SAMPLE PROJECTS

Power Industry

Duke Roxboro Chemical Storage Building - Black & Veatch

Mechanical Engineer of record for specification and design package of 10000 ft2 prefab metal building used for chemical storage at Duke Energy Roxboro steam plant. I provided oversight of the HVAC and Fire Protection discipline design activities, and coordinated the specification development for the mechanical equipment such as service/potable water piping, shelving and eyewash/safety shower stations. I also provided support during construction of the pre-engineered metal building to ensure specification and design requirements were met.

German Pellets Port Arthur Nitrogen Inerting System - Black & Veatch

Mechanical Engineer of record for the mechanical systems incorporated to improve process safety during the rebuild of a wood pellet port storage facility.

This included the design of a novel nitrogen inerting system to mitigate self-heating of stored wood pellets via limiting the exposure to oxygen and moisture. I developed the system layout, the flow and pressure requirements, and the orifice sizes. Under my direction a junior engineer developed a flow model using AFT Arrow to verify the layout and system design. During design development I created a plug flow gas mixing model to estimate the length of time which would be required to purge the storage vessels with nitrogen. At a later time our nitrogen supplier provided a CFD model of the expected nitrogen system performance as a function of injection time which corresponded to my preliminary estimates, which provided additional confidence in system function.

The storage vessels were previously vented to atmosphere, and as such needed to be modified to keep the nitrogen gas from readily escaping. I designed a number of devices to seal the storage vessels, including automatic vent dampers and barometric relief devices. In conjunction with PLC control, these allow the vessels to be inerted after filling, while the passive nature of the barometric relief devices mitigates risk of both excessive pressure or vacuum.

Because of the nature of the project, all of the design modifications needed approval of not only the client, but also the AHJ and external stakeholders. This required substantial dialog regarding the design intent.

Renewables

Biogas Sulfur Scavenger Injection System - BETE

A large industrial beef processing facility was successfully using biogas generated onsite to offset a significant quantity of their natural gas demand to generate process steam. The biogas was generated in a large covered lagoon and pressurized into a pipeline to supply the facility via blending with natural gas using a calorimeter to achieve a target heating value. The issue was sulfur present in the biogas was causing them to exceed air permit limits. They had sourced a scavenger to inject into the biogas to mitigate the sulfur, but required a system to deliver it.

In order to avoid introducing ignition sources and the costs associated with intrinsically safe devices, I designed a passive injection system using a two fluid spray nozzle installed in the pipeline which used the pressurized biogas to atomize the scavenger. The scavenger was pumped directly from the supply drum using a pneumatic diaphragm pump with a simple recirculation loop to set a fixed metered flow to the spray.

Design, Standard and Code Review

Safety Analysis for Fuel Cell Power Plant - Collins Aerospace

As part of the S-80 submarine project for the Spanish navy, I conducted a review of the safety analyzes and documentation to verify the fuel cell system complied with both client requirements and EU directives. This was not a trivial task, as the original system design relied on US codes and standards such as NFPA and ASME vs the EU derived client requirements. For example, a major difference was in the method used to classify hazardous areas in the early design. As a consequence a detailed review of the fuel cell system was required to verify conformance with the EN-60079 series of directives (ATEX). In addition, the system risk assessment needed review and updating to confirm with client requirements. This was a consequence of the original analysis being performed on a semi-qualitative basis vs the client required semi-quantitative approach derived from MIL-STD-882E. I directed this verification of the system safety design, and with the Collins team presented our findings to the client.

Novel Gasification Design and Process Review - Black & Veatch

For a confidential client, I participated in a design review with other consultants for a prototype containerized waste energy system designed to generate syngas from animal wastes. My contributions including review and evaluation of the mechanical systems, piping and packaging. In addition, my background was such that I was able to materially contribute to the process analysis, e.g. by assisting in the development of mass and material balances based on the predicted reactant and product delivery rates. In addition, I provided recommendations to simplify the control system by utilizing passive control elements, e.g. flow orifices. The deliverable by the team was a report to the client for which I was the Engineer of Record.

FGD Absorber Hydraulic Analysis - BETE

We were contracted to evaluate the performance of the south FGD absorber tower at the Dallman 33 generating facility for City Water, Light & Power in Springfield IL. The SO2 removal effectiveness of the scrubber was lower than expected which the owner had addressed by using dibasic acid to improve the performance. This added about $200k annual OPEX to the FGD system. There was also a significant opportunity loss due to the nature of FGD allowances (credits) at that time: every 1% increase in removal effectiveness provided about $100k annual revenue in saleable credits.

I developed a comprehensive hydraulic model of the absorber tower using PIPE-FLO, with the model accuracy verified using operational data collected during a site visit. Using performance data from similar FGD wet scrubbers, I developed a correlation between removal effectiveness, liquid-to-gas ratios, and coal sulfur content. It became apparent that the observed 92-93% removal effectiveness for the system should have been achievable without the addition of dibasic acid. Review of the PIPE-FLO model and other aspects of system performance, e.g. no increase in removal effectiveness with the three vs two slurry pumps operational, implied fluid holdup in the absorber tray. A complete report was provided to our client with findings and recommendations.

System Design

Class 1 Div 1 Humidification System - BETE

In order to mitigate the risk of static discharges, a chemical manufacture required a humification system to maintain a minimum humidity level in a manufacturing area. I designed the complete skid mounted pump system plus the nozzles, tubing, water treatment system, instrumentation and controls required for deployment.