Engineering an Entrance

April 30, 2008

My employers have rented the office next to ours. As the annex is meant to contain senior management and regional services, while engineering grunts are in the main office, you could have said that, well maybe having two different offices coincidentally on the same floor would be acceptable.

Us being engineers, wanted to created a direct route between the two offices without mixing with the riffraff in the corridors, so our solution has been recorded for posterity on video

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Saturday Star 08-04-26 – Job Opportunities

April 29, 2008

Another week, another scan of the Saturday Star newspaper. Here’s an incomplete list of job ads in the paper:

  • Scientige is looking for a mess of engineers: structural, foundation, IT, naval, Ops and Maint, Noise and Vibr, Pipeline, E&I, Mech, Process (my favourite!), flow assurance, Mat and Corr, Metal and Weld, Risk. One of the company owner’s a good friend of mine, so you should be in safe hands… or complain on this blog. Letters to MD, Scientige Sdn. Bhd., Suite 8-11, Wisma UOA II, No. 21, Jalan Pinang, 50450 KL (attn: Manager, HR&Admin) or email here.
  • Nippon Oil is looking for a whole mess of people. I guess they want to staff up a project management team (PMC) for new developments. Engineering positions available: contract, facility, senior production, senior reservoir, civil, senior opns, senior process, senior maintenance, HSE. Snail mail before 15th May, 2008 to Human Resources Section, Nippon Oil Exploration (Malaysia), Ltd, Lot 1168, 3rd Floor, Wisma Interhill, Miri Waterfront Commercial Centre, 98000 Miri, Sarawak.
  • And I thrown in for free, my employers.

Happy hunting. Let me have some feedback if you find this list useful. Even better, spread the news. PayPal donations welcome.

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Can’t See Forest for the Trees

April 27, 2008

Here’s an interesting photo I took while on my way to Kerteh:

Open truck with HAZMAT label

 I’ve never seen one on an open truck. We usually see these labels on bulk purpose built road kings.

If you can’t see, the truck is said to transport natrium hydroksida (sodium hydroxide or caustic acid to non-native speakers). You don’t move that stuff around in open trucks if you don’t mean to strip the flesh of passersby or spray lye along the roadway if it rains.

I guess they use the truck to move drums of the stuff around, and decided that the risk warranted the application of the sign. Very conscientious of them.

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IEM presentation write-up

April 26, 2008

On Thursday, 24th April 2008, there was a small delegation from my company who went and attended the afternoon tea talk arranged by the Oil, Gas and Mining Technical Division of the IEM, of which I am the SecTreas. The talk was entitled ‘Talk on Upsteam Activities in Oil and Gas Industry.’ The speaker was En. Meor Shahrin Mahmood, currently Manager of Domestic, South-East Asia and Australasia regions, Basin Analysis & New Ventures Department, Exploration Division, PETRONAS Carigali Sdn. Bhd (PCSB), what a mouthful.

My colleague, Hui Hin, wrote up a summary of the talk. Visit her site to read the presentation notes.

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Expectations and Standards – Read, don’t Assume

April 25, 2008

Here’s an interesting question. If you wish to indicate whether a valve is open or close, which one of the following would you use:

Valve Indicator - Red and Green
Here’s an example where the same company uses a red valve to indicate both open and closed status. Let’s get the obvious out the way: a given facility has a standard method of indication. For the company in question, onshore facilities have red indicating open valves, offshore facilities use green.

Now, why two different standards be used? You have to see ‘certain points of view’ (since we’re using Star Wars cliches here):

  • If you were an electrical engineer, red means energized and equipment is in its working state. For a valve, this would mean the valve is open.
  • If you were a process engineer, you’d choose green for go.

So, the colours chosen for your mimic panel or basic process control system (BPCS) display would be whether the process or electrical engineers spec’ed out the system.

Engineers, RTFM.

 

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The Star – credit-rating blacklist for PSD student loan defaulters

April 24, 2008

Quoting from the Star:, Saturday 12th April 2008:

“AFTER trying just about everything to recover payments for study loans and still not making any headway, the Public Service Department has come up with a last-gasp measure – to put defaulters on the credit-rating blacklist to bar them from getting any more loans.

“The PSD has consulted legal experts and has been given the go-ahead to implement the plan.

“In the past, the department and other agencies had embarked on measures which included:

  • Deducting the salaries of its own employees who had defaulted in repaying the loans.
  • The Higher Education Ministry tabled a Bill in Parliament last year to allow it to seize passports of loan defaulters who tried to escape overseas.
  • It was also announced last year that hardcore study loan defaulters serving in the civil service would not be considered for promotions. This meant that those blacklisted by the PSD, National Higher Education Fund Corp (PTPTN), MARA and other government-linked corporations would not be promoted until they settled their loans.
  • The names of study loan defaulters to be forwarded to the Attorney-General’s Chambers so that legal action can be taken against them.
  • PSD decided to revoke the 75% discount given to 1,200 hardcore defaulters and blacklist them as well as their spouses and children (if any) so that they would not enjoy a similar loan facility in future.”

Why is this article here? I’ve paid of all my dues, so I can comment without shame. If you are considering a career in engineering, make when looking at a renumeration figure that you count in the amount you owe during your student times (I was paying 4 figures back monthly at one time), or be good at avoiding the various legal issues that can crop up.

