hall

Focused Breakout: DCU Automatic Top and Bottom Unheading System

Holger Breuer

Holger started his career with Z&J in 2006, with a two-year break, joining again 2017 as Technical Customer Support Manager for Z&J + TH Jansen products. He worked for 15 years in various customer-related roles such as engineering, commissioning, and field application support, providing a deep technical understanding of products and process applications. With his mechatronic engineering background, he is a specialist in process automation and data acquisition.  

Coking Hall

Focused Breakout: DCU Automatic Top and Bottom Unheading System

Elke Baum

Elke has worked for IMI Critical Engineering / Z&J Germany for the last 31 years. She started her engineering career in 1993 and later gained a university degree in mechanical engineering. In 2007 she started working as a sales engineer.   Today, Elke leads the Product Management for IMI Z&J’s oil-refining applications, such as FCC and Delayed Coking. Elke is married and has a 26-year-old daughter.  

Coking Hall

Focused Breakout: DCU Automatic Top and Bottom Unheading System

Javier Mascheroni

Coking Hall 

Presentation:  Lean Management Implementation and Digital Twin Tools

Marie Wright

Coking Hall

Presentation:  PBF Energy & DeltaValve: Chalmette Coker 1 Isolation Valve Upgrade

Rick Torres

Coking Hall

Presentation:  PBF Energy & DeltaValve: Chalmette Coker 1 Isolation Valve Upgrade

Michael Antoniou

Michael Antoniou serves as a Senior Business Development Manager at Chevron Lummus Global, a joint venture uniting Chevron and Lummus Technology. With an extensive professional journey spanning over 24 years, Michael excels in business development across both direct and indirect sales channels, specializing in licensed technologies, process equipment, catalysts, and research & engineering services. His technical expertise extends to process design, dynamic simulation/control emulation, and operations, underpinning his strategic approach to business growth. Before joining Lummus Technology, Michael held various positions at Johnson Matthey, ConocoPhillips, and ExxonMobil. He earned his BSE in Chemical Engineering & Mathematics from the University of Pennsylvania.  

Coking Hall

Presentation: Driving Change: The Role of Specialty Coke in the Energy Transition

Chris Orino

Coking Hall

Presentation: DeltaValve's CenterFeed Users Forum

Chris Proctor

Coking Hall

Presentation: DeltaValve's CenterFeed Users Forum

Domenica Misale-Lyttle

Domenica joined Industrial Ceramics in October of 1987, shortly after graduating from McMaster University.  Domenica has been involved in numerous tubesheet reliability studies and root cause analysis during the last 35 years; through which she has developed an in depth understanding of the design factors, operating conditions and material properties that impact the reliability and integrity of these systems.   She served as a sub-group leader on API 565 team, tasked with developing recommended practices for tubesheet protection systems in SRUs, and is part of the technical advisory committee for Brimstone Sulfur Symposium and serves as a board member for ASRL.      

Sulfur Hall

Presentation: Considerations for a Reliable Tubesheet Protection Systems for use in Sulphur Service

Phillip Niccum

Phillip Niccum earned a B.S. degree in Chemical Engineering from California State Polytechnic University in 1980. He began his career working for 9 years in Texaco’s Central Engineering Department and Refinery Headquarters where he performed technical service and design work on Texaco FCC units worldwide. Following this, Phillip spent 26 years at M.W. Kellogg then KBR where he held the positions of Sr. Process Engineer, Chief FCC Technology Engineer and Director of FCC Technology. More recently, Phillip worked for KPE and Lummus Technology. Over the course of 43 years, Phillip has achieved a record of accomplishments in petroleum refining and petrochemical FCC encompassing engineering, technical service, operational and construction assistance, process development as well as business operations. Mr. Niccum has been granted 17 U.S patents and has written many publications for major industry conferences and trade journals on FCC technology.

CatCracking Hall

Presentation: New and Old Equations Tie Together 75 Years of FCC Standpipe Experience Update

Gary Hager

Gary Hager is an R&D Engineer at Flowserve in the Flow Control Division with over 19 years of experience in engineering, design, and construction of power, process, oil and gas, and other energy systems. His expertise spans from process and system engineering design, through application engineering in harsh and severe service. Mr. Hager has contributed to specialized designs and testing equipment for severe service products.

