Operating superintendents

We gratefully acknowledge the Poole family and Bud Kushnir, whose financial support made this research possible. Sean Sanders of Syncrude Canada provided insight into pump size and pressure drop in the slurry pipeline and also provided heavy gas oil for the experiments. Mark Coolen, woodlands operations superintendent for Millar Western Forest Products, provided wood chips for the experiments and valuable discussions. David Williams, Chief Estimator for Bantrel (an affiliate of Bechtel), provided valuable comments concerning capital cost estimation of pipeline. Vic Lieffers and Pak Chow of the University of Alberta helped carry out the experiments. All conclusions and opinions are solely the authors and have not been reviewed or endorsed by any other party. 

Mr. Mohamad H. Al Mashan Operations Superintendent - Zone II Kuwait National Petroleum Company (KNPC) Shuaiba Refinery P.O.Box 9202 Ahmadi 61003, Kuwait... 

The operations superintendent proposes to change the route that delivery trucks follow when moving within the facility boundaries. 

One of the decisions that each Builder has to make for his team concerns the sequence of reviews. The Operations Manager may decide that it is best if the Operations Superintendent reviews the proposed change ahead of the Production Engineer. 

Stories are about people. In the process industries, we cannot generally reveal names and personal details for both ethical and legal reasons. However, we can often identify the persons involved with a job title such as Operations Superintendent or Lead Instrument Engineer. These titles usually give the reader enough information to visualize the persons involved and what their roles and responsibilities were likely to have been. 

Even the most competent and experienced operating superintendent can become ineffective when given an incomplete account of a problem. He is often too involved in administrative matters to find the lime to go out into the field and get the straight story. This is a weakness common to all large organizations. 

The operating superintendent of a medium-sized crude unit obliterated all of the above difficulties. He tore out the valve trapout tray and drawoff pan. A new, all-welded pan was installed. Several large chimneys allowed for vapor passage. The pan was seal-welded to the tray ring and the problem was corrected. (Note, in large-diameter towers, a seal weld can fail due to thermal expansion.)... 

Find something nice to say about the unit operation. An operating superintendent has a piece of ego tied up in the unit. 

Personnel, 522—525 shift operators, 522—524 refinery management, 524—525 operating superintendents, 525 pH control (water coolers), 346-347 pH, 25, 104, 140, 147, 301,312-313, 346-347 Piccolo, 292 Pilot head, 60 Pilot hole, 63... 

When a tabulation of operating data was examined, there was no indication of the amount of stripping steam going to the heater coils. The unit operating superintendent said that he was not told to use steam in the heater passes. 

Some operating superintendents dislike demisters. Parts of the pad may break loose and be drawn info a compressor suction or become lodged in downstream piping. In fouling service, (he demister can coke with solids and restrict vapor flow from the KO drum. 

An operating superintendent was once asked what his primary responsibility was. He replied, To keep (he hydrocarbons inside the pipes and vessels." Corrosion of process lines and equipment is the major source of leaks in a refinery. If it were not for continuous and varied corrosion, most of the technical and maintenance employees in a refinery could be eliminated. 

Next to a kamikaze pilot, a career as an operating superintendent is about the toughest way for a person to earn a living. The staff engineer troubleshooting a refinery problem should recognize the stress that the superiritendent works under. With this in mind, here are a few helpful pointers ... 

Do not write a long, formal report documenting your recommendations with copies to every department in the company. If you have something to tell the operating superintendent, do so in person. Then follow up the conversation with a handwritten note with a single copy to his boss. 

In general, the troubleshooter should keep in mind that the operating superintendent must bear the brunt of everyone else s mistakes. Treat him kindly Someday, you may be in his shoes. 

But then I realized that I had seen all this before. Six years before, in 1974, 1 had been the operating superintendent of a sulfuric acid regeneration plant in Texas City. Acid was lifted out of our mix tank by injecting nitrogen into the bottom of a 2-inch riser pipe. The shift operators called it an "air lift pump."... 

But let me be completely honest. 1 once had a radiation level detector on a spent sulfuric acid tank. 1 was the operating superintendent at this plant, which regenerated sulfuric add. We had a not-so-small fire at this tank. Rather than repair the tank, pumps, and lines, 1 decided to dismantle and haul away the entire mess of steel. After all, 1 had much larger and more modern storage tanks at my disposal. 

The mechanical seal of a centrifugal pump in hydrocarbon service is the weak point for any process unit. In 1974, when 1 was the operating superintendent of the Amoco Oil Sulfuric Acid Alkylation Plant in Texas City, 1 discovered two truths about refinery operations ... 

PETROSIX Operations in Brazil. Petroleo Brasderio (Petrobras) has a dedicated facdity to produce cmde shale oil from the Irati formation in southern Bra2d. The facdity is called the Oil Shale Industriali2ation Superintendency (SIX) and uses the PETROSIX retorting technology (see Table 7 and Fig. 3). 

Accidents. In an industry that has massive equipment, high temperature operations, and many moving objects, the potential for accidents is always present. Safety is taken seriously and is the direct responsibiUty of the plant superintendent. Accidents do occur, although in the United States the rate in the steel industry compares favorably with heavy industry as a whole. 

Before an economic balance can be completed, the number of men required to operate the plant must be estimated. A list of some of the types of employees is given in Table 8-10. Note that these categories include only those people involved directly in production and maintenance, and not purely administrative, research, and sales personnel. The number of salaried personnel varies with the size and complexity of the plant and can range from three or four to many times that number. Some plants are run at night and on weekends entirely by foremen, with the superintendent and engineers on 24-hour call to handle emergencies. 

The catalyst preparation area supervisor, on-duty control room operator for the catalyst operation, and maintenance superintendent were key sources of information. Their written records and logs were examined in detail. Other personnel that were interviewed included two outside operators, fire brigade members, and associated maintenance employees. During these conversations, special attention was paid to nonverbal signals. The interview process generated several unanswered questions about operational and maintenance procedures that required further study. 

Others may create, implement, and update the operating discipline. However, the plant manager or superintendent bears the responsibility for establishing and maintaining it. At Dow, this responsibility is formally spelled out in the company s Minimum Requirements for Safety, Loss Prevention and Security. ... 

One Dow agricultural chemical is manufactured in 12 plants in 11 different countries, from Indonesia to The Netherlands. Although their plants are scattered around the globe, the superintendents share the same problems related to operations, quality control, reactive chemicals, safety and loss performance, and other factors which, while common to the chemical industry, are also unique to their specific process. Thus each plant superintendent needs to share experiences regularly with others who face the same operating requirements. 

In Bowers v. Woodman (/), the inventor in question had originally been employed by the company, not because of his technical skill but as an ordinary employee. When he entered the employ of the company, it was not even known that he possessed any aptitude as an inventor. He was promoted to the position of superintendent on the basis of his ability, and he then assumed the duties of generally supervising the operations of a manufacturing plant. The Court pointed out ... 

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