In Search of Expertise (Part 7): Thesis Refs + Google Scholar

“Kilometers are shorter than miles. Save gas, take your next trip in kilometers.” -- George Carlin (American stand-up Comedian, Actor and Author. b.1937)

The “References” section of a typical thesis or dissertation offers potential in the identification of experts in a given area of technology.

Combine this information with Google® Scholar tools, and you leverage the value of that information.

Let’s use the following dissertation to illustrate the concept.

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The Low Load Limit of Gasoline Partially Premixed Combustion (PPC): Experiments in a Light Duty Diesel EnginePatrick Borgqvist
Doctoral Dissertation (2013)
by due permission of the Faculty of Engineering, Lund University, Sweden.Free Full Text Source: http://www.energy.lth.se/fileadmin/energivetenskaper/Avhandlingar/Borgqvist_doc_thesis_final.pdf References [Excerpt]
[1] “Emission Standards – European Union – Cars and Light Trucks”, www.dieselnet.com/standards/eu/ld.php
[2] Richter, M., Engström, J., Franke, A., Aldén, M. et al., "The Influence of Charge Inhomogeneity on the HCCI Combustion Process," SAE Technical Paper 2000-01- 2868, 2000, doi:10.4271/2000-01-2868
[3] Hultqvist, A., Christensen, M., Johansson, B., Richter, M. et al., "The HCCI Combustion Process in a Single Cycle - Speed Fuel Tracer LIF and Chemiluminescence Imaging," SAE Technical Paper 2002-01-0424, 2002, doi:10.4271/2002-01-0424
[4] Christensen, M., Einewall, P., and Johansson, B., “Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition (HCCI) using Iso-octane, Ethanol and Natural Gas – A Comparison with Spark Ignition”, SAE Technical Paper 972874
[5] Christensen, M. and Johansson, B., "Supercharged Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition (HCCI) with Exhaust Gas Recirculation and Pilot Fuel," SAE Technical Paper 2000-01-1835, 2000, doi:10.4271/2000-01-1835 ///////
Here’s the strategy …

• Browse the references to find a title or titles of interest
• Google® Scholar search the title(s)
• Note the number of times the title has been cited. Presumably, the higher the cite count, the more authoritative the work is considered by peers within the field, and hence the greater the expertise of the author(s)
• Click the hyperlink for one or more authors of the selected item for more information on a given author
  

Googling Western Research Institute

“What do I think of Western civilisation? I think it would be a very good idea.” -- Mahatma Gandhi (Indian Philosopher, esteemed for his doctrine of nonviolent protest, 1869-1948)

The Western Research Institute (www.westernresearch.org/), an arm of the University of Wyoming, has done some interesting research on topics of interest to desulfurization experts.  Their Web has a search box.  But, as is typical for such organizations, it is not particularly useful in finding documents produced by the organization.

Today’s tip … Use Google® to search for an organization’s technical publications.

For example, when I Google® the following search string …

“western research institute” sulfur

… one of the results is the document listed below …

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A Coal Upgrading Technology for Sub-bituminous and Lignite Coals
V. K. Sethi
Western Research Institute
365 N. 9th Street, Laramie, WY 82072
D. D. Dunlop
Fuels Management Inc.
7027 S. W. 148th Terrace, Miami, FL 33158
ABSTRACT
Fuels Management Inc. (FMI) of Miami, Florida has developed at Western Research Institute (WRI) a low cost, low temperature process to upgrade low-rank coal by reducing moisture, sulfur, ash, and mercury. The coal upgrading process involves heating the coal in a bubbling fluidized bed-based reactor. The process heat required is derived from the coal itself. Upgrading process being a fluidized bed-based technology allows high throughputs, reducing the processing costs. Processing is carried out under controlled oxidizing conditions at mild enough conditions that compared to other coal upgrading technologies; the produced water is not as difficult to treat.
Over the past five years, WRI and FMI have constructed a nominal 400-lbs/hour pilot plant at the WRI facilities in Laramie, WY and performed a series of parametric tests to optimize the technology. Results show that the process can indeed produce a stable, high heating value product with reduced mercury content. Bulk density of the product has been determined from small samples and is typically about 88 % that of the raw coal. This paper describes the details of the technology development efforts.
Free Full Text Source: http://www.westernresearch.org/uploadedFiles/Energy_and_Environmental_Technology/Coal/Upgrading_(Including_Headwaters)/CoalUpgradingFMI.pdf
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By the way, when you Google® my name “jean Steinhardt” one of the links you will see is …

Jean Steinhardt | LinkedIn
www.linkedin.com/in/jeansteinhardtresearch
Houston, Texas Area - Research consultant helping companies extract maximum value from online database subscriptions

In Search of Expertise (Part 6)-What Have You Done For Me Lately?

“Lately it's occurred to me what a long strange trip it's been.” -- The Grateful Dead

Some of the greatest experts in any particular field are either dead or retired.  To find experts who are still active, add a date restriction to your key word search.

For example, after searching the two following key phrases in Ebsco’s Academic Search Premier database …

Academic Search Premier: "heavy crude" OR "heavy oil"

I restricted the results to the following date range …

 2012-2013

Here are a couple of results, including the bios that were attached to each article …

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Hydrocarbon Processing, 00188190, Sep2012, Vol. 91, Issue 9
Upgrade heavy oil more cost-efficiently
Cabrera, C. A., Silverman, M. A.
Abstract
Heavy petroleum resources are becoming significantly more important as the availability of light, sweet crude oil continues to decline (FIG. 1). Heavy-oil resources are difficult to extract, transport and refine. Producers are focused on heavy-oil regions around the world, such as Venezuela, the Amazon basin and Canada's oil sands. A new technology can be used in the field to economically upgrade and significantly improve the properties of heavy oil by reducing viscosity, increasing gravity and removing contaminants (FIG. 2). The authors discuss the economic drivers and benefits now available with this new method.
CARLOS A. CABRERA is the executive chairman of Ivanhoe Energy, a publicly traded oil and gas company. Prior to his appointment, he served as the founding president and CEO of the National Institute of Low Carbon and Clean Energy (NICE) based in Beijing, China. Mr. Cabrera was also a 35-year employee with UOP, holding posts as the president/CEO and then chairman. He is a distinguished associate to the world energy consulting firm FACTS and serves on the board of directors of GEVO, a publicly traded biotechnology company, and the Gas Technology Institute, a US-based leading research, development and training organization. Mr. Cabrera has been given many awards, including being inducted into the University of Kentucky Engineering Hall of Distinction and the Honeywell Corp. 2008 Senior Leadership Award. He earned a BS degree in chemical engineering from the University of Kentucky and an MBA from the University of Chicago.
DR. MICHAEL SILVERMAN is executive vice president and chief technology officer of Ivanhoe Energy. Dr. Silverman joined Ivanhoe in 2007 from Kellogg, Brown and Root (KBR) and is responsible for all technical aspects of Ivanhoe Energy's proprietary heavy oil upgrading process -- HTL (heavy-to-light). This includes interfacing with leading engineering firms in the design of commercial HTL installations, technology development and intellectual property management. Dr. Silverman has almost 30 years of experience in technology development and management, including the commercialization and marketing of new technologies, and is a leading expert in the fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) processes. Prior to joining KBR, Dr. Silverman was the manager of technology development for Stone & Webster, Inc. His earlier experience included the management of fluid catalytic cracking for Tenneco Oil Co., and an assistant professorship in chemistry at Rutgers University.

