Chemical Engineering Petroleum Expert Witness

Expert Witness No. 808

Expert 808 holds degrees in chemical engineering from Columbia University (PhD, MPhil) and University of California (BS, MS) with over 15 years technology, design, strategic, and analytical experience in the oil and gas industry.  President of a consulting and training firm based in Houston, he consults and lectures extensively in US and overseas.

Expert 808 is a Director of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) Fuels and Petrochemicals Division, the past president of the International Association for Energy Economics— Houston, and an associate member of the State Bar of Texas (Oil, Gas, and Energy Resources Law Section).  Elected Full Member of Sigma Xi in 1987, he holds 20 US and international patents in oil and gas technology, has authored papers in a variety of technical areas, and has presented in and chaired sessions at national and international conferences.  Expert 808 is quoted by industry standards such as the International Energy Agency (IEA) and Chemical Market Reporter.

Education

Ph. D., Chemical Engineering, Columbia University, New York                          1990

M. Phil., Chemical Engineering, Columbia University, New York                        1990

M. S., Chemical Engineering, University of California, Santa Barbara                1985

B. S., Chemical Engineering, University of California, San Diego                       1983

Professional Experience

Private Consulting Firm2000-Present
President

Technical advisor on refining and refinery products for a large US litigation case.  Provided full range of litigation support services related to refinery planning and LPs, operations, maintenance, and product transportation and pricing.

Technical advisor on gasoline storage stability, additives, and transportation issues to member of State of California Attorney General’s Task Force on Gasoline Pricing.  Contributed to the AG’s report.

Developed conceptual design for the recovery of  alkylation unit feedstocks for a 150 MBD refinery.  Included process simulation and complete design book.

Revamped complex computer model of refinery operations and crude/products economics.  Used to advise US and foreign clients on operations, transportation, and trading options.

Assisted client in evaluation of novel diesel desulfurization technology and developed plans for future actions.

Developed workshops in North and South America and the Middle East on Refining Fundamentals, Refining Technology and Operations, Refining Planning and Scheduling, Refining Economics, Clean Fuels Manufacture, Light Gas Upgrading and Petrochemicals Manufacture, Natural Gas Production and Processing, Natural Gas Treating and Sulfur Recovery, Crude Oil Production and Transportation, and Chemical Engineering Fundamentals.

Organized conference on energy economics and deregulation with international attendance and presentations from US Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, the Public Utility Commission of Texas, the Brookings Institution, and Council on Foreign Relations.

Assisted invention firm in developing options and synergies for integration of GTL/Fischer- Tropsch with processes for the manufacture of hydrogen, utilization of carbon dioxide, and production of electricity.

Provided consulting with a number of US venture capital and investment firms on the state of GTL/Fischer-Tropsch technologies.

Valuated client novel gas-to-liquid (GTL) technology for the purposes of royalty negotiations.

Developed client study and report on global petroleum wax market conditions and market entry issues as related to GTL/Fischer-Tropsch technologies and wax products.

Assisted Canadian client in design of upgrader for heavy oil sands project.

Assisted fuel-cell manufacturing client in evaluation of options for synergies with the light gas industries.

Coastal Corporation – Technology and Business Development Department - 1995-99
Principal Engineer and Consultant

Performed economic and technical analyses for a variety of refining and petrochemical plants throughout the US and internationally.  These include a Russian refinery, a US Gulf Coast ethylene glycol facility, and a western US Asphalt, Lube, Wax plant.

Performed strategic analysis of refinery light gas upgrading hardware options (including alkylation unit) and presented at highest corporate levels.  Team recommendations approved, $20 million construction completed and in operation.

Conceptual design of $500 million greenfield refinery in Venezuela which included, among others, crude units, delayed coking, gasoline hydrotreating/desulfurization, and sulfur recovery and handling.  Developed process, utilities, and offsites designs, schedules, operating and capital economics.  Closely integrated with transportation (pipelines, shipping) and upstream.

Evaluated impact of Venezuelan heavy crude properties on US refinery metallurgy including the interacting effects of crude properties and process conditions (such as flow regimes).

Prepared technical proposal and business case for FCC hardware revamp and navigated $4 million project through Board approval.  Key liaison during design, execution, and troubleshooting.  Implemented successfully with short-time payout.

Steered joint corporate/profit-center committee responsible for analyzing, recommending, and implementing FCC operating and capital options.  Realized benefit in excess of $1 million.

Evaluated a variety of processes using computer models, small-scale testing, preliminary process design, and economic feasibility analysis.  These processes include:

Crude Oil H2S removal
Crude unit (incl. desalter and heat balance)
Visbreaker
Delayed coker
Naphtha hydrotreater
Microwave-based desulfurization Biodesulfurization (also de-N/V/Ni/arom) Solid catalyst alkylation
Free-radical-based alkylation replacement
Lube oil dewaxing
Asphalt manufacturer Polymer and refinery grade propane production
Gas recovery train (incl. deC4 and deC3) Amine recovery unit
Sour water stripping
Sulfur recovery/tail gas unit
Hydrogen unit
Utilities and offsites
Storage and transportation strategy (incl. pipelines, port, shipping)
Centrifugal separation of xylenes
Cumene manufacture

Mobil Corporation – Process R&D Division                                                  1990-95
Senior Staff Engineer promoted to Research Engineer

Led a number of test runs and studies of operation of refinery FCC unit regenerators, strippers, reactors, standpipes, and transfer line sections.  Included commercial test runs, theoretical analyses, cold flow and radioactive tracer and scanning studies.

Member of team which developed refinery FCC hardware retrofits for improved stripper operations and increased gasoline production.  Successfully implemented at five locations (cost <$500K, payout approx. $1.8M/year) and offered for licensing.

Provided first-line technical support (including on-site testing, computer modeling, vendor coordination) to refinery FCC units in the Middle East, Japan, Europe, Australia, and US resulting in operational improvements and catalyst cost savings.

Implemented desktop computer application module at refinery allowing low-risk FCC optimization tests.  Trained personnel in use and troubleshooting.

Developed and spearheaded implementation of first systematic performance metrics at site.  Used as model for implementation by other departments.

Additional Information

US Citizen

Fuels and Petrochemicals Division of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (Director)

State Bar of Texas – Oil, Gas and Mineral Law Section (associate member)

International Association for Energy Economics (Houston chapter past-president)

Sigma Xi (elected full member 1987)

Selected Publications and Presentations

Available upon request.

Selected Patents

Available upon request