Since 2003, GUERNSEY has become a strategic partner with petroleum refining and petrochemical companies throughout the United States. GUERNSEY’s diversification into the petroleum and petrochemical field has been very successful. Under the leadership of key experts in chemical and environmental engineering, GUERNSEY’s staff of former petroleum industry managers and engineers offers a new level of real-world experience and institutional knowledge not addressed by some of the largest consulting engineering firms in the industry.
Our goal is very simple – we perform relevant studies and engineer solutions to save money and add business value. With a very unique perspective and understanding of refinery and chemical processes, we have successfully provided many engineering and environmental solutions to our clients.
Our services are designed to integrate and align chemical process, civil, mechanical and environmental engineering studies and design with the stringent environmental requirements that must be addressed by the industry. Our focus is to provide added value to the petroleum and petrochemical industry business activities. In general, we provide the following services:
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View GUERNSEY's PowerPoint presentation on Improving Petroleum Refinery Economics by Optimizing Water Usage presented at the Environmental Federation of Oklahoma's Annual Meeting.
 | Ross Ostenberg, PE Ron Gantz, Environmental Fellow |
Strategic and Capital Budget Planning
Rapid changes are a fact of life in the petroleum refining industry. Changing markets, advancements in technology, increasing regulation and resource availability converge creating huge challenges when it comes to meeting public expectations and remaining profitable. GUERNSEY engineers have the industry background, business knowledge and technical experience necessary to assist clients with understanding and planning for their long-term business needs.
GUERNSEY’s experienced professionals have assisted numerous refineries in identifying both short and long-term solutions to their process and infrastructure needs. Existing facilities are assessed to fully understand their strengths and weaknesses, and plans are developed to help guide capital spending and improvement initiatives. Preliminary process designs and cost estimates are prepared where needed to help define the cost of needed improvements. Benchmarking processes compare a facility’s performance and standards against company policies, industry standards and regulatory requirements.
GUERNSEY’s strategic planning efforts help clients effectively address serious process inefficiencies, plant infrastructure, and regulatory compliance issues. Extensive experience and quality engineering services equate to added business value for our refining clients.
GUERNSEY was awarded the Oklahoma Governor’s Award for Export Excellence for assisting PetroChina in establishing their environmental strategic plan. This award recognized GUERNSEY’s efforts in establishing a plan driving improvement in all aspects of PetroChina’s environmental performance as they strive to become a world-class integrated petroleum company.
Process Evaluation
One of the keys to successful business optimization is the ability to identify and develop the highest-value opportunities for operational improvement. GUERNSEY’s petroleum and petrochemical staff has many years of refinery process and environmental experience, and can act as an extension of your staff to assist in finding innovative opportunities. Our staff are adept at addressing both undefined issues and very specific business problems. We can help you identify, evaluate and implement cost-effective solutions for either situation.
GUERNSEY’s success in process evaluations stems from several internal strengths. Our staff possesses an in-depth and unique blend of both process engineering experience and environmental process design with extensive knowledge of refining and petrochemical plant issues. Coupled with this engineering experience is a strong working knowledge of the regulatory framework under which the refining and petrochemical industry operates. This joint knowledge provides the ability to diagnose process issues during FEL- 0 and FEL- 1 studies and identify workable, practical and cost-saving solutions.
GUERNSEY typically starts process evaluations observing current operations and discussing business needs with plant staff. This ensures project work is properly focused and responsive to site needs. Company process engineers are very familiar with refinery strategic planning and capital budget processes. Several alternatives are typically identified for consideration on any project. Preliminary process design packages, cost estimates and economic evaluations are then prepared to help identify the most attractive option(s). Considerable attention is given to safety in the review process. The options, once summarized, are then reviewed with plant management. The chosen alternative is then further upgraded and a capital budget estimate is prepared.
Engineering Design
GUERNSEY offers a variety of engineering services for the process industries. Our services range from initial problem definition/evaluation through all stages of design to process unit start-up. The engineering disciplines included are process/chemical, mechanical, civil, environmental and electrical engineering. GUERNSEY’s process and mechanical engineers have many years experience working within the refining industry. They thoroughly understand industry project design methods and project management protocol. Additionally, our understanding of safety and process safety management assists in project execution. A wide range of project sizes are handled during FEL-0 through FEL-III design work. Detailed design work is typically focused on projects ranging in size up to $15 million.
GUERNSEY engineering designs typically begin with evaluation work to help the client identify and select the best project(s) for implementation. This work focuses on process and civil engineering capability. GUERNSEY engineers are intimately familiar with the petroleum industry’s strategic planning and capital budget processes. This is a tremendous advantage in preparing preliminary designs and cost estimates to help the client obtain project funding.
GUERNSEY engineers prepare FEL-II (Class “A” Process Designs) to initiate projects. In the civil engineering discipline, we support a similar capability for preparing sewer and structural designs. GUERNSEY offers detailed design work including mechanical, civil, electrical, instrumentation, CAD, cost estimating and procurement. GUERNSEY also offers construction assistance and oversight.
.Operations Evaluation
GUERNSEY’s work typically starts with evaluation of current plant processes and infrastructure. Company engineers initiate the work process by first meeting with the plant staff to develop a project plan that is responsive to the site’s needs. The first step is typically assessing current performance. Alternatives are then identified and developed for improving current operations. The work usually focuses on process, infrastructure, and/or environmental concerns. Sufficient time is spent in the field to properly understand the site needs and current performance issues/opportunities. GUERNSEY offers an advantage to its clients in this area because its engineering staff has worked many years in the petroleum industry and understands the engineering, cost estimating and budgeting processes used by refineries. Additionally, we understand the critical role that safety plays in any successful project. That knowledge helps minimize the amount of time required by the plant staff to orient and oversee GUERNSEY’s work. GUERNSEY engineers can work as an effective extension of the client’s staff.
When a facility has operating or compliance problems, the best answer is not always to spend more funds on new facilities. In many cases, focusing on optimizing existing facilities is a more cost-effective approach. Sometimes just changing control parameters is enough to accomplish significant improvement. In other cases, minor reconfiguration of existing equipment can result in positive changes in performance.
Environmental
GUERNSEY engineers and scientists have considerable experience with environmental operations in refineries, petrochemical plants and upstream/mid-stream activities. GUERNSEY offers clients an exceptional resource for evaluating the root cause of poor environmental system performance and effectively implementing needed changes.
Environmental issues impact petroleum and petrochemical operations throughout the process chain. Often environmental performance is managed solely as a compliance issue. GUERNSEY’s approach is to help process plants manage environmental as both a compliance and business improvement opportunity. GUERNSEY’s staff has considerable experience working with clients to help integrate and better link plant operations with the environmental function. This often leads to optimization opportunities beyond an “end of pipe” approach.
Effective and efficient wastewater treatment, air emissions control and solid waste management at petroleum refineries and petrochemical plants are an important part of overall facility operations. Systems that operate well minimize the time and effort required on the part of environmental/engineering resources, maintain positive relationships with regulators and the public, and help boost profitability.
Within our overall spectrum of services for the petroleum and petrochemical industry, GUERNSEY is able to align studies, analyses, evaluations and designs with both operational and environmental requirements. It is this alignment and subsequent integration that affords our clients the best possible business solution, while addressing a myriad of environmental and operational challenges.
Our environmental services can be performed in conjunction with or independently of our other key business activities. These services include the following:
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