International Journal Of Energy And Environment, Volume 3, Issue 6, 2012 pp.949-960
Comparative study on sulphur reduction from heavy petroleum - Solvent extraction and microwave irradiation
approach
Abdullahi Dyadya Mohammed1, Abubakar Garba Isah1, Musa Umaru1, Shehu Ahmed1,
Yababa Nma Abdullahi2
1 Department of Chemical Engineering, Federal University of Technology, P.M.B 65, Minna, Nigeria.
2 National Petroleum Investment Management Services (Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation),
Lagos, Nigeria.
Abstract
Sulphur- containing compounds in heavy crude oils are undesirable in refining process as they affect the quality of the final product, cause catalyst poisoning and deactivation in catalytic converters as well as causing corrosion problems in oil pipelines, pumps and refining equipment aside environmental pollution from their combustion and high processing cost. Sulphur reduction has being studied using microwave irradiation set at 300W for 10 and 15minutes and oxidative- solvent extraction method using n- heptane and methanol by 1:1, 1:2 and 1:3 crude- solvent ratios after being oxidized with hydrogen peroxide, H2O2 oxidants. Percentage sulphur removal with n- heptane solvent by 1:1 and 1:2 are 81.73 and 85.47%; but extraction using methanol by different observed ratios gave less sulphur reduction. Indeed when microwave irradiated at 300W for 10 and 15minutes, 53.68 and 78.45% reduction were achieved. This indicates that microwave irradiation had caused oxidation by air in the oven cavity and results to formation of alkyl radicals and sulphoxide from sulphur compound in the petroleum. The prevailing sulphur found in the crude going by FT-IR results is sulphides which oxidized to sulphoxide or sulphones. It is clear that sulphur extraction with heptane is more efficient than microwave irradiation but economically due to demands for solvent and its industrial usage microwave irradiation can serve as alternative substitute for sulphur reduction in petroleum. Sulphur reduction by microwave radiation should be up- scaled from laboratory to a pilot plant without involving extraction column in the refining.
Abdullahi D. Mohammed (dyamoh@futminna.edu,ng ) is Research Scholar at School of Engineering and Engineering Technology, Chemical Engineering Department, Federal University of Technology Minna, Nigeria. He is a corporate member of Nigerian Society of Chemical Engineers (NSChE), member American Society of Chemical Engineers (AIChE), and the proposed Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Association in Nigeria (HAFCAN) to be affiliate to IAHE- TNV- World Hydrogen Energy Trust. He has completed M. Sc (Chemical Engineering) from Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, Nigeria in the year 2010 and earned B.Eng (Chemical Engineering) from Federal University of Technology Minna, Nigeria in year 2002. Engr. Mohammed has authored several publication, among which are “Upgrading Heavy Crude Oil Potentials through Microwave Assisted Distillation”, “Biocide Injection as means of internal corrosion control of Oil Pipeline (a case study of Mobil Producing Nigeria)”, “Effect of Microwave Irradiation on Heavy Petroleum- Diesel distillate yield,”.
Abubakar G. Isah (ag_isah@futminna.edu.ng)  is an Academic Staff of the Federal University of Technology, Minna, He backed his B. Eng, M. Eng (Hons) in Chemical Engineering at Federal University of Technology Minna, Nigeria. He is a corporate member Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) and Council for Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN). He is at present writing up his PhD after undertaking a one year research as an MPhil Student at the University of Birmingham, UK under the sponsorship of the prestigious Education Trust Fund (ETF) Abuja. His research interests are: Alternative energy source and process energy integration & optimization. He is the author of publication “Feed Quality and its Effect on the Performance of the Fluid Catalytic Cracking Unit (A Case Study of Port-Harcout Refinery Company, Nigeria)”.
Musa Umar (umar.musa@futminna.edu.ng)  is a scholar at the Federal University of Technology, Minna, Nigeria and a member of Nigerian Society of Chemical Engineers (NSChE). He earned a National Diploma (Chemical Engineering) in 1997 from Federal Polytechnic Bida, B. Eng (Chemical Engineering) in 2006 from Federal University of Technology Minna, Nigeria and M. Eng (Chemical Engineering) (in View) from the same University. His major research fields are on “Sustainable Energy Development & Utilization, Environmental Engineering and Material Science”. He authored the article “Optimization and Kinetics of Biodiesel Production from Nigerian Jatropha Curcas oil”.
Shehu Ahmed (nmaabdullahi_2006@yahoo.com) is a Research Technologist at School of Engineering and Engineering Technology, Chemical Engineering Department, Federal University of Technology Minna, Nigeria. He has earned Higher National Diploma (HND) certificate (Chemical Engineering) in 1998 from Federal Polytechnic Bida, Nigeria, and Post Graduate Diploma in Education (PGDE) in 2006 from NTI/COE affiliate to Usman Danfodio University Sokoto, Nigeria. He is an Associate Member of Nigerian Society of Chemical Engineers (NSChE) and Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN).
Yababa Nma Abdullahi is a Process Engineer and Superintendent Resources Evaluation at National Petroleum Investment Management Services (NNPC) Lagos, Nigeria. He earned Higher National Diploma (HND) certificate 2001 in Chemical/Petroleum Engineering at Institute of Lobaratory Technology Ibadan, affiliate to University of Port Harcourt Nigeria; and Post Graduate Diploma in Chemical Engineering (PGDE) in 2011 from Federal University of Technology Minna, Nigeria. He is a member of National Institute for Science Laboratory Technologist Association (NISLT) Ibadan, Nigeria.
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By the way, I am still active … visit me at LinkedIn (http://www.linkedin.com/in/jeansteinhardtresearch) and invite me to join your network.

In Search of Expertise (Part 5): OGJ

“Brilliance is typically the act of an individual, but incredible stupidity can usually be traced to an organization” -- Jon Bentley (American Writer, b.1951)
Each edition of that  old stalwart, Oil & Gas Journal (www.ogj.com), typically includes one or two technical articles.  At the end of each such article will be a brief bio of the author(s).  This is another rich potential source when searching for experts in a given field.

If you subscribe to OGJ, take advantage of this feature.  Even if you don’t, however, you may be able to access it through a commercial database like ABI Inform Complete.  Ask your organization’s librarian how to access it.

