xrg technologies company profile adb edit · published numerous papers as well as co‐authored the...

COMPANY

PROFILE

XRG TECHNOLOGIES is an engineering, design, consulting and procurement

company specializing in fired heat transfer equipment

for the refining, petrochemical and power markets. We

use advanced computational technologies to provide

designs that are the most efficient, environmentally

friendly and reliable. Our team has gained a combined

experience of over one hundred & fifty years in world

leading combustion and heater engineering companies.

We believe that the increased demands on safety,

efficiency, reliability and emissions require a technical

approach that few companies can offer today. Our

background and focus on strong engineering

fundamentals enable us to truly meet this challenge.

Services Fired equipment design and thermal rating using

industry standards and proprietary software

Capital equipment supply

Troubleshooting and solving burner, boiler, and heater problems including: short run lengths, high emissions, flame impingement, capacity limitations, corrosion, and vibration

Improving air distribution in balanced draft systems

Study and implementation of emission reductions projects to meet regulatory needs

Redesign and replacement of worn or failed components such as tube supports, convection sections, radiant tubes

CFD and FEA analysis

Start‐up and operational field support

Engineer training courses

XRG Technologies 115 W 3rd Street, Tulsa, OK 74103 1

Contents XRG Technologies ............................................................................................................................................. 2

On‐site services ................................................................................................................................................ 2

Engineering studies .......................................................................................................................................... 3

CFD Modeling ............................................................................................................................................... 3

FEA Modeling ............................................................................................................................................... 4

Thermal Rating ............................................................................................................................................. 4

Revamps of Existing Heaters ............................................................................................................................ 5

Engineering and Supply of New Equipment .................................................................................................... 6

Engineering Team ............................................................................................................................................ 7

Erwin Platvoet – Founding Partner, President ............................................................................................ 7

Allen Burris, P.E. – Founding Partner and VP Engineering .......................................................................... 7

Bailey Hendrix – Founding Partner and VP Business Development ............................................................ 8

Timothy Webster, P.E. – Partner and VP Execution .................................................................................... 8

Matt Martin – Lead Scientist ....................................................................................................................... 8

Kshitij Deshmukh, Ph.D – Sr. Process Engineer ........................................................................................... 9

Arindam Singha, Ph.D, P.E. – Sr. Process Engineer ...................................................................................... 9

Tyler Worden, P.E. – Sr. Designer ................................................................................................................ 9

David Taube – Sr. Designer .......................................................................................................................... 9

Organization Chart ......................................................................................................................................... 10

Customer List ................................................................................................................................................. 11

Project List ...................................................................................................................................................... 12


XRG Technologies XRG Technologies is an American engineering firm focused on fired equipment. It was established in 2016

in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where its current headquarters reside. XRG has representatives in Thailand, Brazil,

Singapore and Indonesia. XRG’s main activities are:

On‐site services

Engineering studies

Revamp of existing heaters

Engineering and supply of new equipment

On‐site services XRG technologies provides a variety of on‐site services to help the operator achieve maximum profitability

and reliability:

Installation supervision

Operator training

Startup and plant operation support

Environmental permitting assistance

HAZOP and safety studies

Site surveys are focused on troubleshooting, reliability assessment and fitness for service of existing

heaters. Typical examples are:

Evaluation of flame quality issues and burner tuning

Thermal and hydraulic analysis

Vibration root cause analysis

Heater certification; the assessment of heater and burner performance under conditions that are

different from the original design

Emissions sampling / optimization

Depending on the type of support, engineers from XRG Technologies or their local subcontractors will go

on‐site and bring applicable portable instruments such as emissions analyzer, IR camera, or pyrometer to

verify temperatures, flue gas concentrations, and so forth.

XRG Technologies provides a wide range of training courses on a variety of topics, ranging from generic

boiler and heater design to more advanced topics such as burner management systems, emissions, energy

efficiency or fouling. The duration of the courses varies between 0.5 to 3 days.


