Explore Careers: Research Engineering in the Oil & Gas Industry. Discussion with an Engineer at DNV GL.
This is a very interesting episode — because we go into the details of a profession which not many people know about but is very critical to a huge industry — the Oil & Gas Industry. We go into the details of the kind of Research that happens in the Oil & Gas Industry, and what a Research Engineer’s job is like.
We spoke with Vinod Khare, who works as a Research Engineer with DNV GL, the world’s largest classification society which operated in Oil & Gas, among many other industries.
Here are notes from our discussion with Vinod. Check out the podcast below if you prefer Audio instead.
Most objects around you need to meet certain minimum requirements before they are considered ready and safe for use. This process, known as accreditation is carried out by a number of agencies across the world by defining what exactly the requirements for various objects/services are and then performing the certification for the same. DNVGL is one of the largest classification companies in the world and focuses on Maritime (Ships, offshore structures), Oil, Gas and Energy sectors.
Vinod has a background in Civil Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur in 2007 after which he did a Masters in Geodetic Engineering from Ohio State University. Post that he has accumulated more than 4 years of experience in this industry.
Do you get the chance to visit places which one wouldn’t get to visit normally?
Most of the time my work is generally in front of the computer but occasionally I do get to visit places. Recently, we visited a coal fired power plant in the US Midwest which had a prototype sensor network. That visit was really interesting because before this I had no idea what a power plant looks like.
Could you tell us what a prototype sensor network is?
In the US midwest most power generation is still done via thermal (coal) power plants. Additionally, most of the technology is old and aged. Therefore the operators need a way to carefully monitor the structure and its integrity, ensure that it is safely operating or if it’s going to fail. So DNVGL proposed that it would install a network of sensors in a few pilot power plants which would help them monitor the same. These sensors are actually not something which you can just by off the market - we’re actually setting them up ourselves. Power plants typically have steam running at very high temperatures which runs through pipes. This causes expansion and contraction in the pipes, causing large amounts of mechanical fatigue. This makes them susceptible to failure, which is why the operators need to make sure that they are measuring the fatigue and stress in these pipes. Pipes are generally extremely sensitive to failure and therefore need to be monitored regularly to ensure they are structurally sound.
Are you the ones who made the sensors?
Yes. I was the one who tested a lot of sensors and also designed how the sensors would sent back data to the internet from where clients can look at the data all together on one dashboard.
Could you tell us more about yourself and how you got here?
I went to IIT-Kanpur where I did Civil Engineering, which I didn’t really like that much. At the end of my stay there I got really interested in remote sensing and GIS (Geographical Information System, which is what is used for GPS navigation) because of which I worked for a while in remote sensing in India. After that, I came to Ohio State where I did my masters in Geodetic science, which is basically an old word for GIS. After that I was hired by DNVGL (DNV at that time). Even though they hired me for my GIS expertise I ended up doing a lot of work in machine learning and software development. For the past year or so I’ve been mostly working on sensor networks and the internet of things.
Could you clarify some of the terms that you’ve used?
Remote Sensing - Any kind of sensing done by satellites. Radar, XRay, InfraRed in addition to normal optical cameras.
Computer Vision - It’s technology which can recognize objects and pictures. In more sophisticated cases it could even perform measurements or extract other information from pictures.
Geographical Information System (GIS) - The technology used for navigation and map making.
Could you give us an overview of your industry?
The industry does essentially two kinds of things with most companies in the industry typically doing both. The first is certification - government and private entities want to know if objects and service are safe to operate and aren’t going to hurt anyone. Governments typically create regulations to ensure this doesn’t happen. DNVGL enters as a third party certification body where it basically just verifies if the objects adhere to the regulations set by the government.
Secondly, DNVGL also provides advisory services which helps companies set up their equipment etc. in a safe manner. For instance, in the US, Shale Gas is coming up in a big way. Companies want to export it and therefore construct new facilities to do so. DNVGL would come in at some time during the project and verify whether everything is safe. So here we don’t act as a third party certification body but rather just an advisor to the client company indicating whether the set up is safe.
Could you give us an example of the kind of things you would certify for say, a ship?
It depends heavily on the industry as well as the geography. Maritime regulations are typically more uniform because there are international laws which govern shipping. But the Oil and Gas business, especially the downstream part of it (typically onshore activities - refining and processing of oil and final distribution to consumers) are governed by individual governments so they can be extremely varied.
In the example of a ship - Even before the ship has left the harbor, DNVGL personnel would visit the ship and check the engine room, safety procedures, control room, navigation equipment etc. and check if there are any kind of problems. Things such as absence of safety equipment, corrosion they would instantly raise a red flag. They will also classify the ship into Grade A/B/C which is useful for the regulators so that they know that the ship is safe as well as insurance companies so that they can figure out the premium which they would charge. In the shipping industry, the ship has to re-certified every 5 years. In oil and gas it depends upon the geographical region. For instance, in the US, transmission infrastructure for oil and gas products on US soil is regulated by a body known as PHMSA (Pipelines and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration) which decides how often a pipeline needs to be certified based on its contents. PHMSA does not issue grades, rather it checks if there are any critical areas in the pipeline which need to be highlighted. Otherwise it’s simply signed off as OK.
What is the background for the surveyors which actually go and visit these areas?
Typically these will be Mechanical, Chemical and Industrial engineers - people that have done hardware oriented engineering. Surveying does not require a very heavy academic background with surveyors generally having a bachelors degree only.
What attracted you to this job?
I decided to stay in the job because I found the work very challenging, especially in my profile (research). We are trying to bring all the modern technology coming up in Silicon Valley to the Oil and Gas business. The oil and gas industry is very traditional, so it’s very challenging bring all the technology in and showcase the benefit. Also, ultimately we’re working to make different industrial assets safe and that gives me satisfaction because it ensures accidents don’t happen and people stay safe.
Could you tell us what a research engineer does?
A research engineer at DNVGL does more of the practical aspects whereas others do the more theoretical aspects. In my team we employ PhDs in Chemical, Corrosion, Electrical and Mechanical Engineering. Since they’re PhDs, they do most of the more theoretical work. Let’s say the chemical engineer comes up with a new and better model for estimating corrosion in a pipeline. Then I would convert the model into a software using machine learning techniques to train the model, then make automation scripts to run the software on big projects etc. Due to my background I do more of the software related stuff. But that is not always necessarily the case - many people also have more hardware related roles such as making equipment in the lab, setting up experiments, analyzing flow and corrosion models etc.
To learn more, you can listen to the full podcast below:
iTunes
SoundCloud
Stitcher
Here’s an index of what you can find at which points in the Podcast
- Using sensors to assess the integrity of a power plant (3:50)
- How technologies like Computer Vision, GIS, etc are helping Vinod today in his role as a Research Engineer (7:10)
- Overview of Classification and Certification industry (12:20)
- Role of a Research Engineer (20:15)
- How IoT can have an impact on shipping industry (28:40)
- Typical day and interesting + challenging aspects of the role (31:10)
- Examples of sensors Vinod is experimenting with (36:00)
- Importance of understanding human aspects of a technology (45:30)
- Advice for interested candidates (47:30)
We also have some 2 mins snippets to give you a taste of the wonderful things you can expect in the podcast :)
How IoT will impact the Oil & Gas industry
How sensors are being applied in the Oil & Gas industry
Hope you enjoy the episode! :) If you have any feedback to share or any questions for Vinod Khare or for Learn Educate Discover, you can email us at learneducatediscover@gmail.com or tweet at us :) We will respond! You can also like our FaceBook page where we post all our updates.
Happy listening!
Team LED