Here is the abstract of one recent OGJ technical article, including the bios at the end of the article …

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Understanding fines in coking more important now
Abstract
Growth in the need to upgrade heavy crude oils, such as Athabasca bitumen and others, into synthetic crude oils as well as the need to process heavier conventional crudes is increasing the use of coking. Fines, or solids, in delayed-coker feedstocks reduce the ability of the coker to utilize capacity fully. This first of two articles on the presence and effects of fines in delayed-coker feedstocks discusses the nature and sources of fines that enter a coking operation. Fines enter delayed-coker feed from several different sources. Both inorganic and organic fines degrade delayed-coker reliability and overall refinery economics. In some cases, sudden changes in the refinery or a major upset in the refinery's desalter can bring down the delayed coker within hours. In most cases, problems with solids fed to the coker are not as dramatic but still major. Organic fines are primarily hydrocarbons but typically have some inorganic constituents, such as metals, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen.
AuthorAffiliation
The authors
Scott Sayles (ssayles@kbcat.com ) is a principal consultant for KBC Advanced Technologies Inc., Houston, with more than 30 years of refinery and petrochemical experience, ranging from refinery plant manager to research engineer.His technical areas of expertise include operation and design, ebullated-bed residua hydrocracking, hydrotreating, FCCU, and practical understanding of most processes. Sayles is a member of the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers. He holds a BSChE from Michigan Technological University, Houghton, Mich., and an MSChE from Lamar University, Beaumont, Tex.
Sim Romero (sromero@kbcat.com ) is a principal consultant for KBC Advanced Technologies Inc. with more than 30 years as a chemical engineer. He spent 11 years with ConocoPhillips in delayed coking, then 7 years with BP Oil in heavy oils and delayed coking. He moved to ARCO then back to the Conoco/Bechtel Alliance in delayed coking, with a short stay with ExxonMobil, and then spent 7 years with Valero as director of heavy oils and delayed coking, before joining KBC. Romero is a member of the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers and sits on the technical steering committee for Coking.com. He holds a BS in chemical engineering from the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque.
Source:
Sayles, S., & Romero, S. (2013, Jan 07). Understanding fines in coking more important now. Oil & Gas Journal, 111, 82-84,86-87. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1269690631?accountid=144790
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Today’s tips …

TIP #1: Get to know your organization’s librarian.  He or she will tell you about the organization’s subscribed databases and how to access them
TIP #2: Join my LinkedIn network.  Send an invitation to: www.linkedin.com/in/jeansteinhardtresearch/

In Search of Expertise (Part 4): KAUST

“The most powerful force in the universe is compound interest” -- Albert Einstein (German born American Physicist. Nobel Prize for Physics in 1921. 1879-1955)

One could do worse, in the search for expertise, than exploring the KAUST (King Abdulaziz University of Science and Technology) Web (http://www.kaust.edu.sa/).  One path to KAUST expertise is to visit the People tab in each Research Center (http://www.kaust.edu.sa/research/centers/intro.html).  One of the people you will see is Prof. Jean-Marie Bassett …

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Prof. Jean-Marie Basset
Director, KAUST Catalysis Center, KCC
Named Professor, Chemical Science
Division of Physical Sciences & Engineering
Research Interest: environment and green chemistry, new Energy vectors, homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysis, methane and higher alkanes chemistry, single site catalysis, oxidation, metathesis of olefins and alkanes, olefins polymerisation, CO2 chemistry.
source: http://kcc.kaust.edu.sa/Pages/Home.aspx
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You will want, of course, to find out more about this expert.  As it happens, there is a fine Wikipedia article on him …

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Wikipedia
Jean-Marie Basset (born 9 June 1943) is a French chemist, currently the director of KAUST catalysis research center.[1]
 
Professor Basset received his PhD in 1969 from the University of Lyon, France. After a postdoctoral position in Toronto he moved to the Institute of Catalysis in Lyon where he became vice-director.[2] He is Chevalier dans l’Ordre National du Mérite. He came to CNRS in 1971 and has occupied several positions, including vice-director of the Institute of Catalysis Institut de recherches sur la catalyse et l'environnement de Lyon IRCEL Lyon. Dr. Basset also founded the consortium, "Actane," on alkane activation with 11 university labs and five companies. Since 1992, he also has served as scientific director of L’École Supérieure de Chimie Physique Electronique de Lyon (CPE Lyon), which is training 450 chemists and 350 physiscists in a three-year scholarship program. In 1987, he funded the Laboratory of Surface Organometallic Chemistry that became later the laboratory of Chemistry, Catalysis, Polymer, Process (C2P2) that he has held from 1994 to 2007. Professor Basset’s Lyon lab was home to 100 scientists, including Nobel Laureate Yves Chauvin Yves Chauvin who got his Nobel in 2005. He founded and served as President of a European Network on Catalysis, Integrated Design of Catalytic Nanomaterials for a Sustainable Production (IDECAT) which includes 40 labs and 20 companies.
 
Professor Basset holds various professional memberships: He is Member of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts Academia Europaea, Member of the European Academy of Sciences European Academy of Sciences, Member of the French Academy of Technologies, Member of the French Academy of Sciences Academie des Sciences He is the recipient of several national and international awards: The Grand Prix de la Societe Chimique de France Grand Prix Pierre Sue, the «Grammaticakis Neuman» Award of the French Academy of Sciences, the «Alexander Von Humboldt» Award Humboldt Award, the Augustine award of the ORCS ORSC, the Distinguished Achievements Award of IMPI IMPI, the «Prix de l’Institut Français du Pétrole» from the Academy of Sciences, the «Japan Society for the Promotion of Sciences» Award JSPS, the «Procope» Award for French–German collaboration. In 1991, he earned together with Prof. Wolfgang A. Herrmann the renowned scientific research award from the Max Planck Society. He gave several lectures tours including the "Pacific Coast Lecture », the Glen T. «Seaborg Lecture" GT Seaborg lecture (Université of Berkeley], the August-Wilhem-Von-Hofman-Vorselung“ Lecture.
 
