Shutdown Project Engineering

[Trackfiend]

Is anyone familiar with shutdown/turnaround project engineering/management? This is more in reference to the petrochemical field and the type of work involved with this job as it pertains to the plants, refineries, and offshore platforms. Does anyone have any experience, good or bad, that they would like to share about this type of work?

 

[MiketheEngineer]

How high is UP??

This is a very open question and the parameters to doing a "good" job can go on and on. Get a VERY good scope of work and make sure you understand what the customer expects.

We do a lot of Petro And Refinery Turn-Arounds - mostly on T&M basis or you will probably lose your a$$.

 

[Trackfiend]

I understand that I've asked a very broad question, but I'm not too familiar with it. Being in design, I'm more in tune with the typical "get funding, assemble project team, develop preliminary design, etc.", and then see the project from start to finish which could last months if not years. From my very limited knowledge of this type of management, these shutdown/turnarounds usually have a duration of only days, with the project manager overseeing and being involved with everything from scheduling, material lead times, cost analysis, sub-contractor coordination, HSE, etc.

I've recently been made aware of the possibility of moving into this type of career and was wondering what the pros and cons were. Especially for a design engineer making the switch. Any thoughts, positive or negative, are appreciated.

 

[MiketheEngineer]

Again - some can fun easy going projects - where others become a cluster - you know what!!

 

[Murec]

I work in a chemical plant that has a dedicated TA coordinator (not me). He is working full time, even though we only do a TA every two years on average.
His job is to put the TA workscope together, plan and schedule for minimal duration, assign resources and follow up after the TA.
I wish the work was only a few days - Most of the TAs I have been through were weeks long, around-the-clock 24/7 work.
It can be interesting and fun if youu like field work. It can also be frustrating when you go in a TA with a certain plan and everything changes once you take the machine apart or see the inside of the vessel.

 

[oldfieldguy]

I've spent entirely too much time in 'turnaround' mode at various client facilities.

Every one of them had a careful, measured approach to defining work scope, time frame, resources, lessons learned, etc, planning, as you said, from a year or two out. And the efforts still had the tendency to turn into massive clusterflusters. the saying is, "Plan for a month, schedule for three weeks when the shutdown actually happens, then execute in fourteen days because all of a sudden marketing NEEDS the unit back on line."

Best of luck, friend. And I wish you success.

old field guy