If it was me, I would also consider the following options on defaulters:

  • Declare defaulters as bankrupt: stops you from starting a business.
  • Consider commercial debt collectors: hey, if you can pay federeal / local government bills using Visa/Mastercard, why not use your local friendly repo man.
  • Prevent registration as Professional Engineers: yeah, that’s a real scary thing. Though, it does stop aspiring engineers from forming their own engineering companies.
  • Practice garnishment of employees’ pay in the private sector: I can see the hate mailing just piling up.
  • Instead of giving money directly from the Government coffers, how about getting the money from commercial banks, and having the Government paying the interest / profit on these loans? That way, when the loan is due, the full force of commercialism will hit the loanee?

 

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Design Dilemma – 2 x 67% spares?

April 23, 2008

Here’s an interesting design dilemma. I have a contact who is upgrading a produced water system for a central processing platform. The produced water system will have two parallel hydrocyclones in series with a degasser. The hydrocyclones use centrifugal forces to separate produced water such that entrained oil will be removed from the bulk water. The degasser will allow any dissolved gases in the produced water to evolve at near-atmospheric pressure prior to being discharged overboard.

Now, the degasser is sized for processing 3000 kl/d of produced water, while the hydrocyclones are sized for 2000 kl/d each.

What’s strange about this? Well, the process can only handle as much liquid as the equipment with the smallest design throughput. So, in this case the process is limited by the degasser, that is 3000 kl/d. The extra 1000 kl/d processing capacity available at the hydrocyclones is wasted.

It’s also usual to have equipment in parallel so that one unit may be taken out of service without affecting the design throughput of the system. Hence, you may design a train with 3 parallel units, each capable of handling 50% of design flow. This is normally indicated by the statement “3×50%”. Other derivations are “4×33%”, “5×25%”, all allowing for one unit to be taken offline. This type of sparing philosophy is considered when designing pressure relief valves, to ensure there is adequate relief capacity in the event one valve is unavailable due to maintenance or repairs.

What’s strange in the example above? It seems as if it has been designed with “2×67%” hydroclyclones. What gives? If you take one unit down, then the on-line hydrocyclone limits the throughput. If both units are online, there is excess, unused capacity.

 

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Saturday Star 08-04-19 – Job Opportunities

April 22, 2008

Another week, another scan of the Saturday Star newspaper. Here’s an incomplete list of job ads in the paper:

  • The Kuwait Oil Company is looking people. You can visit the job website and send your application here and here.
  • Shell has a walk in interview for Process Operations technicians. Walk in interview at GK Ballroom 2, Kelana Resort on 27th April, 9am to 4pm
  • Halliburton has a walk-in interview on April 26th and 27th @ Hotel Selesa, Pasir Gudang between 10am and pm. For more information, come here. Engineers can write in and send their details here.

Happy hunting. Let me have some feedback if you find this list useful. Even better, spread the news. PayPal donations welcome.

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Engineering Primer – Errors between % volume and mass -Take 2

April 21, 2008

Continuing on from my previous article, lets put a few numbers in:

  • Density of crude: 700 kg/m3
  • Density of water: 1000 kg/m3

Case 1

  • 99 kg crude, 1 kg H2O.
  • Mass fraction: 99% crude, 1% H2O (no surprises here)
  • Volume fraction: 99.3% crude, 0.7% H2O

Case 2

  • 70 kg crude, 30 kg H2O.
  • Mass fraction: 70% crude, 30% H2O (again, no surprises)
  • Volume fraction: 77% crude, 23% H2O

Now, what does this mean? Well, if you measure the volumetric fraction of water, and assume that it is the same as the mass fraction, you will understate the mass of water in your sample. If your transactions are on a mass basis, than the amount of crude sold is overstated.

Engineering moral: not only are units important, the basis of measurement is important as well.

I’ll attach a short PowerPoint presentation that restates the numbers used above.

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Chopper Problems in Kerteh?

April 20, 2008

An unexpected night offshore (Thursday). Not that I’m complaining too hard, considering my colleague and I had been bounced off Tuesday’s flight, and only got on the chopper to Lawit-A at 3pm on the Wednesday. After a quick stop at Dulang-B for a refuel, we reached Lawit-A at 5pm. We were expecting to leave today at 3, but got bounced of that flight due to max pax. So, we now have additional time to carry out our duties, and maximize our client’s funds.

I understand that the chopper situation at Kerteh has worsened lately. I don’t have hard facts, but I have received the following impression from people on both sides of the heli check-in desk:

  • Veteran local pilots are disgruntled because they are earning less than newly minted pilots hired from Indonesia.
  • Pilots are disqualifying aircraft on minor matters. Possibly this might be a reaction to the above situation. This means there are less than planned aircraft available to shuffle grunts back and forth from the offshore assets, as more have been grounded for repairs due to the above disqualification.
  • There aren’t enough engineers to sign off on the repairs done on choppers. Which leads on to the next point:
  • Apparently there has been en mass resignation of the Kerteh maintenance crew. I assume this is because another transport company is willing to pay more for trained personnel than hire fresh faced staff and having to train them. The only other company I know that may want O&G experienced heli staff is Awan Inspirasi. The ‘pay more, instantly staff up’ model has been a norm in Malaysia’s oil and gas arena ever since the independent oil producers showed up.

I sympathise with the Kerteh MHS front desk personnel, who have to deal with all the po faced people waiting for seats, slumping all over the waiting room.

This transport crisis also affects production, as staff booked for travel are not doing it for the pleasure of offshore cuisine (though it’s a benefit), but to do work. Engineers need to be ready for these kinds of hiccups, and ensure that we can keep ourselves busy. Oh, and the Awana Kijal is always fully booked now, but that’s another blog.

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