He is the author of over 500 publications and 50 patents. His main research interests are the relations between homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysis, the metathesis of olefins and alkanes as well as Ziegler–Natta depolymerization. He has discovered thanks to the discipline of Surface organometallic Chemistry, several new reactions: -The “Metathesis of alkanes” that transforms most acyclic paraffins into their higher and lower homologues, -the “Cleavage of alkanes by methane” a novel reaction linked to the activation of a C-H bond which is even more difficult to activate - that of methane – followed by a series of concerted pathways. The “Transformation of polyethylene to diesel range gasoline” that we also called “Ziegler-Natta Depolymerization”, -the “Non oxidative coupling of methane to ethane and hydrogen” which allows forming a C-C bond from methane alone, -the “Direct transformation of light alkanes to gasoline” which represents another facet of the metathesis of alkanes. The “Direct transformation of ethylene to propylene” a very simple new reaction in which a tungsten tris-hydride on alumina can transform catalytically 3 moles of ethylene into 2 moles of propylene. The dissociative activation of di-nitrogen on a single Tantalum atom.
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Marie_Basset

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The Wikipedia article includes a handy Google Scholar link to Dr. Basset’s publications …

Google Scholar: http://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Jean-Marie%20Basset%20&hl=en&cts=1268335585573&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=ws

So, here are today’s TIPs …

TIP #1: Explore the KAUST Web (http://www.kaust.edu.sa/research/centers/intro.html)
TIP #2: Focus on the KAUST Research Centers (http://www.kaust.edu.sa/research/centers/intro.html)
TIP #3: View the People associated with each KAUST Research Center
TIP #4: Add value by searching for information on select individuals in other sources
TIP #5: Follow the Desulfurization Blog (www.desulf.blogspot.com) for a continuing stream of useful online search tips

Searching Wildly for Thiophene

“If you feel the urge, don't be afraid to go on a wild goose chase. What do you think wild geese are for anyway?” -- Will Rogers (American entertainer, noted for his pithy and homespun humor, 1879-1935)

As great as is Google® Scholar for finding useful stuff, it lacks one important tool … the wild card search.

In search logic, a wild card is a symbol, most often an asterisk (*) or a question mark (?), that enables you to search for a root word and all the words containing the root with one simple search statement.

The wild card feature is one advantage commercial databases like Elsevier’s ScienceDirect (or SciVerse) have over search engines like Google and Yahoo!

Here is a simple example that illustrates the point … Click Advanced Search on the ScienceDirect (www.sciencedirect.com) main page.  Click the Journals tab, select the Title field in the drop down, and enter the key word thiophene.

The result is about 2400 hits.

Now repeat the process, but this time enter the key word preceded with the asterisk (*) … in other words …

*thiophene

This time the results list contains over 5900 hits, including article titles containing the words benzothiophene, dibenzothiophene, as well as a whole lot of other “thiophenes.”

Try a similar search with your favorite chemical compound.

In Search of Expertise (Part 3): ePTQ

“Technology makes it possible for people to gain control over everything, except over technology” -- John Tudor

The Petroleum Technology Quarterly site (www.eptq.com) includes a very informative feature called Technology Q&A.  Experts in various aspects of petroleum technology provide technical answers to very practical problems posed by people in the field.

Consequently, browsing through the Q&A can provide leads on experts you may want to get more information on.  Ralph Ragsdale is one of those people … read on …
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ePTQ Technology Q&A
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Question
Why does the stripping steam trip close when there's a high level in tower?

Answer
27/01/2013  A:  Ralph Ragsdale, Ragsdale Refining Courses, ragsdales@juno.com
The bottom section of a typical coker fractionator contains a proprietary layout of pans, discs and donuts or side-to-side baffles, but no valve trays. So, the typical answer of avoiding an upset of tray sections does not exactly, but does directionally apply. Stripping steam is injected into a vapor space, intended to flow evenly through either horizontal or vertically flowing layers of liquid. When a high level covers the injection point of the steam, unnecessary agitation occurs, adding to the possibility of damage to the internals. 
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To learn more about Ralph, I Googled him in Scholar.  Here is what I found …

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Google Scholar: Ralph Ragsdale

US refiners choosing variety of routes to produce clean fuels
R Ragsdale - Oil and Gas Journal;(United States), 1994 - osti.gov
Description/Abstract Passage of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 has prompted US
refiners to install new facilities to comply with stricter specifications for gasoline and diesel
fuel. Refiners are choosing a number of routes to produce these clean fuels. A roundup of ...
Cited by 6 Related articles Cite

Low pressure coker operation with distillate recycle
CJ Kruse, R Ragsdale, JR Roth, GC Hughes - 1995 - osti.gov
Description/Abstract Todays highly competitive refining industry requires new and existing
process units to maximize the production of high-value products while minimizing capital
and operating expenses. Refiners are rapidly optimizing the design and operation of units, ...
Cited by 2 Related articles Cite

[CITATION] Economics of Resid Conversion Processes
R Ragsdale - 1990 - National Petroleum Refiners …
Cited by 1 Related articles Cite

Reduction of Greenhouse Gases
RD Ragsdale - US Patent App. 12/725,409, 2010 - Google Patents
The heat removal and recovery systems of a nuclear energy source and the heat
requirements of a nearby industrial facility are designed to achieve zero or near-zero
greenhouse gas emissions from the industrial facility. Alternative arrangements of heat ...
All 2 versions Cite

[CITATION] The economics of integrating refining and petrochemicals
R Ragsdale, GL Ewy - PETROLEUM TECHNOLOGY …, 1999 - CRAMBETH ALLEN

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Next, I searched for him in LinkedIn.  You can look for people from within LinkedIn, of course, but I like to use Google …

Google Search String: linkedin ralph ragsdale

Here is the result …

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Ralph Ragsdale
Owner at Ragsdale Refining Courses
Houston, Texas (Houston, Texas Area) Oil & Energy
Join LinkedIn and access Ralph Ragsdale’s full profile. It's free!
As a LinkedIn member, you'll join 200 million other professionals who are sharing connections, ideas, and opportunities.
•See who you and Ralph Ragsdale know in common
•Get introduced to Ralph Ragsdale
•Contact Ralph Ragsdale directly
View Ralph's full profile
Ralph Ragsdale's Overview
Current Owner at Ragsdale Refining Courses
Past Executive Technical Director at Bechtel
Technology Mgr. at MW Kellogg
Senior Process Engr. at Stearns Catalytic Co.
see all
Education Rice University
Connections
87 connections
Websites Company Website
Ralph Ragsdale's Experience
Owner
Ragsdale Refining Courses
June 2007– Present (6 years)
Courses in petroleum refining technologies
Executive Technical Director
Bechtel
Privately Held; 10,001+ employees; Construction industry
1991– 2001 (10 years)
Technology Mgr.
MW Kellogg
Public Company; 1001-5000 employees; Oil & Energy industry
1986– 1991 (5 years)Houston
Senior Process Engr.
Stearns Catalytic Co.
1983– 1986 (3 years)Denver, CO
Process mgr.
Fluor
Public Company; 10,001+ employees; FLR; Construction industry
1972– 1983 (11 years)
Sr. Process Engineer
Tenneco Oil Co.
Public Company; 10,001+ employees; TEN; Automotive industry
1966– 1972 (6 years)Chalmette, La. and Denver, Co.
Process Engineer
Signal Oil & Gas Co.
1953– 1966 (13 years)Houston, TX
Formerly Eastern States Petroleum and Chemical Co.
Ralph Ragsdale's Skills & Expertise
Process Simulation
Oil/Gas
Petrochemical
Process Engineering
Petroleum
Ralph Ragsdale's Education
Rice University
BA, BS, ChE
1949 – 1954
Ralph Ragsdale's Additional Information
Websites:• Company Website
Groups and Associations:
Chemical Process Engineers
Hydrocarbon Processing
Oil & Gas Process Engineer
Oil Refinery Professional
Petroleum Downstream
The Process Engineer
The Process Engineering Connection
World Refining Technology
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The result of all this searching is that we know enough about Ralph to determine whether to trust what he says in the ePTQ Technology Q&A … and, by extension, whether to add him to our list of experts for future reference.