CatCracking Hall

Presentation: Flowserve Purging Systems: developed to prevent lockup and reduce the cost of purging in severe services used in harsh conditions

Josh Morgan

Josh Morgan serves as Director of Strategic Development for CruzAlta. With over two decades of industrial experience, he has a wealth of knowledge and wisdom in the refining turnaround industry. He has held both Operational and Turnaround Management leadership roles for the world's largest petrochemical manufacturer. During his tenure as an operations and turnaround leader, he led teams of manufacturing professionals in the successful planning, executing and completion of over 55 turnaround, outage and capital construction events. Through his years of experience, he gained a strong understanding and a passion for the refining industry. Josh is driven by the mission to actively promote our services and capabilities, with the aim of providing invaluable support to our clients in their turnaround management endeavors.

CatCracking Hall

Presentation: Operational Shutdown Bookends: The Next Frontier of Turnaround Optimization

David Williams

David Williams is the driving force behind Berthold Technologies' global business development, specializing in the specialized field of radiometric measurement solutions. His extensive 25-year career has taken him around the world, working in refineries and chemical plants to improve operations with radiometric technology. Starting as a startup and applications engineer before moving into sales, David now serves as the key advisor on using radiometric devices. Holding a Bachelor of Science in Nuclear Engineering, David's knowledge is both deep and practical, making him a vital asset in the Oil & Gas industry's measurement technology area. At Berthold Technologies, David is more than just a manager; he's an innovator and a strategist, championing the adoption of advanced nuclear instrumentation technologies. His efforts have been crucial in enhancing operational efficiencies and leading the industry forward, cementing Berthold Technologies' position as a market leader.

Coking Hall

Presentation: 

Siyi Lai

Siyi Lai is a Senior Principal FCC Technologist at Technip Energies. He has more than 16 years of experience in FCC Yield modelling, process/system equipment design, troubleshooting, startup, and turnaround activities. As FCC Yield modelling Manager, Siyi is responsible for the yield predictions, process optimization, unit performance assessment, and economic evaluation for cat cracking units due to operating objective shifts and technology upgrades. He holds a PhD degree in chemical engineering from The Ohio State University.

CatCracking Hall

Presentation: Operational Feedback from a Residue FCC Unit Processing Tight Oil

Ken Wells

Ken Wells is a Product Applications Engineer for Veolia Water Treatment Services in Philadelphia. Currently, he specializes in Antifoulants but he has also worked in Desalting, Corrosion Control, Ken has 40 years of refinery experience. He has been based in Port Arthur, Toledo, and Chicago Ken has a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Delaware.

CatCracking Hall

Presentation: Reducing Refinery Greenhouse Gas Footprint in the FCC

Chuck Monro

Mr. Chuck Munro has 30 years of experience with Spraying Systems Company assisting customers to solve problems with spray nozzle solutions.  He is an active member of several industry groups, including the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, AMPP (formerly NACE), and the American Institute of Chemical Engineers where he has been involved with training, consultation, and application support.  Currently Chuck focuses on the business development of the oil and gas and sulfuric acid industries while working to help these industries recognize ways to optimize performance, while increasing reliability and sustainability with new technologies and proven solutions.

CatCracking Hall

Presentation: Optimizing Spray Nozzle and Injector Selection in FCCU Applications to Improve Safety, Reliability, and Operational Efficiency 

Baylee Thompson

Baylee Thompson is a process engineer for Wood. Baylee has experience in startups, shutdowns, TARs, and unit optimization in various facilities. Her experience includes a multifunctional background in Sulfur and Amine technology as well as oxygen pipelines, hydrocracking, and coking units.   Baylee has a ChemE BS degree from the University of Kentucky.

Sulfur Hall

Presentation: Design Modifications to Overcome Operating Challenges at Very Low Turndown Rates

Melike Yersiz

Melike Yersiz is a Chemical Incident Investigator at the U.S. Chemical Safety Board. Prior to joining the CSB, she developed 12 years of industry experience at two refineries, where she began her career as a process engineer. Ms. Yersiz has a B.S. in Chemical-Biological Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, an M.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Southern California, and a Professional Engineer license in chemical engineering in the State of California.

Coking Hall

Presentation: Safety Issues Related to Refinery Operations

Mike Ackman

Coking Hall

Presentation: Coke Drum Un-heading Flange Distortion and Leakage Issues

Presentation: Coker Crane Reliability and Integrity Management: Lessons Learned

Patrick Carreon

Patrick Carreon has 19 years of experience in varying roles at the Coker Complex. He is currently the Operations Specialist at the Coker at LyondellBasell Houston Refinery.  

