Creatively Overcoming Obstacles Shirley Beasley PMI Northern Nevada

Creatively Overcoming Obstacles Shirley Beasley PMI Northern Nevada Chapter May 28, 2013

Project Management Is the discipline of planning, organizing, motivating, and controlling resources to achieve specific goals. Projects can be events such as the upcoming 50 th Annual Reno Air Races, fundraisers such as the Swope Middle School Band Holiday Jubilee, technology based such as games like Bio. Shock Infinite or League of Legends or what we most traditionally think of – the public works construction project as in the building of a bridge.

Project Management vs. Operations A project is a temporary endeavor with a defined beginning and end undertaken to meet unique goals and objectives. Operations are repetitive, permanent, or semi-permanent functional activities to produce products or services.

Mission The primary challenge of project management is to achieve all of the project goals and objectives while honoring the preconceived constraints: • • Scope Time Quality Budget

Quick Poll Industries/specialties represented tonight: Software development? Information Technology? Gaming? Defense? Public works? Construction? Transportation? Engineering? Electrical, civil, mechanical or chemical?

Chemist vs. Chemical Engineer

Product Development NXT-2 media removes arsenic from drinking water Problem: Inconsistent laboratory lots of NXT-2 Solution: Replaced glassware batch process with semi-continuous batch process, improved quality by introduction of a static mixer to control mixing conditions (temperature and p. H) giving more consistent product results. .

Product Development NXT-2 media removes arsenic from drinking water Problem: Conflicting data from pilot plant installation at customer sites Solution: Replaced improperly sized flowmeters with smaller models with greater accuracy in the desired flow range.

Product Development NXT-2 media removes arsenic from drinking water Problem: Screening potential customers’ water took a lot of time and resources before determining that NXT-2 was not a good solution for them. Solution: Created a quick capacity test. While this test would not accurately determine the exact performance of NXT-2 in the subject water, it would tell us whether or not we had the potential to be successful.

Everyday chemistry Sodium bicarbonate reacts with acetic acid, producing sodium acetate, water, and carbon dioxide: Na. HCO 3 + CH 3 COOH → CH 3 COONa + H 2 O + CO 2(g) The carbon dioxide released leavens cakes, biscuits, muffins and pancakes. The reaction proceeds immediately therefore it is important to avoid letting the batter sit too long prior to baking (or you will have flat results!).

Combustion COMPLETE COMBUSTION CH 4 + 2 O 2 → CO 2 + 2 H 2 O INCOMPLETE COMBUSTION CH 4 + 2 O 2 → CO 2 + 2 H 2 O 2 CH 4 + 3 O 2 → 2 CO + 4 H 2 O N 2 + O 2 → 2 NO N 2 + 2 O 2 → 2 NO 2

Combustion

Factors affecting yield • Input – purity (contaminants) • Material balance (limiting reactant) • Equilibrium • Solubility/miscibility – gas in liquid, solid in liquid, multiple liquids • Kinetics – heat, mass and chemical rates • Flow and contacting (mixing) • Catalyst – substrate, porosity

Dow Chemical – Freeport, TX

$750 k Ethylene Oxide Pilot Plant Formally, the direct oxidation process is expressed by the following equation: However, significant yield of carbon dioxide and water is observed in practice, which can be explained by the complete oxidation of ethylene or ethylene oxide: CH 2=CH 2 + 3 O 2 → 2 CO 2 + 2 H 2 O 2 (CH 2)O + 5 O 2 → 4 CO 2 + 4 H 2 O Thus the overall reaction is expressed as 7 CH 2=CH 2 + 6 O 2 → 6 (CH 2)O + 2 CO 2 + 2 H 2 O and the maximum degree of conversion of ethylene to ethylene oxide is 6/7 or 85. 7%.

Purpose for the pilot plant To study the effectiveness of silver impregnated catalysts To optimize reaction conditions of temperature, pressure and Oxygen/Nitrogen ratio

Challenge Scope: Would the pilot plant be built as a straight-through or recycle process? My boss favored recycle but the supervisor who would have responsibility for the pilot plant and the research conducted there strongly preferred a straight-through process. How should this difference be resolved?

Resolution After fruitless appeals for a decision, I called a meeting and invited both men. I gave them a blank sheet of paper and asked them to decide which way the plant would be built (I didn’t care either way at this point), write that on the paper and sign it. This would be posted on my bulletin board for the duration of the project. And then I left the room. The two of them discussed the issues for an hour before coming to a decision. Finally the major equipment could be sized.

Challenge High pressure nitrogen compressor quotes were over $50 k more than budgeted and delivery time was very long. Project budget and schedule were at risk.

Actions Reviewed calculations to determine if compressor was correctly sized Researched alternative suppliers hoping for a better quote Consulted with suppliers regarding possible alternatives Researched used equipment market for a suitable compressor Consulted with research to determine if it was acceptable to delete this compressor and do studies on ethylene oxide production only in the presence of oxygen

Was there no alternative?

Just a small portion of Dow’s Freeport operations

Plant-wide utilities Electricity provided by several dedicated powerplants Steam Cooling water Compressed air

Why not nitrogen?

I discovered an air separation plant just outside our plant gates.

Next steps Determine where the high pressure nitrogen line ran Gain permission to tap into it Simple enough, right?

It was a dedicated line for Light Hydrocarbons #7 (full-scale production unit)!

Power of Persuasion I not only convinced the Light Hydrocarbons plant manager to allow my pilot plant to tap into their dedicated high pressure nitrogen feed line, I convinced them to allow me to do a HOT TAP.