In Search of Expertise (Part 2): Do You Speak Boolean?

“Sometimes when I'm talking, my words can't keep up with my thoughts. I wonder why we think faster than we speak. Probably so we can think twice.” -- Bill Watterson (American Author of the comic strip Calvin & Hobbes, b.1958)

LinkedIn’s advanced search form is very good.  You can make it work even better by using Boolean search strings. Shown below are the number of hits returned from six search strings that were entered into the Keyword box.

LinkedIn Advanced Key Word Search

4	scientist dibenzothiophene
91	scientist (desulfurization OR dibenzothiophene)
859	scientist (sulfur OR desulfurization OR dibenzothiophene)
868	scientist (sulfur OR desulfurization OR benzothiophene OR dibenzothiophene)
967	scientist (sulfur OR desulfurization OR thiophene OR benzothiophene OR dibenzothiophene)
4081	(scientist OR engineer) (sulfur OR desulfurization OR thiophene OR benzothiophene OR dibenzothiophene)

See what power lies in the use of parentheses and OR. 

If your first search yields too few hits, throw a wider net with more key words, connected by OR and nested between parentheses.

Conversely, if you net too many results, remove some key words from the search string.

TIP #1: I find it easier to compose complex search strings in Word or Notepad, and then copy and paste into the LinkedIn Keyword search box.

TIP #2: Save the search strings for future use.  It will save some typing.

TIP #3: Invite me to join your LinkedIn network.  You can find me at: http://www.linkedin.com/in/jeansteinhardtresearch

In Search of Expertise (Part 1) - JOT

“We journalists make it a point to know very little about an extremely wide variety of topics; this is how we stay objective.”  -- Dave Barry (American Writer and Humorist, b.1947)

There are commercial databases containing the names and specialties of experts in every field you can imagine.  However, they do charge for this information.

If you do not have access to such a database, you might want to begin to compile a list of your own.

The Saudi Aramco Journal of Technology (JOT), located at
 http://www.saudiaramco.com/en/home/news/publications-and-reports/saudi-aramco-journal-of-technology.html#news%257C%252Fen%252Fhome%252Fnews%252Fpublications-and-reports%252Fsaudi-aramco-journal-of-technology.baseajax.html,
 is a rich source of biographical information.  At the end of each article in this excellent technology journal are detailed bios of the authors.

Here are a few of them, culled from the last two editions of JOT …

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Dr. Hamoud A. Al-Anazi is the General Supervisor of the North Ghawar Gas Reservoir Management Division in the Gas Reservoir Management Department (GRMD). He oversees all work related to the development and management of huge gas fields like Ain-Dar, Shedgum and ‘Uthmaniyah. Hamoud also heads the technical committee that is responsible for all new technology assessments and approvals for GRMD. He joined Saudi Aramco in 1994 as a Research Scientist in the Research & Development Center and moved to the Exploration and Petroleum Engineering Center – Advanced Research Center (EXPEC ARC) in 2006. After completing a one-year assignment with the Southern Area Reservoir Management Department, Hamoud joined the Gas Reservoir Management Division and was assigned to supervise the SDGM/UTMN Unit and more recently the HWYH Unit. With his team he successfully implemented the deepening strategy of key wells that resulted in a new discovery of the Unayzah reservoir in UTMN field and the addition of Jauf reserves in the HWYH gas field. Hamoud’s areas of interests include studies of formation damage, stimulation and fracturing, fluid flow in porous media and gas condensate reservoirs. He has published more than 50 technical papers at local/international conferences and in refereed journals. Hamoud is an active member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) where he serves on several committees for SPE technical conferences. He is also teaching courses at King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM), Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, as part of the Part-Time Teaching Program. SAUDI ARAMCO JOURNAL OF TECHNOLOGY SPRING 2013 9 In 1994, Hamoud received his B.S. degree in Chemical Engineering from KFUPM, and in 1999 and 2003, respectively, he received his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Petroleum Engineering, both from the University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX.

Dr. Zillur Rahim is a Petroleum Engineering Consultant with Saudi Aramco’s Gas Reservoir Management Department (GRMD). He heads the team responsible for stimulation design, application and assessment for GRMD. Rahim’s expertise includes well stimulation, pressure transient test analysis, gas field development, planning, production enhancement, and reservoir management. Prior to joining Saudi Aramco, he worked as a Senior Reservoir Engineer with Holditch & Associates, Inc., and later with Schlumberger Reservoir Technologies in College Station, TX, where he used to consult on reservoir engineering, well stimulation, reservoir simulation, and tight gas qualification for national and international companies. Rahim is an Instructor of petroleum engineering industry courses and has trained engineers from the U.S. and overseas. He developed analytical and numerical models to history match and forecast production and pressure behavior in gas reservoirs. Rahim developed 3D hydraulic fracture propagation and proppant transport simulators and numerical models to compute acid reaction, penetration, and fracture conductivity during matrix acid and acid fracturing treatments. Rahim has authored 65 Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) papers and numerous in-house technical documents. He is a member of SPE and a technical editor for the Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering (JPSE). Rahim is a registered Professional Engineer in the State of Texas and a mentor for Saudi Aramco’s Technologist Development Program (TDP). He is an instructor of the Reservoir Stimulation and Hydraulic Fracturing course for the Upstream Professional Development Center (UPDC) of Saudi Aramco. Rahim is a member of GRMD’s technical committee responsible for the assessment and approval of new technologies. Rahim received his B.S. degree from the Institut Algerien du Petrole, Boumerdes, Algeria, and his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, all in Petroleum Engineering. 28 SPRING

Dr. Indranil Chatterjee is the Senior Research Microbiologist at the Pune Technology Center, India, for the Oil Field Chemical Division of Nalco (An Ecolab Company). He acquired experience in various microbiological and molecular techniques in addition to projects dealing with global genomic analysis (transcriptomics and proteomics). In addition, Indranil was also involved in pharmaceutical industrial projects with Bayer Vital, GmbH and Wyeth Pharma, GmbH. Following his 6 years of research experience with Medical Microbiology, he joined the Petroleum Microbiology Research Group (PMGR) at the University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Here, Indranil was assigned to a project funded by Genome Canada/Genome Alberta, working as a senior postdoctoral fellow. During this time, he was responsible for conducting research into the composition of microbial communities within varied hydrocarbon resource environments using modern metagenomic tools and evaluating biotechnologies to improve oil production. Indranil was involved in several 50 SPRING 2013 SAUDI ARAMCO JOURNAL OF TECHNOLOGY projects with oil and gas companies before joining the Nalco Technology Center in 2011. Indranil received his B.Pharm. degree from the University of Pune, Pune, India, and his M.S. degree in Molecular Genetics from the University of Leicester, Leicester, U.K. Following this, he successfully completed his Ph.D. degree with the dissertation “Senescence of Staphylococci: Metabolic and Environmental Factors Determining Bacterial Survival and Persistence” at the Institute of Medical Microbiology and Hygiene, University of Saarland-Hospital, Homburg, Germany. Indranil followed this with an additional 3 years of postdoctoral experience in medical and infectious microbiology. He has published in several peer-reviewed journals in the areas of both medical microbiology and petroleum microbiology.

