teaching my job in ONE HOUR!!!

[workaholic?]

i'm not sure if this is going to make that much sense, but i'm going to try anyway, because i need to vent. here's the situation:

i've been at my company as an engineer for 2.5 years. this past october, i took a transfer (as did my husband) to wyoming. i requested this move from texas because evenutally dh and i would like to go to kazakhstan to work on a major project our company has there. it's a very unique field there, and it just so happens that you can get some really good training experience for that job working at a certain plant in wyoming...so i asked for that job because it came open and i was qualified for it. so anyway...i got the transfer and moved up here with the condition that dh and i can go to kazakhstan in 2 to 3 years...bosses all agreed.

now, it's not like there's just one opening in kazakhstan...it's a huge ordeal there that will be around for several years to come, so i'm not worried about getting there when i want, and i know i will be one of the best qualified people for the job in a couple years.

here's my beef: this week (for two whole days) 5 new engineers are coming to visit my plant (where i'm the sole process engineer) because they are going to kazakhstan (very very soon) and would like to get "a feel" for gas plants and sulfur recovery (which is what makes kazakhstan and this plant unique). these guys have NO experience with gas plants or sulfur recovery, and yet the company is sending them to kazakhstan where they will be paid a 60% premium on their salary, while i sit here in freaking WYOMING gaining the necessary experience to actually be able to contribute to the project overseas.

here's the real kicker...tomorrow, i'm supposed to spend 1 hour with these 5 guys telling them about process engineering.

if i had known that i could just come up here for 2 DAYS instead of 2 YEARS and only spend ONE HOUR learning about process engineering and suddenly be qualified for the job i'm dying to have, i certainly wouldn't have bothered moving my ass up here in the dead of the worst winter they've seen in years to gain what i thought was necessary experience!

okay...rant over. i'm just pissed a little bit at the company for this and because i have to squeeze in an hour with these guys tomorrow when i already have meetings booked for the whole day, despite the fact that they couldn't possibly learn what i do in one hour.

[Bocheezu]

Wow, an engineering thread. I am in a mild state of shock.

Just focus on the basics, obviously. Don't expect them to know anything, because they won't. Start from ground zero.

Like when I explain my job to people, it always kinda goes like this.

Engine can run in three different states -- stoichoimetry, lean, and rich.

Stoich is a chemical sweet spot where, in an ideal reaction, all the oxygen and fuel would be consumed.

Lean is more air/less fuel than stoich
Rich is more fuel/less air than stoich

(I'd think that much would be common knowledge, especially for an engineer, but you'd be amazed. Anyway...)

Common emissions under regulation are unburnt hydrocarbon (HC), CO, and NOx (NO + NO2)

For catalytic conversion,

HC and CO must be oxidized to CO2 under stoich/lean conditions
NOx must be reduced to N2 under stoich/rich conditions

Common catalysts operate at stoich to convert all three emissions at the same time.

Catalysts we work on are not common. They operate lean and store NOx instead of converting it. They can't store NOx forever and have to be purged under rich conditions to regenerate the catalyst.

The hope is you run lean more than you run rich, so you get a fuel benefit.

Enjoy the rest of your stay at the research lab, have a nice day.

[meatwad]

Kazakhstan is greatest country in the world
all other countries are run by little girls
Kazakhstan number one exporter of potassium
other countries have inferior potassium.

[workaholic?]

Kazakhstan is greatest country in the world
all other countries are run by little girls
Kazakhstan number one exporter of potassium
other countries have inferior potassium.

lol, enjoyed watching that movie, too. and yes, i know kazakhstan is not the greatest country in the world, but it's not like i'm going there for vacation...the work there and where that work could get me in the long run are immeasurably awesome.

[meatwad]

lol, enjoyed watching that movie, too. and yes, i know kazakhstan is not the greatest country in the world, but it's not like i'm going there for vacation...the work there and where that work could get me in the long run are immeasurably awesome.

It is fine. Just be careful for the Uzbeks. They are assholes.

[workaholic?]

Engine can run in three different states -- stoichoimetry, lean, and rich.

Stoich is a chemical sweet spot where, in an ideal reaction, all the oxygen and fuel would be consumed.

Lean is more air/less fuel than stoich
Rich is more fuel/less air than stoich

(I'd think that much would be common knowledge, especially for an engineer, but you'd be amazed. Anyway...)

Common emissions under regulation are unburnt hydrocarbon (HC), CO, and NOx (NO + NO2)

For catalytic conversion,

HC and CO must be oxidized to CO2 under stoich/lean conditions
NOx must be reduced to N2 under stoich/rich conditions

Common catalysts operate at stoich to convert all three emissions at the same time.



just as a side note that might make you feel better about the state of engineering, we try to run our sulfur recovery unit stoichiometrically, but if it's not possible, we try to run rich so that we create less SO2 in the process, so that it can then be the limiting reactant in the secondary reaction. SO2 to the tail gas treating unit = bad

[workaholic?]

just found out that these guys all have less than 3 months total experience and that experience is in a completely unrelated part of the company. one of my coworkers had to talk to them today and said he really didn't even know how to talk to them...what can you possibly tell them in an hour to prepare them for what they're about to do.

[TinyDancer]

Will they be doing what *you* would be doing in Kazakhstan?

[dacrunkest]

Does K-stan have nearly as good skiing as Wyoming?