Engineering studies Using the onsite survey results as a basis, the focus of engineering studies is to correct problems on existing

equipment or improve their performance. Most engineering studies focus on debottlenecking, emissions

and mechanical reliability.

Feasibility studies, consulting services and troubleshooting

Cost‐benefit analysis

Thermal rating

CFD Modeling

FEA Modeling

CFD Modeling Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) uses numerical analysis and data structures to solve and analyze

problems that involve fluid flows. During the last decade in the combustion and fired heater world, CFD has

become increasingly popular to analyze and foresee problems however is rarely utilized as a design tool. At

XRG Technologies, we utilize cutting‐edge CFD modeling capabilities in the up‐front design phase of a

project to avoid common issues that reduce fired heater safety, reliability, and environmental performance.

Too often, lack of knowledge of the firebox aerodynamics and combustion process lead to poorly designed

heaters and end results that fall short of client expectations. Burner arrangement, firebox dimensions and

shape all play a significant role in heater performance. Utilizing CFD too late in the project is costly and

often limits substantial design changes. XRG Technologies has the experience and skill set to approach

heater design differently than any other company at present.

We combine our expertise in combustion, heat transfer and CFD to determine the optimal burner layout

and firebox shape for new fired heaters to ensure the following:

Flame impingement on coils and flame clouds that result in safety and reliability risks are prevented

Firebox thermal efficiency is guaranteed

Firebox temperatures are calculated accurately, ensuring that emissions guarantees are met


Firebox dimensions are minimized, saving on capital cost

Burners produce flames with optimal shape

Heat distribution is improved, resulting in lower fouling rates, longer coil life and improved thermal

efficiency (lower fuel consumption equaling savings to owner)

At XRG, we believe the current outputs from fired heater rating software alone are no longer good enough

to avoid issues in the field. Every XRG design will have a CFD model to predict the performance, including

flue gas flow patterns and approximate heat flux profiles, ensuring that our designs always meet or exceed

our client’s performance expectations.

FEA Modeling Using Finite Element Analysis (FEA) methods allows XRG Technologies to analyze, design and optimize

critical parts of the heater structural system such as radiant and convective tube supports.

Thermal Rating XRG Technologies uses FRNC‐5, as well as proprietary programs to evaluate fired heater performance. The

VBA based programs allow XRG to couple CFD models with thermal rating and analyze the impact of burner

flames on process performance, such as vaporization profiles. Very few, if any, other fired heater

companies provide this level of engineered output.


Revamps of Existing Heaters Rather than building new equipment, revamping is often a more cost‐effective way to improve the

utilization and reliability of existing heaters;

Thermal efficiency upgrades

Capacity increases

Improving safety and reliability

Emissions reductions

Heater life / run length extension

Unlike large EPC companies and licensors, XRG is capable of rapid response and turnaround at a lower cost,

ensuring maximum returns on investment. XRG Technologies provides end users with in‐depth evaluations

of technology options and possible project scenarios to deliver the most economical capacity expansions

of existing ethylene furnaces.

Services offered by XRG Technologies are:

Evaluation and implementation of emissions

reduction options (burners, SCRs, SNCRs, alternative

technologies, etc.)

Furnace mechanical reliability analysis

Capacity expansion feasibility and implementation

Troubleshoot short run‐length and flame

impingement issues

Efficiency improvements by the addition of APH,

extended surface areas, modified/re‐designed

convection sections, restoration of furnace lining,

improving operation through proper operator

training, etc.

Optimize decoke procedures for effectiveness /

efficiency

Optimize decoke piping and effluent injection into

the firebox


Engineering and Supply of New Equipment XRG Technologies designs and supplies fired heaters for refinery, petrochemical and other industrial

markets. Utilizing FRNC‐5, in‐house proprietary software and computation fluid dynamics, XRG

Technologies guarantees superior performance and reliability at a lower overall cost.