Dr. Gerrit Voordouw has been a Professor of Microbiology in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Calgary since 1986 and has held the NSERC Industrial Research Chair in Petroleum Microbiology since 2007. As an Industrial Research Chair holder, he works closely with major energy companies to coordinate the research activities in his lab focused on sulfur cycle management, corrosion control and improved production. Gerrit served as a member of the Technical Advisory Committee to the Saudi Aramco Research & Development Center (R&DC) from 2009 to 2011. In addition to researching practical aspects of petroleum microbiology, he is project leader of a 4-year Genome Canada funded project, aimed at characterizing the microbial communities in hydrocarbon resource environments through state-of-the-art DNA sequencing technologies. This project started in 2009 and involves 12 co-investigators, as well as participation by other industry professionals. Gerrit received his B.S. and M.S. degrees in Chemistry from the University of Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands, in 1970 and 1972, respectively, and a Ph.D. degree in Physical Biochemistry from the University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, in 1975.

Dr. Peter F. Sanders is a Research Science Consultant in Saudi Aramco’s Research & Development Center (R&DC). He worked for 12 years as a Senior Microbiologist and Research Manager for Oil Plus Ltd., an oil field consultancy company in the U.K., working on solving microbiological problems for most of the major oil field operators all over the world. Prior to that, Peter was a Research Fellow at Aberdeen University, Scotland, and ran a small oil field microbiology company He joined Saudi Aramco in 2001, and has been working on new technologies to predict, monitor, assess and control microbial corrosion, biofouling and contamination problems in water injection, oil production, and transportation and utilities systems. Peter has also been studying downhole microbial growth and microbiology in extreme environments to develop biotechnology-based processes. He has also consulted widely within Saudi Aramco to address operational problems caused by microbial growth in oil field systems. He received his B.S., M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Microbiology from Exeter University, Exeter, U.K.

Dr. Tony Y. Rizk joined Saudi Aramco’s Research & Development Center (R&DC) in July 2006 and is currently a Science Specialist. Throughout his career in the oil and gas industry for well over two decades, Tony has initiated and managed a number of research and deployment projects. He also pioneered the development of new technologies that have been successfully implemented in the oil and gas industry. Tony assumed a number of roles while at the R&DC, and he has been handling the Biotechnology Technical Services activities for the last two years. His work has involved microbially induced corrosion, encapsulation for downhole slow release, MEOR methodologies, reservoir souring and control mechanisms, nitrate corrosion, corrosion inhibitor selection, and corrosion evaluation under high shear stress and hydrotesting. Tony has chaired a number of international and regional conferences, including the Energy Institute Reservoir Microbiology Forum, London, U.K. (2007-2008), the Saudi Aramco Technical Exchange Forum (2009), Technical Chairman of the Middle East Corrosion Conference (2011), Session Chairman of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) conference on MIC at Calgary, Canada (2009), and Session Chairman of both Chemindex and Labtech in Bahrain (2010) and Qatar (2011), respectively. He is also currently the Technical Chairman of the 15th Middle East Corrosion Conference and Exhibition to be held in Bahrain in 2014. Tony received his B.S. in Industrial Engineering and graduated with a Ph.D. in Corrosion Science from Manchester University, Manchester, U.K., in 1992.

Dr. Murat Zeybek is a Schlumberger Reservoir Engineering Advisor and Reservoir and Production Domain Champion for the Middle East area. He works on analysis/interpretation of wireline formation testers, pressure transient analysis, numerical modeling of fluid flow, water control, production logging and reservoir monitoring. He is a technical review committee member for the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) journal Reservoir Evaluation and Engineering. Murat also served as a committee member for the SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition, 1999-2001. He has been a discussion leader and a committee member in a number of SPE Applied Technology Workshops (ATWs), including a technical committee member for the SPE Saudi Technical Symposium, and he is a global mentor in Schlumberger. Murat received his B.S. degree from the Technical University of Istanbul, Istanbul, Turkey, and his M.S. degree in 1985 and Ph.D. degree in 1991, both from the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, all in Petroleum Engineering.

Dr. Oliver C. Mullins is a Science Advisor to Executive Management in Schlumberger. He is the primary originator of downhole fluid analysis for formation evaluation. For this, he has won several awards, including the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) Distinguished Membership Award and the Society of Petrophysicists and Well Log Analysts (SPWLA) Distinguished Technical Achievement Award; Oliver also has been a Distinguished Lecturer four times for the SPWLA and SPE. He authored the book The Physics of Reservoir Fluids: Discovery through Downhole Fluid Analysis, which won two Awards of Excellence. Oliver has also co-edited three books and coauthored nine chapters on asphaltenes. He has coauthored >190 publications and has ~3,100 literature citations. Oliver has co-invented 80 allowed U.S. patents. He is a fellow of two professional societies and is Adjunct Professor of Petroleum Engineering at Texas A&M University. Oliver also leads an active research group in petroleum science.

Dr. Murat Zeybek is a Schlumberger Reservoir Engineering Advisor and Reservoir and Production Domain Champion for the Middle East area. He works on analysis/interpretation of wireline formation testers, pressure transient analysis, numerical modeling of fluid flow, water control, production logging and reservoir monitoring. He is a technical review committee member for the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) journal Reservoir 66 SPRING 2013 SAUDI ARAMCO JOURNAL OF TECHNOLOGY Evaluation and Engineering. Murat also served as a committee member for the SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition, 1999-2001. He has been a discussion leader and a committee member in a number of SPE Applied Technology Workshops (ATWs), including a technical committee member for the SPE Saudi Technical Symposium, and he is a global mentor in Schlumberger. Murat received his B.S. degree from the Technical University of Istanbul, Istanbul, Turkey, and his M.S. degree in 1985 and Ph.D. degree in 1991, both from the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, all in Petroleum Engineering.

