The Team

Summary

A comprehensive background in Petrochemical, Utility & Marine engineering, with specific expertise for refinery process & power generating plant and the related legislation for ensuring safe production. Originally trained, qualified and served as Marine engineer officer over a 16-year period before transferring to shore based Petro-chemical inspection position. Management skills optimised to lead a technical service group in a large UK refinery, implementing change and achieving technical & financial objectives.

Professional Experience

1996 to present

• Self-employed Inspection engineer.
• Consulting, advisory, inspection and technical work for various clients / activities as below:

2019 – present

• Technical author for Worldwide Marine Technology (WMT, Chester, UK), employed in freelance capacity writing operating manuals for marine vessels (i.e. passenger liners) and Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessels

2018 – 2019

• Employed at BP Saltend then Petroineos, Grangemouth for 2019 TAR preparation and implementation support

2014 – 2018

• Employed at Stanlow (ESSAR) Refinery as lead in the review and challenge of all static equipment scheduled for address in the major 2018 block turnaround of multiple units on the Oils site – Crude Distillation, Catalytic Cracking, Gas Plants, Aromatics, Platforming, Hydro-desulpherising processes etc. to include hundreds of items for which a degree of knowledge of function, corrosion loops, RBI etc. is paramount and all of which to be completed in a tight timeframe. Additionally, support given on day to day support, smaller unit TA’s (Platformer 2 and Sulphur Recovery Unit) and boiler inspections. Final activity was to inspect the Crude Distillation Furnaces at the Stanlow 2018 major turnaround

2013 - 2014

• Employed as Inspection consultant (Manager), for 8 months on site, to set up and Implement Inspection systems and strategies for all equipment assets and personnel on a new LNG plant during Construction and commissioning for Donggi- Senoro LNG (DSLNG) based in Sulawesi, Indonesia. Retained as home-based consultant until end of assist in the completion of the necessary legal & procedural documentation to enable start up

2011 – 2013

• Risk Based Inspection (RBI) & IOW (Integrity Operating Windows) lead at Essar, Stanlow Refinery & Chemicals complex. Conducting & facilitating a series of multi discipline workshops to review, revise and embed the inspection / maintenance strategy and processes to improve plant integrity. Also involved as senior inspection engineer in two major plant maintenance turnarounds

2004 – 2011

• Retained by Shell UK Ltd, Stanlow Refinery as team leader in ‘Global Asset Management for Excellence (GAME)’ project, specifically relating to assessment and systemisation of refinery piping. This resulted in a full review of all refinery process piping, its assessment, systemisation, development of schemes of examination and scheduling, to result in a comprehensive and demonstrable management process to satisfy legislative and business requirements. Also played a role in the refinery’s Corrosion under insulation (CUI) programme, a $25m spend to capture arrest and prevent CUI occurring on the site’s most critical equipment. The programme was part of a Shell global $1 bln initiative and meant the development of procedures to enable peer review with other sites. Also involved as senior inspection engineer in annual major plant maintenance turnarounds at Stanlow and other UK refineries

1998 – 2004

• Retained by Shell UK Ltd, Stanlow Refinery as team leader engaged in several concurrent projects relating to refinery assets integrity management, including key engineering data collation and cut over to new computer systems (SAP); Risk and Reliability Management (RRM) specifically embedding Risk Based Inspection (RBI) processes into the maintenance culture for all static equipment. This latter also included a spell as RBI workshop facilitator following a serious process incident and the management of applicable remedial action outputs. Acted as senior inspection engineer during major shutdown periods on process units

1996 – 1998

• retained in an advisory capacity with several companies for inspection, maintenance and associated legislative matters. This work included the assessment of and setting up of a maintenance programme for all static equipment in a Lubricating Oils plant (Shell Lubricants Centre). Conducting an 8-week review of plant / piping for a 10% BDEP estimate relating to a plant recommissioning project (HDT2 at Stanlow). Also acted during this period as senior inspection engineer on 4 off maintenance shutdowns, 3 off being at Stanlow and 1 at SASREF, El Jubail (KSA)

Career history with Shell

Shell UK Ltd:

Chief Inspection Engineer (Mechanical) 1991 – 1995

Senior Inspection Engineer (Mechanical) 1985 – 1991

Plant Inspection Engineer (Mechanical) 1980 – 1985

• Responsible for development, implementation and maintenance of department procedures and services to ensure process reliability and integrity in a cost effective and demonstrable environment
• Key role for the interpretation of UK legislation (Pressure Systems Regulations SI1269) and its application to refinery processes. Developed and implemented inspection policy and practice to satisfy the law
• Company Inspectorate representative on a multi company user group (EEMUA) for information conduit purposes between industry and legislative bodies (UK & Europe)
• Facilitator in departments successful accreditation to BS5750 & NCSIIB, both industry ‘firsts’
• Focal point for sourcing, evaluating and application of new inspection technology e.g. real time x-ray (fluoroscopy), thermal imaging, acoustic emission (AE), acoustic ranging, automated UT systems, eddy current etc
• Planned, coordinated and executed Stanlow’s inspection strategy within budget for its biggest multiple plant shutdowns in its history (1991 and 1994) with respective costs circa £30m
• Developed and applied risk-based inspection rationale to enable utility and process plant run lengths to be significantly extended without jeopardising integrity or reliability

Shell Tankers UK Ltd:

Second Engineer Officer (Marine) 1972 – 1979

Third Engineer Officer (Marine) 1971 – 1972

Fourth Engineer Officer (Marine) 1970 – 1971

Fifth Engineer Officer (Marine) 1968 – 1970

Engineer Apprentice (Marine) 1963 – 1968

• Fully qualified by 1976 and as Second Engineer Officer from 1972 was responsible to the Chief Engineer for all technical aspects and staff management relating to the running and maintenance of marine machinery.
• As Second Engineer Officer, experienced in the planning and execution of new construction commissioning and dry docking of Oil Tankers from conventional product carriers to very large crude carriers (VLCC’s).

Education & Qualifications

• First Class DTI Certificate of Competency (Steam & Motor) – 1976
• Byrom St College (now Liverpool JM University) – block periods from 1970 – 76
• Riversdale Technical College (Marine Engineering.) – 1963 – 68

Training & Skill sets

• Statistical Process Control (SPC)
• Risk & Reliability Management (RRM i.e. RBI, RCM, IPF)
• Integrity Operating Windows (IOW’s)
• Root Cause Analysis (RCA)
• Tools & Techniques (Pareto, Cause & Effect Diagrams, Flow Diagrams, etc.)
• Computer Software applications
• Management of Change
• Batalus Lead Assessor (BS5750)
• Nonspecific training throughout career to support technical and management skill requirements e.g. Process corrosion and its control, welding procedures & welder qualification assessment, NDE techniques and flaw detection, HASAWA & related H&SE, Inspection and Construction CoPs (corporate & international), Plant Change Process & Quality management, etc. etc