Heater types:

Reboiler

Hot Oil / Heat Medium

Stripper Reboiler

Coker

Reactor Charge Heater

Feed Preheater

Steam Superheater

Crude and Vacuum heaters

Platformer

Every XRG design is created to give the optimum

solution for each Client’s individual

requirements. Breaking it down to basic

engineering principles and truly understanding

the fundamentals of heater design and

performance, the XRG Team excels in providing

enhanced solutions that solve the greatest

industry challenges.


Engineering Team The combined experience of the XRG engineers in engineering and design, combustion and heat transfer,

as well as operation is what gives XRG Technologies unparalleled competitive advantage. The employees

listed below form XRG’s core engineering team, which is supported by the Project Management group (not

listed here).

Erwin Platvoet – Founding Partner, President After graduating from Twente University in the Netherlands with a MS in Chemical Engineering, Erwin went

to work for NRF Thermal Engineering in 1991, designing heat exchangers and writing thermal rating

software. He then took a position in ABB where his success led to continual advancement throughout the

company, including positions at ABB Lummus Heat Transfer in The Hague handling the design of heat

exchangers and fired heaters; serving as principal development engineer developing computational fluid

dynamic (CFD) models for cracking furnaces in New Jersey; and finally transferring to Switzerland where he

served as a research and development engineer for ABB Turbo Systems, consulting on gas turbines and

cracking furnaces. In 2004, Erwin left ABB to work for Total Petrochemicals in Belgium as their cracking

furnace specialist overseeing 120 cracking furnaces in their 8 operational facilities worldwide. As the

Furnace Reliability Network leader, he introduced many Best Practices for Operation and Maintenance,

which lead to substantial improvements in furnace reliability and utilization rates. He then made the move

to Tulsa, OK for the Director of Engineering position at John Zink Hamworthy Combustion supervising all

engineering activities for the process burner group globally before becoming the Process Burner Product

Director. Erwin holds eight patents in fired heat transfer and emissions control technology and has

published numerous papers as well as co‐authored the John Zink Combustion handbook and Industrial

Combustion Testing book. Erwin has been an active member of the API 560 and API 535 subcommittees

and taken an active role in revising these standards.

Allen Burris, P.E. – Founding Partner and VP Engineering To become a strong player in the energy sector, a company must constantly search for opportunities, have

a sure sense of what is of value, and be adept at balancing all variables of a rapidly changing market. Allen

Burris makes a strong contribution to the management team of XRG Technologies in all these ways and

more. Allen’s background includes 10 years’ experience in designing and selling process burners at Zeeco

in Broken Arrow, OK. His knowledge and superior customer focus led him to a career change where he

then gained 10 years’ experience with process design and sale of custom‐engineered fired heaters and

associated sub‐systems for the petrochemical, refining and NGL industries at Tulsa Heaters, Inc. With more

than two decades of experience in the combustion and fired heater industry, Allen Burris knows what it

takes to overcome challenges associated with complex projects and possesses the tenacious personality

needed to achieve excellence. Allen is a licensed professional mechanical engineer in Oklahoma.


Bailey Hendrix – Founding Partner and VP Business Development Her focus, persistence and proven experience along with the right blend of corporate and technical

knowledge, make Bailey Hendrix an ideal leader and founding partner of XRG Technologies, LLC. Bailey

graduated from Oklahoma State University with a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering. Upon

graduation, she joined the private sector as an Applications Engineer in Tulsa, OK at John Zink Hamworthy

Combustion where she managed the sales activities for the process burner refining market. She quickly

accelerated her career, becoming the Refining Account Manager responsible for all business development

and sales of process burners in North and South America. Her strong leadership skills and interpersonal

qualities led her to a position as the Western Hemisphere Sales Director for the process burner business,

leading a group of sales engineers in the areas of new equipment, retrofits and burner management

systems. In these roles, she gained the financial and commercial acumen that will drive the success of XRG

Technologies’ business development.