Dr. Chengli Dong is a Senior Fluid Properties Specialist in the Shell FEAST team (Fluid Evaluation and Sampling Technologies), and previously he was a Schlumberger Reservoir Domain Champion. Chengli has been a key contributor on the development of downhole fluid analysis (DFA) as well as DFA applications in reservoir characterization. He conducted extensive spectroscopic studies on live crude oils and gases, and led the development of interpretation algorithms on the DFA tools. In addition, Chengli has extensive field experience in design, implementation and analysis of formation testing jobs. He has published more than 50 technical papers, and he co-invented 10 granted U.S. patents and nine patent applications. Chengli received his B.S. degree in Chemistry from Beijing University, Beijing, China, and his Ph.D. degree in Petroleum Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas.

Dr. Julian Y. Zuo is currently a Scientific Advisor in Reservoir Engineering at the Schlumberger Houston Pressure and Sampling Center. He has been working in the oil and gas industry since 1989. Recently, Julian has been leading the effort to develop and apply the industry’s first simple Flory-Huggins- Zuo equation of state (EOS) for predicting compositional and asphaltene gradients to address a variety of major oil field concerns such as reservoir connectivity, tar mat formation, asphaltene instability, flow assurance, nonequilibrium with late gas charging, etc. He has coauthored more than 140 technical papers in peer-reviewed journals, conferences and workshops. Julian received his Ph.D. degree in Chemical Engineering from the China University of Petroleum, Beijing, China.

Dr. D. Brett Fischbuch is currently involved in reservoir management activities for North Ghawar in the Southern Area Reservoir Management Department. Prior to joining Saudi Aramco in 2006, he worked in a variety of engineering positions with ExxonMobil and Chevron over a 17-year period. Brett received his B.S. degree in Chemical Engineering from Brigham Young University, Provo, UT, and his Ph.D. degree in Petroleum Engineering from Texas A&M University, College Station, TX.

Dr. Aqil Jamal is a Senior Research Engineer with the Carbon Management and Hydrogen Production Team at Saudi Aramco’s Research and Development Center. He is the lead engineer responsible for conducting a detailed techno-economic assessment of combined hydrogen and electricity production with CO2 capture using oil-based fuels. Prior to joining Saudi Aramco in 2010, Aqil was involved in process development research related to energy conversion, gasification and CO2 capture from industrial point sources with multiple companies in the U.S., including Fluor Corp., Praxair Inc., GTI and RTI International. He received his Ph.D. degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

Dr. Thang V. Pham was a Research Science Consultant with Saudi Aramco’s Research and Development Center in Dhahran between 2004 and 2011, leading oil-to-hydrogen development efforts at the Center. He is currently with the University of Queensland, working as the Director of External Research Collaboration. Prior to joining Saudi Aramco and for more than a decade, Thang held product development and management roles in various start-ups and joint ventures in Australia and Canada, focusing on bringing the Solid Oxide Fuel Cell technology to market. He received his B.Eng. degree and a Ph.D. degree, both in Chemical Engineering, from the University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.

Dr. Mohammed Al-Juaied is the Chief Technologist leading the Carbon Management and Hydrogen Production Team at Saudi Aramco’s Research and Development Center. He has worked in several different areas, including refining, gas processing and upstream oil activities. Mohammed is also serving as a member of the Accelerated Transformation Technology Initiative Team at Saudi Aramco. He was a 2008-2009 visiting scholar with the Belfer Center’s Energy Technology Innovation Policy research group at Harvard University, where he focused on the economics and policies of carbon capture and sequestration. Mohammed received his M.S. degree in Petroleum Engineering and his Ph.D. degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, and an MPA from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, Cambridge, MA. He has published several articles related to carbon capture.

Dr. Olugbenga Olukoko is a Petroleum Engineering Specialist in the Reservoir Simulation Division. He joined Saudi Aramco in 2005, initially in the Reserves Assessment and Reservoir Development Planning Division, and has been working in the Reservoir Simulation Division since 2008. Prior to joining Saudi Aramco, he worked for Shell and Pan Ocean Oil in Nigeria and the U.K. North Sea, holding various positions between 1988 and 2005 in drilling, production, operations and field development reservoir engineering. Olugbenga’s core skills are in integrated reservoir studies and field development reservoir engineering with an emphasis in reserves assessment, reservoir management and reservoir simulation. He received his B.S. and M.S. degrees in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Lagos, Lagos, Nigeria, in 1986 and 1988, respectively. Olugbenga then received his Ph.D. degree in Computational Stress Analysis from Imperial College, University of London, London, U.K., in 1992.

Dr. Amer A. Amer joined Saudi Aramco’s Research and Development Center in September 2007 after more than 12 years in the U.S. automotive industry where he was involved in the various design and development activities of many engine programs. Since joining Saudi Aramco, Amer has led various research projects on engine/fuel experimentation and combustion, and kinetics simulation, and he has contributed to designing and executing the strategic direction for the Petroleum Fuel Formulation Initiative. He is currently the Chief Technologist for the Fuel Technology R&D Division. Amer has coauthored more than 20 papers in the fields of engine experimentation, diagnostics and simulation, and he organized and chaired many Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) technical sessions. Amer received his B.S. and M.S. degrees in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Jordan, Amman, Jordan, in 1987 and 1990, respectively. He also received his Ph.D. degree in Mechanical Engineering from Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, in 1995 and an MBA from Madonna University, Livonia, MI, in 2002.

Dr. Junseok Chang joined Saudi Aramco’s Research and Development Center in October 2010. He has spent his entire career in the field of internal combustion engine and advanced combustion strategy development, including 12 years of laboratory experience involving extensive engine research projects. Prior to joining Saudi Aramco, Junseok worked for General Motors’ Research & Development department for 5 years, and with the start-up company Transonic Combustion, which makes novel fuel injectors. His main interest is to improve fuel efficiency and reduce emissions from internal combustion engines, using fuel as the main enabler. Junseok’s specialty is in advanced combustion engine research. He was academically trained in the thermo-science and heat transfer of the internal combustion engine. In 1999, Junseok received his M.S. degree from Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea, and in 2004, he received his Ph.D. degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI.

Dr. Tidjani Niass is a Science Specialist with Saudi Aramco’s Research and Development Center. Prior to joining Saudi Aramco in 2008, he was the head of the Chemical Engineering Department at the French Petroleum Institute (IFP) in France. During his career, Tidjani has led several research projects in the fields of carbon management, power generation systems, gas turbines, CO2 capture technologies and fuel effects on internal combustion engines. He has been involved in several European Union R&D programs. Tidjani has delivered graduate level courses on combustion modeling at the IFP School, served as an advisor for Ph.D. students and held positions on several thesis defense juries. He holds 15 patents and has published numerous technical papers. Tidjani received his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Chemical Engineering from the Institut National Polytechnique de Lorraine, Lorraine, France.