Coking Hall

Presentation: Loss of Coker Heater Charge Pump Suction

Clint Titzman

Clint Titzman has 18 years of experience in varying refining technologies and roles.  He is currently the Technical Manager at the LyondellBasell Houston Refinery.  He has a B.S. and M.S. in Chemical Engineering from Texas A&M University. 

Coking Hall

Presentation:  Loss of Coker Heater Charge Pump Suction

Jeffery Huang

10 years experience in field operation for fluid catalytic cracking unit. Supported CPC RFCCU's startup and 5 times turnaround activities. Served as a commissioning specialist in PrefChem RAPID RFCC.

CatCracking Hall

Presentation:  Operational Feedback from a Residue FCC Unit Processing Tight Oil

Andy Piper

Andy was born and raised with refractory in his blood in what at that time was locally called the Firebrick/Saddle Horse Capital of the World (AKA Mexico, Missouri).  He is a graduate of the University of Missouri at Columbia, Missouri with a BSBA degree.  During his college years, he worked at the Kaiser Refractories manufacturing plant in Mexico for three summers manufacturing refractories. After graduating from MU, he started his career with Kaiser Refractories (later known as National Refractories) in sales, moving first to Columbiana, Ohio and finally to Houston, Texas.  Six years later, Andy moved to J T Thorpe Company in Houston, Texas as a Project Manager over various refractory projects.  Over the next 36 years he transitioned from Project Manager to Sales & Marketing Manager, Business Development Manager, VP Business Development Manager, VP Sales & Marketing, and VP Technical Sales/International before officially retiring in December 2022.  Today, he works with Thorpe part time as a Senior Technical Consultant.  For the last 20 years, Andy worked with Thorpe’s Technical Department to grow their business in areas of severe service, complicated brick linings, especially focused on SRU Thermal Reactors.  This has included presenting numerous customer presentations every year, participating in multiple SRU refractory failure studies for Thorpe and in combination with multi-vendor industry specialists, attended sulfur conferences around the world presenting standalone and/or co-authored papers to highlight refractory issues with these units and how to solve multiple refractory problems.  Andy also served as a sub-task group leader for the refractory subgroup of the API 565 Standard (published in June 2022) for three years before stepping back to be the sub-group’s co-chair. 

Sulfur Hall

Presentation: SRU Thermal Reactor Refractory Workshop -  Optimizing Reliability

Heeth Orr

Heeth is a native of Houston, Texas and graduated with a BS in Civil Engineering from Texas A&M University in College Station, where he was a member of the Corps of Cadets and took a commission with the U.S. Army post graduation.  During his time at Texas A&M, he worked as a field hand for a small refractory contractor located in Houston, Texas specializing in steel mill work all over the U.S. After graduation, Heeth began his employment at Thorpe as a Project Engineer, eventually achieving Senior Project Manager, before taking over the Branch Manager role at the Gonzales, LA.  branch location.  Heeth transferred back to Thorpe in Houston after a successful stint and has remained in Houston with roles ranging from International Project Manager, Branch Manager, Business Development Department Leader, Strategic Account Manager, to current role as Refractory Service Line Leader for the company.  He has experience with a broad array of equipment, refractory types and lining systems and his current focus is supporting all refractory branches (in the U.S. and Canada) with strategy, sales, estimating, engineering (managing the group), and ensuring Thorpe continues to be a market leader and succeed as a value-added supplier. Heeth has accumulated a broad array of experience with complicated brick linings and SRU thermal reactor lining systems, design and installations in his thirty years at Thorpe and has recently become more involved in failure studies, conferences and presentations more specific to sulfur recovery.  

Sulfur Hall

Presentation: SRU Thermal Reactor Refractory Workshop -  Optimizing Reliability

Javier Rios

Javier Rios is a Principal Technical Service Specialist at Honeywell UOP, and he is responsible for supporting UOP FCC and Merox operations worldwide. Over the past 18 years Javier has worked in the Field Services and Technology Services groups. As a Field Service Advisor, he provided on site guidance and expertise during new unit commissioning, startup, and troubleshooting for Hydro-treating/Hydrocracker, Molex, Fix Bed Platforming, and Merox technologies at multiple refineries throughout the world. In his current role, Javier specializes in FCC and Merox technologies, providing troubleshooting, optimization, and operational assistance for over 15 FCC and over 300 treating units as well as supporting internal FCC and Merox technology development teams for UOP FCC R&D and Engineering.  He has been awarded 4 patents on UOP Technologies, 3 trade secrets for improvements in treating technologies and published 2 articles. Javier earned his B.S. and M.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Illinois at Chicago. He enjoys playing soccer, Karaoke and his favorite team is Barcelona.