Timothy Webster, P.E. – Partner and VP Execution With over 25 years of experience in the combustion industry, Mr. Timothy Webster brings a wealth of

experience and technical expertise across a wide range of industries to XRG Technologies. After graduating

with a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from San Jose State University, and receiving a Master

of Engineering from the University of Wisconsin, Timothy began his career with Coen Company Inc. During

his time at Coen he engineered custom combustion systems for a wide range of applications including;

boilers, heaters, furnaces, kilns, and incinerators. In 1999 he joined John Zink Hamworthy Combustion

where he served as Engineering Director of the TODD Combustion boiler burner group, General Manager

of the Gordon‐Piatt commercial boiler burner group, Vice President of the process burner group, and Vice

President of the boiler burner group. His extensive experience in the combustion industry has also included

serving as President of Coen Company, Inc., President of Hamworthy‐Peabody Combustion, Inc., and Vice

President of Chentronics, LLC. Timothy is a licensed professional mechanical engineer in the states of

California, Texas, Louisiana and Oklahoma, has authored numerous articles and papers, and has co‐

authored several combustion handbooks.

Matt Martin – Lead Scientist Matt Martin started as a software developed for Callidus Technologies in Tulsa. After receiving a Bachelor

of Science in Computer Science with a minor in Mathematics from the University of Tulsa, he assumed the

role of Computational Fluid Dynamics analyst in Callidus. During subsequent years he assumed additional

responsibilities as Project Manager, CFD Manager and eventually Sr. Product Line Manager. His past duties

included development and design of burners for pyrolysis and refinery service, flares, thermal oxidizers and

SCRs. He gained a total of 15 years of experience in CFD of fired equipment, including UOP platforming

heaters, burners in process heaters, thermal oxidizers and flares with over 300 simulations of installed,

field‐proven equipment. He has written numerous publications, is listed as inventor or co‐inventor on 27

patents and was awarded the title of Honeywell Fellow in 2011 for technical excellence and leadership.


Kshitij Deshmukh, Ph.D – Sr. Process Engineer KD has worked as a Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) specialist since 2008. As a Senior Technical

Specialist for CD‐adapco (now Siemens PLM Software), he gained extensive experience in CFD projects

related to turbulent combustion, radiation physics and heat transfer applications. He developed and

validated a CFD model for fire suppression in military ground vehicles. The same methodology is in use

today by U.S. Army Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center (TARDEC). During his

PhD research, KD pioneered the development of correlations to substantiate turbulence‐radiation

interactions for premixed and non‐premixed combustion systems using direct numerical simulation and

photon Monte Carlo method. He also developed a higher‐order spherical harmonics method to solve the

radiative transfer equation coupled with direct numerical simulation for premixed and non‐premixed

combustion systems.

Arindam Singha, Ph.D, P.E. – Sr. Process Engineer Arindam is a mechanical engineer with more than 10 years of industrial and academic research experience

in mechanical design, fluid flow, heat transfer, hydraulics, atmospheric flow and stress analysis. Arindam’s

advanced proficiency in numerical methods and analysis and development of algorithms relevant to fluid

dynamics analysis make him an excellent addition to XRG’s CFD and process engineering team. As a senior

fluids and acoustic engineer at AP Dynamics in Calgary, Arindam performed advanced analysis on

combustion and fired equipment, pipelines, OTSGs, etc. Arindam received a bachelor’s degree in

mechanical engineering from IIEST in India, a master’s in Aerospace engineering at IIS and his PH.D in

mechanical engineering at the University of Windsor.

Tyler Worden, P.E. – Sr. Designer Tyler's emphasis is in metal fabrication design and bringing a creative approach to classical design

engineering that complements XRG's passion for innovation. After obtaining a M.S. in Mechanical

Engineering, Tyler designed and implemented acid blending plants and bulk cement plants in the oil and

gas industry. Following that career stint, Tyler was part of a self‐funded outreach and extension group

within Oklahoma State University that provided engineering, marketing, and grant writing services to

Oklahoma companies with a focus on innovative new products. During his time there he successfully

opened and managed a new office based out of the Tulsa campus. Tyler is a licensed professional

mechanical engineer in the state of Oklahoma and teaches the mechanical senior design course at

Oklahoma State University‐Tulsa campus.

