Eric L. Kacal

• Address: **** Cottage Point Dr., Katy, TX 77494 • Email: acvssv@r.postjobfree.com • Cell: 832-***-****

Profile

Highly motivated, well-rounded, dependable and mature Chemical Engineer specializing in process and production support and process simulation and design, with approximately two to three years of knowledge and experience in Oil & Gas/Refining, Plastics & Polymers and Petrochemicals.

Skills

•Process & Production Engineering • Process Simulation - ASPEN Plus (HYSYS)

•Process Design, Improvement, and Optimization • Product Testing & Product Quality Engineering

•P&ID's, CCD’s & MOC’s • Project Engineering & Management

•Statistical Process Control • Statistical Quality control

•Process & Analytical chemistry • Heat & Material Balances

•Root Cause Analysis • Participating on production teams

•Unit Operations and Plant Design • Proficient using all Microsoft Office Software

•HYSYS, ICARUS, MatLab, JMP & Simulink software • Oil & Gas/Refining

•Process Safety • Supporting unit production teams

Professional Work Experience

02/2014 – 04/2015: Contract Process Chemist

Cenergy @ Shell Motiva – Refinery – Port Arthur, TX

•I worked as a contractor for Motiva at their Port Arthur, TX refinery as a Process Chemist in the technology department for my most previous position. My general role was to be the liaison and interface between the Product Control Laboratory and the Area Unit Production Teams that I was assigned to, including the Crude, Lubes, Hydroprocessing and Coking areas. I actively supported operations and process engineering by providing technical assurance and process chemistry expertise on unit test results, which showed the quality of product, intermediate and waste streams, and also gave an indication of the unit's overall performance. Monitored process quality performance by establishing key performance indicators. Managed and prioritized the balance of process samples for lab analysis vs. field lab and online analyzers by controlling the sampling and testing schedules, and gave recommendations on testing requirements and appropriate test methods to unit engineers. Conducted monthly safety walks on all of my units, and identified any health or safety risks and then actively lead a team to mitigate the issues. Worked with unit Process Engineers on root cause investigations for unit product quality incidents, and participated in the development of corrosion control documents (CCD's), various management of change (MOC's) issues and process safety initiatives. I also helped organize and institute special testing requirements for unit startups, shutdowns, test runs and other abnormal situations. I gave operators training on how to properly catch and handle process samples, and helped the unit process engineer identify the areas where we needed to obtain samples and what kind of testing would be done on them. Continuously looked to improve the performance of my units by cutting down turnaround time for sample results, monitoring key performance and corrosion indicators, and ensuring the optimal amount of testing was been done on each sample point while at the same time ensuring that the product control laboratory could handle the sample load. Learned to balance my day to day duties for supporting and operating the units efficiently and safely with multiple projects of various lengths at the same time. I also received training from Coking Solutions by completing the Fundamentals of Refining training course, which taught me about how plants operate, the units they contain, and the overall economics of the business.

02/2013 – 05/2013: Contract Process Engineer

Testengeer @ Formosa Plastics – Olefins Plant – Point Comfort, TX

•Worked as a contract Process Engineer with Testengeer at Formosa Plastics production site in Point Comfort, TX on a temporary project for their Olefins II Unit. While I was at the plant, I went through P&ID training specific to the Olefins II Units, site specific process safety training, and was responsible for reading and learning the entire Olefins II operating manual. My role for the project was to perform reviews on all of the Olefins II Unit P&ID's to make updates, corrections and ensure that equipment and instrumentation was all present and named/labeled correctly. I performed several field walks each day to match up all of the equipment and instrumentation to the P&ID's, and made notes and corrections in my field notebook. By updating and correcting the unit P&ID's, I helped the operators to operate the unit much more efficiently and cut down on process safety incidents and environmental releases. This temporary project allowed me to utilize and enhance my skills and abilities using P&ID’s, identifying equipment and instrumentation in the field and identifying process safety hazards. The experience allowed me to gain knowledge and experience with the equipment and processes associated with Olefins production, and also how to operate and control a large, complex process unit.