CatCracking Hall

Presentation: Enhancing the Economics of FCC Flue Gas Carbon Capture with Synthesized Air FCC Technology

David Anthony

David has over 14 years of mechanical engineering experience in the power & refining industries, specifically piping stress analysis and pipe support design for high temperature piping. During this time, he has experience in both design work, hands-on field work and remediation.  His current role is as the Piping Group Lead within Becht's Mechanical Division.

CatCracking Hall

Presentation: FCC Piping Case Studies: A Multidisciplinary Approach

Dan Sack

Daniel Sack, PE, is a Senior Engineering Advisor and Group Lead at Becht. Mr. Sack has 20 years of structural and mechanical engineering experience in power generation and petroleum refining, focusing on structural design at elevated temperatures. He has extensive experience with the design of utility, industrial boilers, environmental equipment, and plate structures.

CatCracking Hall

Presentation: FCC Piping Case Studies: A Multidisciplinary Approach

Alex Maller

Alex Maller is a Senior FCC Engineer with the Phillips 66 Refinery Business Improvement group where he provides advance technical support to Fluidized Catalytic Cracking operations in the Refining organization. Alex holds a B.S. degree in Chemical Engineering from Tulane University, New Orleans. Prior to assuming his current position at Phillips 66 in 2023, Alex worked for Technip Stone & Webster for 15 years, where he was involved in all aspects of FCC unit design, troubleshooting and commissioning.

CatCracking Hall

Presentation: Lessons Learned from FCC Incidents: Common Threads and Good Practices

Martin Taylor

Martin Taylor is the Manager of Sulfur Technologies for Bechtel Energy Technologies & Solutions, Inc. based in Houston, Texas, USA.  His experience includes design, troubleshooting, consulting, commissioning, and start-up of sulphur related units such as amine, sour water, SRUs, tail gas treating units, etc. for the last 20 years.  Martin has 5 patents and patents pending for technologies in and around the sulphur industry.  Martin earned a B.S. in Chemical Engineering and a M.S. in Natural Gas Engineering from Texas A&I University in Kingsville, Texas, USA.  

Sulfur Hall

Presentation: Big Plus: Reusing an Existing Sour Water Stripper for SWSPlus Ammonia Recovery

Sanjay Lodha

Sanjay Lodha is a Global Business Director for TUBACOAT, a subsidiary of Tubacex Group, Spain.   Sanjay brings with him more than 26 years of progressive experience in Commercial Sales, Business Development, Management, licensing technology and process engineering in refining and chemical industry across USA, Middle East, India and other International markets.   Prior to joining Tubacex, he has worked with Shell USA, Chevron USA and  Evonik USA where he has acquired a vast knowledge and exposure to the Refining and Petrochemical Industry. Sanjay holds an MS in chemical engineering from USA and Executive Management from MIT, USA.  He is currently based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.  

Coking Hall

Presentation: Delayed Coker Unit Online Spalling Performance and Other Improvements using Tubacoat Technology

Richard Quinnette

Richard Quinnette is a Chemical Process Engineering Consultant and Power Plant Instructor with a B.S. in Chemical Engineering and an MBA in Financial Management both from Drexel University. He has been a Process Engineer for Gulf, Chevron, Sunoco and HollyFrontier in the Philadelphia, Marcus Hook and Tulsa Refineries. He has worked in Amine/Sulfur Recovery Units, Crude Oil Distillation Units, both HF and Sulfuric Acid Alkylation Units, light Ends Units (MTBE, ISOM), and with Waste-Water Treatment Plants. He also has Business Planning Experience and Air-Focused Environmental Engineering experience. He has 20 years of experience in Oil Refining, 10 years of experience in Exploration and Production, and 5 years of experience in Midstream and Petrochemicals. He facilitated a Session in the 2019 REFCOMM entitled “FCC: What Can Go Right?, What can Go Wrong? He currently teaches Power Plant Technology to the next generation of Power Plant Operators at Oklahoma State University of Technology (OSUIT) in Okmulgee, OK.