David Taube – Sr. Designer David graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Oklahoma State University, after

which he worked for Zeeco and Kentube as a project manager for several years. In 2006 he entered the

fired heater world as a mechanical designer and structural engineer, first working for Broach Heaters and

then for Great Southern Technologies and Scelerin in Tulsa. He designed new heaters or revamped existing

heaters for oil refining companies including, Phillips66, Marathon Petroleum Co. BP, Western, Tesoro,

CVRE, Calcasieu and others. He also designed and managed the fabrication of equipment needed by

refineries in turnaround. David’s knowledge and proficiency allow for equipment such as tube supports,

piping spools, and structural elements to be designed, drawn and fabricated in a matter of days, allowing

the refiner to keep on schedule when startup is crucial.


Organization Chart


Customer List XRG Technologies has done projects for the following companies:


Project List Location Description

St. John, NB, Canada Vacuum Heater Study

Woods Cross, UT Replacement Burners

Sarnia, Canada Engineering Study

St. Charles, LA APH & Ducting CFD Modeling

Calgary, Alberta Environmental Report Counter Expertise

Bayport/Texas City Engineering Study

McPherson, KS Coker Heater Site Survey

McPherson, KS Coker Heater Engineering Study

SLC, UT Emissions Study of (5) heaters / boilers

SLC, UT Coker Capacity Expansion Engineering Study

St. Charles, LA APH & Ductwork CFD Modeling

Syncrude, Ft. MacMurray, AB CO Boiler CFD Study

Alberta, Canada Start‐Up Assistance

Alberta, Canada Start‐Up Assistance

San Antonio, TX Boiler Startup Assistance

Woods Cross, UT Burner Replacement Project for Lower Emissions w/ CFD Modeling

St. Charles, LA APH System Ductwork Supply

Bataan, Philippines Fired Heater Air Duct CFD Model

Carson, CA Capacity Increase and Emissions Study of 4 Heaters

Torrance, CA CFD of detailed AIG and ductwork to SCR

Rotterdam, The Netherlands Engineering Study ‐ Overheating tubes & Replacement Convection Section

Chonburi, Thailand Vacuum Heater Engineering Study & CFD Modeling

Martinez, California Crude Heater Engineering & CFD Study

Strongsville, OH CFD model of Steam Separator

Martinez, California Vacuum Heater Engineering & CFD Study

Baton Rouge, LA CFD Analysis of Sulfur Burner

Corpus Christi, TX CFD Modeling of Coker APH Ducting & Modified Duct Supply

Tulsa, OK Engineering & CFD Analysis of Replacement Burners

Oregon Process Development & CFD Modeling of Biogas System

Seattle, WA Evaluation & CFD of ClearSign Technology

Tuscola, IL Vibration & Resonance CO Boiler Analysis

Pascagoula, MA Engineering Study & CFD Analysis of Crude Heater

Woods Cross, UT Engineering Study and CFD Modeling of 3 Heaters

St. Charles, LA Vacuum Heater APH Ducting CFD Modeling & Engineering Support

Alberta, Canada Heater Field Troubleshooting

LA, California Equipment Supply ‐ Tube Supports for Lummus Heater


Chalmette, LA Equipment Supply ‐ Convection Section Replacement Tubes

Rotterdam, The Netherlands Revamp of Crude Heater to add Complete Balanced Draft System

Tulsa, OK Replacement Burners & Common Plenum Design / Supply

Lakeview, Oregon Design & Supply of New Gasification Heater

Lakeview, Oregon Design & Supply of New Recycle Heater

Benicia, CA CO Furnace CFD Modeling

Carson, CA SCR CFD Modeling & Analysis

Bloomfield, NJ Ethylene Furnace CFD Modeling & Engineering Analysis

Ardmore, OK Burner Inspection

xrg technologies company profile adb edit · published numerous papers as well as co‐authored the...

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