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Software EngineeringIn the fall of 2000, I returned to school as a full time Graduate student in the Faculty of Engineering, working towards an M.Sc. and then (hopefully) a Ph.D. in Software Engineering. Due to personal circumstances, I took a leave of absence for the academic year 2001.In July 2002 I returned to my studies, working towards my M.Sc. in Software Engineering throught the Electrical Engineering Department at the University of Calgary In September 2003 I withdrew from the program due to personal reasons. I simply did not have the time to continue, and really didn't require a second Master's degree. |
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Chemical EngineeringI graduated with a Masters of Engineering (M.Eng.) from the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Calgary in 1988.My thesis was "Ethane Pyrolysis Quench Cooler Simulation". Two journal papers were published based on this work: |
PublicationsTwo journal papers were published based on this work: |
"Modeling of Coke Formation in Gas Quenchers of Industrial Ethane Cracking Furnaces", Chemical Engineering Research and Design, Vol. 67, 1990, No. 6, pp 632-638. |
1988 M.Eng. Thesis AbstractAn ethane pyrolysis quench cooler, also called a transfer line exchanger TLX), designed to indirectly cool the exit gases from a pyrolysis furnace producing ethylene from ethane is simulated using the Advanced Continuous Simulation Language (ACSL). The TLX is rigorously modelled using molecular reaction kinetic data. The mass, energy, and momentum balances are solved simultaneously to determine the molar flow of each component and the pressure and temperature profiles along the cooler length.Transfer line exchangers from the Alberta Gas Ethylene (AGE) pyrolysis plant at Joffre, Alberta are successfully simulated using this model. An excellent history match of the supplied data is achieved both at clean tube conditions and also after 42 days total elapsed operational time. The model predicts a total reaction quench of 20 milliseconds under clean tube conditions. A history match shows 33% of the coke formed in the TLX is deposited on the tube walls. The model indicates the TLX must be shut down for decoking after 48 to 54 days total elapsed operational time. Additional runs are carried out using data for another TLX simulation obtained from the literature. As with the AGE simulation, and excellent match of this data is obtained with the simulation model proposed in this work. A series of runs using the model to observe the effect of mass flux, tube diameter, steam dilution, and heat transfer coefficients is carried out. The most important parameters in the model are found to be the mass flux, the code deposition ratio, and the coke thermal conductivity. The computer model also indicates that changes in the TLX tube inside diameter due to coke deposition affect the temperature and pressure profiles in the tube, increasing the time required to quench the reaction from 22 milliseconds for a clean tube to 36 milliseconds for a heavily coked tube. Two different approaches for modelling the deposition of coke on the walls of the quench cooler tube are investigated. A model which calculated incremental changes in the coke thickness at each simulation time step by numerically integrating the coke thickness equation is found to be superior to a model which calculates the total coke thickness at each simulation time step using an integrated form of the coke equation. The simulation model produced in this work is a fairly detailed computer simulation tool. It is useful for examining the complex interaction of various parameters involved in design, optimization, and better understanding of an industrial ethane to ethylene pyrolysis quench cooler. |
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