Sulfur Hall

Presentation:  The Effect of Hydrocarbon Carryover from the Amine Regenerator to the Sulfur Recovery Unit

Natalie Russell

Natalie Russell is a process engineer at PBF Energy in Martinez, California. She provides technical support for the Clean Fuels Operating Department on the Delayed Coker, Isom, and Caustic Regen units. Previously, she worked as a Wells engineer at ExxonMobil, further enhancing her knowledge in the industry. She holds a B.S. of Chemical Engineering from Prairie View A&M University. Beyond her professional endeavors she enjoys hiking, skiing, and spending time with her friends and family.   

Coking Hall

Presentation:  PBF Martinez - Learning from Incidents on the Delayed Coker

Ibrahim Almardumah

Ibrahim has been a Mechanical Supervisor in the Technical Support Division with YASREF since 2014.

Coking Hall

Presentation: DCU Flange Ovality Repair

Abdulmohsen Aljohani

Coking Hall

Presentation: DCU Flange Ovality Repair

Yu- Hao Chuang

Five years of experience in operating RFCC unit.

CatCracking Hall

Presentation: Operational Feedback from a Residue FCC Unit Processing Tight Oil

Neal Cammy

CatCracking Hall

Presentation: Refurbishment and TA Maintenance for Actuator Systems

Stefano Angioni

Stefano Angioni, Senior Sales Engineer, IMI Remosa Stefano started his journey within IMI back in 2007 as a control and instrumentation specialist, soon after his graduation at the University of Cagliari, in Electronic Engineering (Automation). After 10 years spent in the design department, he joined the Dark Side and the Sales dept. In his free time, Stefano is passionate about photography, hiking and Crossfit.

CatCracking Hall

Presentation: State of the Art for FCC Upgrades

Pamela Concas

Pamela Concas, Proposal Engineer, IMI Remosa Pamela joined IMI Remosa in 2013 as a design and project engineer in the valve design department. In 2023 she moved to the Sales Department as a Proposal Engineer, driven by the desire to improve her knowledge and skills. Pamela graduated in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Cagliari, Italy. In her free time, she loves traveling with her family, reading, and camping.

CatCracking Hall

Presentation: State of the Art for FCC Upgrades

Nicola Dessalvi

Nicola Dessalvi, Sales Director, IMI Remosa Nicola has been leading the IMI Remosa Proposal Office since 2017 and was recently appointed as Deputy Sales Director of APAC. He joined IMI Remosa in 2002 and covered several positions in the Engineering Dept. as well as in the Sales Dept. Nicola is married and has two daughters. His main hobbies are travelling and camping with friends.

CatCracking Hall

Presentation: State of the Art for FCC Upgrades

Mel Larson

Mel Larson is the Strategic Consulting Manager at Becht, with over 40 years of experience as a Chemical Engineer. His responsibilities include specialty consulting in FCC, serving as Project Manager on various Becht projects. He specializes in assisting companies in analyzing an array of options to meet the Strategic objective for sustainability and revenue growth.  Mel’s experience in includes process troubleshooting and gap assessment analysis in the FCC, Unsaturates Gas Plant, Alkylation and Naphtha Reformer areas. He received his B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology and his hobbies include music, exercise, fine wine, bourbon, and scotch.

Coking Hall

Keynote: The Importance of Operator Training and Preventable Maintenance Programs to Remain Profitable

David Gibson

David Gibson, an industry veteran with 25 years of experience, currently works at ExxonMobil as a Static Equipment Engineer and serves as the EMTEC Manufacturing Principal Engineer. With a strong focus on the industry, he has dedicated 15 years to Delayed Coking Units (DCU). His field of expertise includes ensuring the mechanical integrity of coke drums and managing the structural integrity of coker cranes. Additionally, David excels in fire damage assessment and the implementation of tankage mechanical integrity programs.

Coking Hall

Presentation: Coker Crane Reliability and Integrity Management, Lessons Learned

Presentation: Coke Drum Un-heading Flange Distortion and Leakage Issues

Ron Kessler

Bio Short Form Ron Kessler is the Vice President- Robotic Inspection Solutions for Team Industrial Services. Ron’s career began in the United States Navy where he served as a Machinist Mate, operating, maintaining, inspecting, and repairing shipboard cryogenic and power plant systems.  Immediately following his enlistment, Ron began inspecting power generation and petrochemical assets utilizing robotic camera technology.  Over the past 30 years, Ron has worked in varying inspection & reliability roles serving nuclear, fossil, chemical, and refining facilities.   Ron holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Management from Indiana Wesleyan University and an MBA from Bellarmine University.