Dr. Ahmed H. Alhuthali is a Supervisor in Saudi Aramco’s Southern Area Reservoir Management Department. In addition to his current assignment, Ahmed is the Asset Team Leader of ‘Uthamaniyah field overseeing various financial and technical activities. During his 14 years with the company, he has worked on multiple assignments concerning reservoir engineering aspects for four giant fields. Ahmed is interested in reservoir and production system integration and optimization. He is also interested in risk management and decision making under uncertainty. In 1998, Ahmed received his B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering from King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM), Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. In 2003, he received his M.S. degree in Petroleum Engineering from Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, and in 2011, he received his Ph.D. degree in Petroleum Engineering, also from Texas A&M University. He earned a business certificate from Mays Business School at Texas A&M University in May 2008. Ahmed is a member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE). He has published many technical papers on topics related to reservoir management. 

PTQ Q&A search: sulfur vs. sulphur (key word criticality)

“The question isn't who is going to let me; it's who is going to stop me.” -- Ayn Rand (Russian born American Writer and Novelist, 1905-1982)

The Technical Q&A feature on the ePTQ (www.eptq.com) Web is a rich resource.  But here’s a tip for key word searchers … be very specific.  For example, when searching for discussions pertaining to “sulfur,” search for “sulfur,” browse the results, and then search AGAIN for “sulphur.”  This will produce different results.

Here is one Question and Answer …

QuestionWe are going to commission a new refinery which includes Hydrogen Unit also. The Naphtha feed specication for the Hydrogen unit is less than 1ppm Sulfur and boiling range of IBP-95 degC. But during commissioning we cannot suppy the above naphtha spec. So it is agreed to supply naphtha with boiling range of IBP-160 deg C and Sulfur less than 150 ppm for initial one month. The Feed Desulphurised catalyst vendor says it cannot handle beyond 30 ppm Sulfur. Can anyone share such experience and can advise how to manage the situation. Also what will be the Hydogen yield with changed specfication of feed Naphtha?

Answers

29/03/2013

Ralph Ragsdale, Ragsdale Refining Courses, ragsdales@juno.com

I agree with the other responses. Don't do it. Normal procedure is to import low sulfur naphtha from another refinery to feed the cat reformer, which in turn produces both sweet naphtha for the hydrogen plant feed and the hydrogen needed to start the cat reformer pretreater. This all happens before running out of the imported sweet naphtha.

 

27/03/2013

Alan Goelzer, Jacobs Consultancy, alan.goelzer@jacobs.com

This may be a "Catch 22" situation. Usual practice has been to start up the catalytic reformer on purchased hydrotreated heavy naphtha and get the naphtha hydrotreater unit [bulk WSR or LSR and HSR separate NHTU] running so that there is internally available air-free / hydrotreated light naphtha AND cat reformer hydrogen to start up the hydrogen plant. Cat reformer hydrogen [preferably sent through chloride trap] serves temporarily as 'service hydrogen' for the Feed Vaporization & Pretreating System. Most of the sulphur species in straight-run naphtha will be a combination of mercaptans, thiophenes, and sulfides. These are not as well captured by the Zinc Oxide expendable sorbents as H2S. But the trim hydrotreater system after the fired vaporizer and ahead the Zinc Oxide sorbent beds which turns residual sulphur species in previously hydrotreated light naphtha feed requires some 'service hydrogen'.

 

Accumulation of sulphur and accelerated 'coke' formation from sending heavy naphtha into the reformer catalyst tubes may debit replacement life of the reforming catalyst and conversion selectivities.

 

Note that I remain an advocate for "super hydrotreating" of lightest possible naphtha as hydrogen plant feed.

 

26/03/2013

keith bowers, B and B Consulting, kebowers47@gmail.com

Feeding even low sulfur naphtha to the hydrogen unit will poison the catalyst, likely beyond recovery. You should purchase on-spec naphtha, put it in a clean tank, and feed on-spec naphtha to the hydrogen unit. Otherwise, no warranty on catalyst, no hydrogen make, big mess.

 

Conference Alert: 23rd North American Catalysis Society Meeting

“Both optimists and pessimists contribute to our society. The optimist invents the airplane and the pessimist the parachute.” -- G. B. Stern (British novelist)

The 23rd North American Catalysis Society Meeting (http://www.cvent.com/events/23rd-north-american-catalysis-society-meeting/event-summary-7114a9bbbfdf406c83b519c6d26af8e0.aspx) is scheduled for June 2- 7, 2013.

There is good reason to visit the URL listed above, beyond the obvious one of finding out how to register for the event.  The site has a multitude of very informative extended abstracts (https://nam.confex.com/nam/2013/webprogram/), like the one below …

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EXCERPT FROM AN EXTENDED ABSTRACT O\N THE 23rd North American Catalysis Society Meeting WEB
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Probing the Hydrodesulfurization Properties of Metal Phosphides Using Core-Shell Nanoparticle Catalysts
Mark E. Bussell 1*, Stephanie L. Brock 2, Galbokka H. Layan Savithra 2, Richard H. Bowker 1 and Bo A. Carrillo 1
1 Dept. of Chemistry, MS-9150, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA 98225 USA
2 Dept. of Chemistry, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI 48202 USA
*mark.bussell@wwu.edu
Introduction
Transition metal phosphides show excellent promise for hydrotreating reactions and the most active phosphides, Ni2P and Ni-rich bimetallic phosphides, have exhibited higher HDS and HDN activities than commercial sulfided Co-Mo and Ni-Mo catalysts [1,2]. Oxide-supported metal phosphide catalysts are most often prepared by temperature-programmed reduction (TPR), in which phosphate-like precursors are heated in flowing hydrogen to a maximum temperature in the range 823-923 K. TPR methods do not enable size and shape control of the degree needed to probe microstructure-reactivity relationships in transition metal phosphides. In this study, the preparation, characterization and hydrodesulfurization (HDS) properties of mesoporous silica encapsulated metal phosphide nanoparticles (Ni2P, Pd5P2) having narrow polydispersity were investigated.
Significance
Encapsulation of metal phosphide nanoparticles to form core-shell structures (e.g. Ni2P@mSiO2) minimizes sintering of the nanoparticles and enables probing of the microstructural properties of metal phosphide catalysts under the harsh reaction conditions relevant to industrial hydrotreating processes
source: https://nam.confex.com/nam/2013/webprogram/Paper7167.html
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Here are three time-saver tips …

TIP #1: Bookmark the North America Catalysis Society Web (http://nacatsoc.org/) and visit it from time to time for event information
TIP #2: Explore the extended abstracts feature of the 23^rd Meeting (https://nam.confex.com/nam/2013/webprogram/) for the names of people to add to your personal list of experts
TIP #3: Visit the Desulfurization Blog once a week or so for more time-saver tips