What if it blew out and I shut the plant down? Dow’s Freeport Hydrocarbon Plant Has ‘Production Interruption’ By Leela Landress - Nov 30, 2010 11: 20 AM PT Dow Chemical Co. , the largest U. S. chemicals maker, had a “production interruption” at its light hydrocarbon plant in Freeport, Texas, a company spokesman said. “There was no impact to downstream businesses and no injuries, ” Gregory Baldwin, who is based in Michigan, said in an e-mail today. Dow’s Light Hydrocarbon 7 plant had an upset in the internal hydrogen supply to the acetylene reactors yesterday and again today that caused flaring of “offspec” ethylene, according to two filings with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. “Hydrogen supply was re-established as quickly as possible to bring the ethylene product back on spec, ” according to the filings.

Another incident… Dow Reports Pump Failure, Emissions at Freeport Plant By Leela Landress - May 31, 2011 11: 04 AM PT Dow Chemical Co. (DOW), the largest U. S. chemicals maker, had a pump failure in a light hydrocarbon plant in Freeport, Texas, according to a state regulatory filing. Product availability wasn’t affected, the filing showed. Dow’s light hydrocarbon 7 plant had a pump fail over the weekend, according to a filing with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. Emissions associated with the failure began at 6: 30 p. m. local time May 29 and ended today at 9: 30 a. m. , according to the filing.

What is “flaring”? Flaring is the controlled combustion of industrial gases and is an essential safety measure that protects employees, the community and the facility by preventing the accumulation of hydrocarbon gases or their direct release into the atmosphere. Flaring is a fundamental part of the safety measures at Dow’s hydrocarbon facilities and safety continues to be our first priority in everything we do.

Headline not found… My hot tap was a success! No reportable flaring incident due to my project. No process interruption costing thousands. My remaining half mile of nitrogen piping was run without incident. My pilot plant had a reliable source of high pressure nitrogen at less than the budgeted cost of the compressor (let alone those high quotes!) and the project remained on schedule toward successful completion.

Oscar Mayer Chicago Plant

Everyone loves the Wienermobile!

$500 k plant wide high pressure cleaning system Multi-level Old buildings Freight elevators Freezers Smokehouses Cooking tunnels

Challenge: Pipefitters or Plumbers? High pressure (200 psi) potable water system Pipefitters normally install high pressure systems Plumbers normally install potable water systems (usually 60 psi) Pipefitters and plumbers belong to different unions. Chicago is a strong union town.

Hired reputable well-regarded contractor who employed both plumbers and pipefitters.

Next challenge: Scheduling Installation had to be done without interrupting production schedules. Some departments ran more shifts than others. Met with shift supervisors to determine when I could get into their departments. Made a logical schedule based on plant layout and department availability to minimize the amount of overtime for my contractors to keep project on budget (used Microsoft Project).

Labor dispute!!! Project schedule thrown to the wind… A confrontation with Local 100 of the United Food & Commercial Workers involves failure to bargain a new labor contract. On May 31, the old pact expired under which nearly 700 Chicago meatpackers earned an $10. 67 hourly rate, which was the industry`s highest. Workers rejected a ``final`` company offer that would have tied wages and benefits to those bargained in late summer at plants in Madison, Wis. , and Davenport, Ia. Those workers have pacts weaker than the Chicago contract. The company quickly announced its intent to lay off the workers unless a new agreement was reached. It began layoffs last week as federal mediation failed. By Monday, more than 600 plant workers had been laid off and about 60 were kept on to do some processing of bacon and wieners.

Oscar Mayer Begins Lockout From the Chicago Tribune: Oscar Mayer Foods Corp. Monday began a lockout of nearly 700 union meatpackers at its Chicago plant and started hiring replacements after union members rejected a ``final`` offer on a new contract. The company made good its threat to begin hiring temporary replacements for the regular work force by starting employment orientation for 45 new workers. Management said it is ready to hire 30 to 40 workers each day. Allen Dieter, a company vice president and plant manager, said Oscar Mayer was ``just very disappointed`` at the 367 -146 vote Sunday by members of the United Food & Commercial Workers Union Local 100.

Challenges Management required to work the few critical production lines operating along with temporary (aka “scab”) labor. While considered management, I felt conflicted since I was raised in a blue-collar union home. My father was a Teamster and mother a member of the Communications Workers of America. If the local butchers went on strike my mother would not cross the picket line at the grocery store to buy meat. My contractor with both plumbers and pipefitters was still a union shop. Would they cross the picket line to work or would my project be dead in the water for weeks until this labor dispute was resolved?

Personal resolution My assignment was to supervise three shifts of freight elevator operators. Normally we did not have regular freight elevator operators so my parents did not consider my supervision of these employees to be an action against the locked out workers. My blue-collar background gave me an insight to use with my contractor…

Power of Persuasion Since the work being done by my contractor did not involve any of the regular duties of the locked out employees (and would in fact benefit those employees after the dispute was resolved), they agreed to continue to work on my project, even crossing picket lines to do so. Tensions were high. People were harassed as the entered and left the plant. Yet, my project continued. We were able to make rapid progress on straight time through many idled production areas. My project was completed on time and 20% under budget.

Keys to a successful project Forging relationships based on mutual respect. Most craftspeople are experienced and very knowledgeable. They will have good solutions – if consulted. They can save your bacon or hang you out to dry if treated poorly. Respect what they bring to the team. Technical competence is important in order to logically structure the project and quickly hone in on the best solutions to problems as they arise. Persistence in the face of adversity. Finding another way to accomplish goals when encountering roadblocks. Relationships are essential. The best laid plans are not brought to fruition by you alone. Be true to your word.