Chemical Engineer for Specialty Amines, Aspen Modeling, Process Control and Process Hazard Review Leadership

Expertise

• Chemical engineering expert for specialty amines and alkanolamines process and manufacturing facilities.
• Chemical process design, development and engineering.
• Steady state and dynamic process modeling and simulation.
• Expert in Aspen modeling and simulation.
• Developing and implementing process control strategies.
• Energy integration and optimization.
• Chemical process and project option evaluations.
• Process troubleshooting, plant, unit operation and project startup.
• Operations management and personnel training.
• Experienced in processes like catalytic hydrogenation, ethoxylation, amination and esterifications.
• Process safety management, hazards and consequence analysis.
• Experienced in Process Hazard Analysis Software Tool (PHAST) for safety and environmental modeling.
• Certified to lead Process Hazard Analysis per OSHA Process Safety management (PSM).

Experience

Independent Consultant, Present

Undisclosed Firm, Senior Principal Process Engineer, 2006 - 2010

• Technology expert for specialty amines and alkanolamines business; supporting amines and alkanolamines plants in Florida, Louisiana, Michigan, and Germany.
• Completed plant scale-up and startup for two new amine products in Pace, FL.
• Completed process package for $24 million expansion (7 alkanolamine products), St.Gabriel, LA.
• Led process hazard reviews of 7 plant units in Riverview, MI (certified PHA leader).
• Developed energy integration project for major chemical facility in Leuna, Germany utilizing detailed Aspen process simulation modeling.
• Provided technological consultation across the organization for process scale up, new products and process research and development.
• Developed in-house physical properties databank for process modeling and design.

Air Products and Chemicals, Allentown, PA, and Wichita, KS, 1994 - 2006

Senior Principal Process Engineer and Team Leader Project Manager

• Supported polyurethane intermediates and amines facilities in Texas, Louisiana and Florida world scale DNT, TDA, SA plants.
• Sulfuric acid plant rates, carbon treatment and steam system (Geismar, LA).
• Sulfuric acid quality, nitric acid, dintrotoluene, carbon and steam system OPHR (Pasadena, TX).
• Support for world scale methylamines, ethylamines, isopropylamines and higher amines plants (Pensacola, FL, St Gabriel LA).
• Developed new process for cyclohexylamine and commercialized diamylamines.
• Invented and implemented monoamylamine process (Pensacola, FL)
• Methylamines storage safety "Fault Trees" (Pensacola, FL)
• Waste water treatment - design of tank aeration and sludge filtration project (St. Gabriel, LA).
• Global business development and engineering projects planning.

Support and Consultation

• Large scale alkylamines and alkanolamines facilites in Teeside, U.K., and Chocques, France.
• Methylethanolamines aqueous process, isopropanolamines quality, product ratio and debottlenecking plant improvements, dimethylethanolamines non-aqueous process, distillation redesign and implementation in Chocques, (France).
• Dimethylethanolamine quality, ethylene oxide emissions, storage and handling, Teeside (U.K.)
• Batch hydrogenation process specialty amines manufacture in Wichita, Kansas and various toll units.
• Led de-bottlenecked a facility from 9 million lbs/year to 25 million lbs/yr.
• Conceptualized, championed and executed numerous technological and business process changes over 5 years to turn around the specialty amines business from an under-performing assets to a 20% PBIT business.
• Team lead for cobalt dimethylaminopropylamine (DMAPA) turnaround, also 1,8-Diazabicyclo [5.4.0] undec-7-ene (DBU) and N-Ethyl-1,2-dimethylpropylamine (EDMPA) improvements.
• Commercialized a new $15 million potential product co-ordinating a team research and development, manufacturing, engineering and marketing personnel for aminopropyldiethanolamine (APDEA).
• Champion of new technologies and new product committees, key inventor for applying supercritical hydrogenation, reactive distillation, mini-plants for existing and new products.
• Technology leader for European methyls and derivatives in UK and France (supporting Teeside and Chocques FR plants) in Chem PST.
• Technology coordinator for Monolith PACM (Para-AminocyClohexylMethane)hydrogenation research and development program in Chem IPP.

Monsanto Company, Nitro Plant, WV and Research Center, Akron, OH, 1989 - 1994

Senior Process Technologist and Lead Process Engineer

• Led process development and design, managed projects through scope development, funds appropriation, detailed design, construction, start-up, operator training and troubleshooting.
• Developed project proposals to modify existing processes for optimizing costs, quality, yields and pollution performance. Interfaced with environmental agencies, consultants, and contract engineering.
• Participated in vendor and customer quality audits.
• Developed new procedures and standards for process safety management and ISO 9000.
• Retrofitted two processing operations involving 20 new pieces of equipment, 150 instrument points, and Provox distributed process control. Completed $1.5 million project resulting in $400,000 per year costs savings and 70% reduction in solid waste.
• Implemented a major process redesign project reducing SARA Title III air emissions by 90%, which required emissions testing, process modifications, containment and recycling designs, and new equipment.
• Demonstrated breakthrough process improvement insights into 20 and 30 year old commercialized rubber chemical processes which led to a complete redirection in the respective process improvement programs.

Felton Worldwide Inc., Brooklyn, NY, Process Development Engineer, 1987 - 1989

• Developed scale up methods for laboratory processes for more than 15 organic chemical products used in sunscreen cosmetics, flavors and fragrances.
• Responsible for pilot batching of new or improved product formulations.
• Gained extensive experience with analytical chemistry instruments such as GC, HPLC, ion chromatography, IR/UV spectroscopy and mass spectrometry.
• Achieved a step improvement in quality and a 15% yield improvement in a sunscreen chemical manufacturing process.

Hindustan Lever Ltd., Research Center, Bombay, India, 1982 %u2013 1987

• Filled positions: Process Research Engineer (Bioprocesses), Jr. Research Engineer (Detergents).
• Responsible for scaling up laboratory processes to pilot production scale, while providing process development expertise at the research stage.
• Performed feasibility studies, planned and supervised experimental designs, established key scale up parameters, and prepared project proposals for commercialization.
• Developed a complete manufacturing process from fermentation to product recovery for organic acids (lactic acid, propionic, butyric), which involved numerous inventions for process improvement.
• Achieved a breakthrough in a fungal enzyme (tyrosinase) recovery process which led to successful product development after nearly ten years of previous attempts.
• Demonstrated a production scale enzyme catalytic (lipases) process which led to commercial success.
• Tested and developed new detergent additives, fillers, bleaching agents, and foaming agents.
• Studied physical processes and techniques such as microencapsulation and supercritical extraction.

Honors & Publications

Credentials

• Certified in lead Process Hazard Analysis per OSHA Process Safety management (PSM).

Academic and Professional Affiliations

• American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE)
• American Chemical Society (ACS)
• ABS Consulting Certified Process Hazards Review Leader

Honors

• Winner of Technology Excellence Award and PACM team leader Award.

Publications and Patents

• Author of educational text, presentations, of peer reviewed articles and a public speaker.
• 1 U.S. patent.

Education

• M.S. Information Systems and Management, Marshall University, Graduate College, WV
• B.Tech. Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, India