CatCracking Hall

Presentation: Utilizing Robotics and Drones to Drive Safe, Efficient Inspections in Hazardous, Inhospitable, and Inaccessible Plant Systems and Components

Julie Valentine

Julie Valentine works with downstream manufacturers globally to enhance the selection of measurement and analytical devices that will enable manufacturers to effectively optimize plant operations. Julie has more than 30 years of experience in the refining and petrochemical process and automation industries, both domestically and internationally. Before joining Emerson, she worked for a process licensor, primarily in the technical services group, where she was involved in the commissioning, start-up and troubleshooting of refining and petrochemical process units around the world. Julie has authored numerous technical papers on various applications of measurement technology in the refining industry, and is a co-inventor in two U.S. patents.  Julie is a member of several working committees for the instrumentation and control group of the American Petroleum Institute’s Refining and Equipment Standards Program, American Institute of Chemical Engineers, and various women in engineering and STEM programs. Julie is a graduate of the Colorado School of Mines in Golden, Colorado with a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical and Petroleum Refining Engineering.   

CatCracking Hall

Presentation: The Important Role of the Mass Balance for Heavy Oil Processing

Ezequiel Vicent

Ezequiel Vicent is the Director of Consulting for OLI Systems, inc. A chemical engineer with 15 years’ experience in the oil refining and petrochemical industry. He joined OLI in 2020 and is involved in a variety of technical and consulting projects. Ezequiel specializes in industrial, operational, and automated monitoring projects as well as currently working on process units of interest to him (CDU, HF Alky, FCC). Ezequiel is also experienced in the process modeling of chemical and petrochemical plants. Prior to joining OLI, Ezequiel worked for 4 years with Chemstations where he gained much experience in Process Simulation and 5 years total with Baker Hughes and Aggreko, where he gained experience in simulation, design and project commissioning. Ezequiel spent two years with KBC where he gained experience in Refinery-wide flowsheeting, simulating refinery complexes with a focus on molecule management and project identification to improve refinery margins. Ezequiel also gained experience in Utility modeling and Polymer Processes modeling. Ezequiel currently leads OLI Systems' consulting division and works closely with the Digital Transformation team to deliver automated monitoring solutions that codify the knowledge created during consulting engagements, into actionable intelligence.  Ezequiel's role allows him to generate ideas to bring OLI Systems' consulting expertise in electrochemistry to digitalization/digital twin projects as well as expanding automation offerings.  

CatCracking Hall

Presentation: Enabling Safe FCC Operational Changes Through Ionic Modeling

Brian Visioli

Brian Visioli is one of the many chemical engineers who started their career in sulfur recovery and utilities, and one of the lucky few who got stuck there. Since graduating from the University of Colorado at Boulder with a bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering, Brian has gained more than 10 years of experience in sulfur recovery including plant turnarounds, technical service, and product management. He has presented at conferences around the world, and written a small handful of technical papers. He is the Global Director for SRU/TGU and Purification Adsorbents with Evonik, which acquired Porocel in 2020. Brian and his wife Kendra have four sons and live near Denver, Colorado. Among other things, he enjoys spending time outdoors, data visualization, philosophy, and breakfast burritos.

Sulfur Hall

Presentation: Middle Ground: Finding SRU/TGU Improvement Through Catalyst Selection

Haytham Al-Barrak

Haytham Al-Barrak, is Fired Equipment Engineering Consultant working for Saudi Aramco. He is the Heat Transfer Equipment Standards Committee Chairman. He received MS degree in Mechanical Engineering from University of Southern California. He has two patents related to fired equipment monitoring and is working with Saudi Aramco for the last 25 years. He resides in Dhahran, KSA.

Sulfur Hall

Presentation: Innovative Way to Detect Refractory Failure and Lowering OPEX on Temperature Sensing

Pedro Ott

Sulfur Hall

Presentation: Sulfur Plant Thermal Reactor Temperature Measurement - Tools, Technologies, and Tactics

Bob Poteet

Bob has over 35 years’ experience in selling to the energy industries and has been working on solving temperature measurement problems in refining for over 24 years.  He has four patents and is patent pending on another product.  His patented products can be found in most refineries globally.  Bob joined Gayesco in 2010  as VP of Sales and is currently serving as Director of Business Development Technology and Applications for WIKA and was Vice President of sales for Daily Thermetrics previously.  He holds a BS degree from Texas A&M University.