01/2009 – 02/2013: Private 1-on-1 Tutor

University of Texas, Arlington; Self Employed; Volunteer Work

•After graduating with my B.S. in December of 2008, the economy turned bad and I had two offers rescinded and encountered several hiring freezes. In order to keep busy and sharpen my engineering skills, I tutored local college and high school students in math, science and engineering courses; Reviewed chemical engineering coursework and textbooks from my time at UT to sharpen skills; While attending grad school at University of Texas, Arlington I worked with as a private 1-on-1 university tutor for 15 different courses due to my unique background in mathematics, chemistry and engineering. Greatly increased my 1-on-1 communication skills and reinforced my chemistry and chemical engineering fundamentals. I increased my 1-on-1 and overall communication skills with people of many different ethnic and technical backgrounds, and enhanced my ability to express my opinions and get my point across. I also improved upon my ability to network with different people and increase my non-technical professional skills, and learned how to seek out and utilize different resources. During this time I also attended grad school for a semester where I worked on my MBA, but decided that it did not fit my current career goals and aspirations at the time.

05/2008 – 08/2008: Celanese – Chemical Plant – Pasadena, TX

R&D Chemical Engineering Intern

•During my internship at Celanese I worked in the R&D department and was given a 3 month individual project to be completed with limited supervision. I personally designed, optimized, and priced a new process and grassroots facility to produce 1,200 kton/yr of acetic acid in the vapor phase with a fixed bed reactor as opposed to the current liquid phase technology using a stirred tank reactor. Researched key kinetic information of various catalysts in order to gain kinetic information needed to size and price a fixed bed reactor, as well as determine its temperature profile and materials of construction. Used ASPEN simulation software to design, size and optimize the subsequent separation process equipment, and used Icarus to price all of the equipment which was later used to perform an economic evaluation of the process. Calculated capital investment and variable costs, such as; raw materials, high and low pressure steam, cooling water, and electricity. Performed a detailed economic evaluation of the entire process and presented it to the business team. I learned how to use engineering economics techniques and use incremental analysis to make the best economic decision when choosing between multiple options. I also enhanced my critical thinking, ability to seek out and utilize resources, and process simulation and design, innovation, project management, presentation and independent working skills.

05/2005 – 08/2005: M&J Valve – Valve Manufacturing Site – Houston, TX

Assembly & Warehouse Division Intern

•While working in the assembly department at M&J Valve I learned how to develop and construct several different types of valves for customers based on their needs. I had to read and follow blueprints, while at the same time ensuring product quality. I later learned how to test the valves for quality assurance and assisted my supervisor in performing this task. I also assisted in the inventory department where I worked on a project to ensure that the company was not under or over stocked on certain parts due to customer's needs. This made the warehouse division run much more efficiently and effectively and directly lead to an increased bottom line due to eliminating waste.

Accomplishments

Root Cause Investigation for Yearly Product Quality Issue

•Identified the issues and problems that cause two $6MM product quality incidents in two years

•Worked with the Refinery Leadership Team on two mitigation projects; one of which was installed successfully and prevented the PQ issue from reoccurring

Third Party Sampling and Testing Issue

•Decreased turnaround time for critical process results by over 50%

•Saved company money by increasing operation efficiency of units and decreasing corrosion issues

R&D Project for New Plant Design

•Designed and priced two different acetic acid production plants that showed the company that the product could be produced cheaper

Completed training in the “Fundamentals of Refining” course

Education

Bachelors of Science, Chemical Engineering, December 2008

University of Texas at Austin – Overall GPA: 3.35/4.00

MBA Studies, August 2010 – Ongoing

University of Texas, Arlington – Overall GPA: 3.22/4.00

Graduate Courses Completed:

Fundamentals of Accounting

Operations Management

Economics and Finance

Affiliations

American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE)

Texas Ex's Life Member

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