Renewable Energy Group
REG is the leading producer of biodiesel and renewable hydrocarbon diesel (RHD). The company has twelve locations across the globe ranging from Washington State to Germany.
I interned at Renewable Energy Group during the summer of 2019 and worked at the REG Geismar plant, where we refine RHD. My internship was in the Reliability Department with a focus in stationary equipment. I received two projects during my internship and presented my findings at the Corporate Office to the Senior Leadership Team in late July.
I continued to work at REG Geismar part-time while in school as a Reliability Engineering Intern.
Mechanical Engineering Internship
May 2019 - August 2019
Example of a P&ID that was used for my CUI Map. Please note this is a stock image and is not representative of REG Geismar. Image can be found here.
My first intern project was to update a Painting and Coating Specification for the corporation. I researched and utilized best engineering practices from API 571 to update the Painting and Coating Specification at REG. This specification aimed to prevent corrosion under insulation (CUI) and stress corrosion cracking by creating thirteen coating systems specifying surface preparation, primer, and finish compliant with the National Association of Corrosion Engineers (NACE). CUI occurs at certain temperatures on carbon steel when moisture is present under insulation. This corrosion mechanism can cause damage in plants and is difficult to detect because it is hidden under the insulation. Stress corrosion cracking occurs in stainless steels that are subject to a critical temperature range and chlorides commonly found in insulation. This Painting and Coating Specification allowed REG to prevent against future corrosion in piping.
In addition to developing the specification, I made a CUI Map that would keep track of which coating system applied to each line of the P&ID. This map would also display if that paint were currently on the pipe as of July 2019.
My second project was to develop a training presentation on pressure vessels based on ASME Section VIII, Division 1: Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code. This presentation covered Section V, Section VIII, and Section IX of the Code. Section V is the Nondestructive Examination portion where pressure vessels can be tested for potentially hazardous imperfections through radio-graphical, ultrasonic, liquid penetrant, and magnetic particle examination. Section VIII of the code is Pressure Vessel Design and Fabrication. This section is critical for determining the minimum thickness when designing safe vessels.
The final section, Section IX, covers the welding of pressure vessels. The presentation I created allows other engineers throughout the company to quickly learn new skills and increases reliability throughout the company.
While finishing my final year of college, I was a part-time student and part-time intern. I was responsible for creating a daily and weekly inspection schedule for all ultrasonic, visual, and baseline examinations at the plant. These range from tank inspections to vessels to pipes. I was also responsible for contracting outside inspection companies when assets require more extensive examination.
Examples include crawlers for ultrasonic tank inspections, external drones for out-of-reach visual inspections, and radiographic inspections for injection and mixing points. Each of these inspections requires good communication between contractors and writing concise technical requests for quotes (RFQ). I hosted a weekly meeting with the Mechanical Integrity team to coordinate and plan for inspections.
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Other responsibilities of my part-time work included investigating assets for criticality, assisting the reliability department with analysis and investigations, and assisting in piping replacements for the turnaround.
At REG, we are given 8 hours to give back to the community. The images above show the Bayou Cleanup hosted by myself and the other interns at REG Geismar this summer. We cleaned over 12 bags worth of trash out of the bayou flowing through Baton Rouge that eventually leads to the Gulf of Mexico.