Sulfur Hall

Presentation:  Innovative Way to Detect Refractory Failure and Lowering OPEX on Temperature Sensing

Derek Zaharko

Sulfur Hall

Presentation:  5 Major Concerns in SRUs

Subrata Chakraborty

Subrata Chakraborty is the Technical Services Mechanical Engineer for Yanbu Aramco Sinopec Refining Company. He has 30 years of rich experience in the oil and gas industry and has delivered optimal results in high growth environments. Subrata has demonstrated professional excellence in plant reliability, troubleshooting, field design and engineering support aligned with licensors’ guidelines and industry best practices.

Coking Hall

Presentation: Crude High Temperature Pump & Piping System: Frequent Flange Leakages & Pump Seal Failures 

Eduardo Pavani

Eduardo Pavani is a Chemical Engineer with an MBA in Business Administration. He has over 11 years of experience in the O&G industry spending the last 5 years focused on GLP Merox treatment for DCUs and DCU improvements. Major achievements: Start up of balanced draft of the coker heater (as a decoding of the BMS sequence. Commissioning and startup of the GLP MEROX Unit. Lean Management in DCU.

Coking Hall

Presentation: Lean Management Implementation and Digital Twin Tools

Stephen Klejst

Stephen Klejst, the Executive Director of Investigations and Recommendations, joined the U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) in February 2018. He is responsible for leading the agency’s investigation and recommendations programs including the Drivers of Critical Chemical Safety Change advocacy program. Mr. Klejst comes to the CSB after nearly ten years of experience with the National Transportation Safety Board where he was deputy managing director and director of the agency’s Office of Railroad, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Investigations. During his tenure with the NTSB, Mr. Klejst led the agency’s investigation of several major pipeline and railroad accidents including the explosion of a natural gas transmission line in San Bruno, California, the rupture of a hazardous liquid transmission line in Marshall, Michigan and several significant freight railroad and transit rail accidents. Prior to joining the NTSB, Mr. Klejst had a distinguished executive career in the railroad industry with responsibilities in the areas of safety, accident investigation, regulatory compliance and technical training. Mr. Klejst received his bachelor’s degree in chemistry from the University of Pennsylvania and a master of science degree in management from the Stevens Institute of Technology. Mr. Klejst is a Certified Safety and Security Director

Coking Hall - Keynote

Presentation: Safety Issues Related to Refinery Operations

Larry Ray

Larry Ray is an experienced R&D Specialist at Flowserve, specializing in Severe Service Argus Fk75F ball valves. With 33 years of experience and 2 Patents, his expertise spans valve design, testing, evaluation, and the development of severe service metal seated isolation valves. He has made significant contributions in the areas of new valve designs, standardization, procurement, assembly, manufacturing, and problem-solving related to isolation floating ball valves.

CatCracking Hall

Presentation: 

Jerome Garot

Jerome is a Senior Project Manager & Subject Matter Expert at SILICON and has nearly two decades of hands-on experience in repairing petrochemical equipment and specializing in the repair of FCCs. Jerome and SILICON have introduced various products that target critical problems for refinery operators, with a key focus on solving problems related to reliability, safety and turnaround efficiency. Jerome and his team are renowned for their efficient and safe utilization of proprietary RAW technology (Rapid Arc Welding), an automatic computer-controlled welding technology, and unique approaches to recurring problems by offering long-lasting solutions.  

CatCracking Hall

Presentation: Mitigating Failures of Abrasion Resistant Refractory Linings

Richard Grove

CatCracking Hall

Presentation: Slide Valve Degradation and Preventative Maintenance

Evan Hyde

Evan Hyde is the Director of Field Operations for Coking.com Inc. Formerly he was president of Telaxe, a coker consulting firm. He previously was president of C2 Nano Technology where they researched surface treatments to combat fouling and corrosion issues in cokers and other petrochemical process units. He was a Senior Engineering Advisor for Becht Engineering Co., Inc. New Jersey. He has consulted on processing improvement and reliability initiatives for delayed coking clients around the world. He also participated in onsite peer assessments of Coker Units at eight refineries which included improvements in maintenance work practices, process enhancements, and turnaround scope optimization. Prior to joining Becht, Evan worked for ExxonMobil Research and Engineering, as a process engineer, with assignments in research, and troubleshooting for heavy oil upgrading equipment. He holds a B.S. of Chemical Engineering from Pennsylvania State University.

