Keith Lewis is the Shell Global Solutions International B.V. Business Group Manager for Mechanical Engineering and Heat Transfer Engineering, based in The Netherlands. He has more than 27 years experience providing mechanical and materials engineering and consulting services to refining and petrochemical projects and operating plants throughout the world. Keith is the past Chairman of the NACE International technology group on Refining and Gas Processing Corrosion and the past NACE Technology Coordinator overseeing Standards and Reports applicable to the Oil and Gas Industries. He has a BSc. (Hons.) degree in Metallurgy from Leeds University, UK. He is a professional member of the Institute of the Mining, Metals and Materials. He is also a Chartered Engineer in the UK and a European Professional Engineer. Keith has published many articles on materials, corrosion and integrity issues affecting the oil, gas and petrochemicals business.

Lecture Title:

The Role of Corrosion and Integrity Management Tools in Ensuring Pressure Equipment Integrity and Availability.

Abstract:

The goal of this plenary lecture is to provide a high level overview of the many linked and interdependent corrosion and integrity management work processes, methodologies and tools that are now being applied to ensure refining and petrochemical plant integrity and availability. Furthermore, the lecture is a primer on the corporate and plant level culture of multi-discipline interaction, experiences, knowledge management and shared ownership that must be in-place in order to properly manage equipment integrity. The investment required in work processes, supporting systems and people and training is not insignificant; however, the size of the prize is huge in terms of preventing both direct and indirect costs associated with materials degradation related integrity failures or extended maintenance and repairs. A serious plant integrity incident can have catastrophic consequences with respect to employee health and safety, the environment and on corporate reputation. These are reasons enough for a refining or petrochemical operating company to try to ensure that all reasonable measures are being applied to ensure plant integrity; however, the very positive message of this lecture is that good application of the work processes and methodologies that ensure plant integrity may also be used to optimise plant operating flexibility, availability and profitability. Consequently there exists a win-win proposition; properly implemented, the investments required to improve plant integrity have the potential to be significantly more than paid back with respect to overall plant profitability.

Bob Gummow is a consulting corrosion engineer and a NACE accredited Corrosion Specialist, having over 40 years of experience in the application of cathodic protection to a wide variety of structures in many industries. He has a diploma in Natural Gas Technology from Ryerson Polytechnical Institute and a degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Toronto. He has presented over 50 technical papers on topical aspects of cathodic protection and has been instructing NACE Cathodic Protection courses for over 25 years. He received NACE Technical Achievement awards in 1989 and 1992 and the Brannon award in 2004. He is presently the President of Corrosion Service Company Limited located in Markham, Ontario.

Lecture Title:

Cathodic Protection - Technological Change and Application Challenges

Abstract:

Various developments in the design, construction and operation of pipelines, storage tanks and other structures have created new challenges in the design, installation and operation of cathodic protection systems. One example is the collateral location of pipelines and electrical powerlines that has resulted in increased personnel safety risks, in AC corrosion problems, in reduced equipment reliability and in doubts about the effectiveness of cathodic protection criteria.

Another example involves the installation of containment liners underneath above ground storage tanks, some of which are operating at high temperature, where difficulties in achieving cathodic polarization are being experienced and in the measurement of accurate tank bottom potentials.

The development of the External Corrosion Direct Assessment (ECDA) procedures for assessing the corrosion integrity of pipelines has increased the need for more accurate cathodic protection data, which has exposed some serious limitations in field-testing procedures, especially where stray current interference is present.

All these developments are made even more challenging by industry operating procedures that require cathodic protection personnel to multitask, and that reduce the number of cathodic protection personnel due to downsizing and to the offering of early retirement packages. This situation presents an industry challenge to educate cathodic protection personnel faster and more comprehensively. NACE is well equipped to meet these challenges but to do so requires the acknowledgment by the petrochemical and pipeline industries of an understanding of the technological issues and the importance of education in meeting the challenges.

Guenter Schmitt is a Professor at the Iserlohn University of Applies Sciences in Germany. He has a PhD in Chemistry (1971) from the Aachen University of Technology, Germany. His professorships included the Universities of Aachen (1978) and Bochum - Chemical Engineering (1983) and Iserlohn - Corrosion Protection Engineering (1986), all in Germany. He has written more than 230 papers in chemistry and corrosion. His special interests cover corrosion in oil and gas industry, hydrogen cracking, inhibition and flow influenced corrosion. He is a distinguished member of major national and international scientific/technical societies. He was the past president of GfKORR-German Society for Corrosion Protection and is the Chairman of the "Corrosion and Scale Inhibition" working group of the European Federation of Corrosion. He is also a NACE Fellow.

Lecture Title:

Listen to Corrosion at Work - A Newly Developed Versatile Corrosion Monitoring Tool Ready for Plant Application.

Abstract:

Electrochemical noise is the language of materials corrosion which is often difficult to understand. A new "translation" device for this "foreign language" has been developed for reliable real-time monitoring of corrosion intensities in technical systems even under deposits and in crevices. The broad fields of application are outlined and practical examples are demonstrated including corrosion monitoring in sour systems and in hydraulic fluids.