Scott Kafesjian

Scott Kafesjian is currently the Director of Sulphur Technologies for Wood, formerly Amec Foster Wheeler. Scott has more than 30 years of experience in the technology, design, commissioning, startup, troubleshooting, and revamp of sulphur recovery and related units worldwide.  He has been with Wood since 2010.  Along with his sulphur experience, he has a diverse background encompassing crude oil distillation, hydrotreating, gas plant revamps, gas compressor stations, and other industrial processes.  He is also the Manager of Process Engineering for the Salt Lake City office of Wood.   Scott has a Bachelor of Science from University of California Los Angeles, with ME and PhD degrees (all in Chemical Engineering) from the University of Utah. 

Sulfur Hall

Presentation: Design Modifications to Overcome Operating Challenges at Very Low Turndown Rates

Mitch Moloney

Mitch graduated from Princeton University in 1979 with a BSc in Chemical Engineering and is a registered PE in Texas. He worked with ExxonMobil for 40 years, retiring in 2019. He has worked as a consultant with Becht for over three years as a process engineering and resid upgrading specialist.  He has been married to his wife Laura for 41 years, has two children in their 30’s and 2 grandchildren.  He started his career at Bayway Refinery in NJ, then joined the resid upgrading world in 1989, and has focused on delayed coking, visbreaking and resid upgrading for 34 years. Highlights were serving as the process start-up lead for the Venezuelan Cerro Negro Upgrader in 2001 and the Antwerp DCU in Belgium in 2018.  He enjoys delayed coking, languages (Spanish, Dutch, French), art, sports and Belgian beers, not necessarily in that order.

Coking Hall

Presentation: Coke Fines - The Bane of Delayed Coking & Coke Calcining

Elmo Nasato

Elmo Nasato is a process engineer specializing in sulfur recovery, amine treating and  sour water processing. He has more than 35 years experience in the sulfur recovery industry, including experience with design, retrofit, start-up and optimization of sulfur recovery  units, sulfur handling units, amine units, sour water stripper units, and tail gas cleanup  units. On-site field activities have included support of construction activities, turnaround  assistance and operator training. Elmo graduated from the University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada with a B.A.Sc.  Chemical Engineering (1987) with an option in Management Science. He currently is the  president of Nasato Consulting Ltd. In addition, he is the lead instructor and serves on  the Brimstone Sulfur Recovery Symposium Advisory Committee and the Technical  Advisory Committee for the Laurance Reid Gas Conditioning Conference, and has served  on the Board of Directors for Alberta Sulphur Research. Elmo has also taught courses in  the Chemical Engineering departments of the University of Toronto and University of  Waterloo. He has been awarded eight patents for SRU operation, oxygen enrichment and  sulfur degassing technologies, has published 42 papers and has made over 74 presentations at conferences worldwide.

Sulfur Hall

Dr. Mahmod Samman

Dr. Mahmod Samman is the president of Houston Engineering Solutions. He has thirty years of industry experience mostly in damage assessment, repair, and life extension of coke drums. His state-of-the-art techniques in this field are utilized around the world. A licensed professional engineer in Texas, he has a Ph.D. in Engineering Mechanics from Duke University, he has published writing in numerous publications, and holds four issued and pending patents. He is a member of ASME and ASCE and a committee member of API 579/ASME FFS, API 934G and API 934J.

Coking Hall

Presentation: A New Technology for Quality Assurance of Weld Overlay Repair of Coke Drums

Urban Showe Jr

Is a Father of 4 and a Grand Father of 4. Is a Master SCUBA Diver and hopes to retire in warm weather to Dive every day   35 years in refining. Has worked on projects for EPROM/ERC in Egypt, YASREF in Saudi Arabia, Shell, UNACAL, TOSCO and Phillips 66 in California. Managing the operations department for Commissioning, Stat-up, Normal Operations, Solids handling, and Deconning units for maintenance turnarounds. With many in the work force performing operational duties for the first time.   Enjoys using years of experience and knowledge of best practices within the industry that work across different operations needs. For Establishing Safety and Training new operators in new grass roots refineries.

Coking Hall

Presentation: Solids Handling