2025 BRIMSTONE SULFUR SYMPOSIUM
DETAILED AGENDA
Monday, September 8th
| 6:30 – 8:30 pm | Evening Sign-in and Mixer, sponsored by Vail Vendors (King’s Club and Library) |
Tuesday, September 9th
| 7:30 – 8:30 am | Morning Registration (Downstairs Conference Room) |
| 8:30 – 9:00 am | Welcome and Introductions |
| 9:00 – 9:30 am | SULFUR PRODUCTION REFERENCE NOTE SET AND Q&A INTRODUCTION Elmo Nasato (Nasato Consulting Ltd.), Jay Davis (Chevron), Tami Lipscomb (CountryMark) |
| 9:30 – 10:15 am | “OPERATIONAL AND SAFETY CONSIDERATIONS FOR SRU SHUTDOWNS DUE TO TAIL GAS THERMAL OXIDIZER TRIPS: A CASE STUDY FROM MOTIVA PORT ARTHUR REFINERY” Rustin Heflin, Gianluca Tanda, Kirk Wesselowski (Zeeco), Ron Pitman (Motiva Enterprises) |
| 10:15 – 10:40 am | CAMEO PRESENTATION: “UNDERSTANDING WHY SULFUR CONDENSERS WORK IN CLAUS RECOVERY” Rob Marriott (Alberta Sulphur Research Ltd.) |
| 10:40 – 11:00 am | Coffee Break |
| 11:00 – 11:45 am | “NEUTRALIZATION OF HEAT STABLE AMINE SALTS REVISITED” Clay Jones (INEOS), Joel Cantrell (Bryan Research & Engineering) |
| 11:45 am – 12:10 pm | CAMEO PRESENTATION: “CFD SIMULATION OF PORT PURGE INTERACTION WITH THERMAL REACTOR PROCESS GAS” Nick Roussakis, Geoffrey Hopkins (HEC Canada) |
| 12:10 – 1:40 pm | Lunch (Ludwig’s Restaurant) |
| 1:40 – 2:05 pm | CAMEO PRESENTATION: “IN THE TOOLBOX: SELECTIVE STRATEGIES FOR SRU STABILITY & OPTIMIZATION” Leslie Johnson (Crystaphase) |
| 2:05 – 2:50 pm | “SIMULATION-BASED THERMOHYDRODYNAMIC ANALYSIS OF A CLAUS PROCESS CATALYTIC REACTOR” Nasser Mohieddin Abukhdeir (Continuum Engineering), Rithu Muthalathu (University of Waterloo), Elmo Nasato (Nasato Consulting Ltd.), Tanyakarn Treeratanaphitak (Sirindhorn International Institute of Technology) |
| 2:50 – 3:20 pm | OPEN FLOOR Q&A SESSION |
| 3:20 – 3:50 pm | Coffee Break |
| 3:50 – 4:10 pm | OPEN FLOOR Q&A SESSION (CONT’) |
| 4:10 – 4:35 pm | CAMEO PRESENTATION: “STEAM AND CONDENSATE HANDLING IN SRUs” Carson Hannah (QMax Industries) |
| 4:35 – 5:00 pm | CAMEO PRESENTATION: “EVALUATION OF ACTIVATED CARBON PERFORMANCE FOR CONTAMINANT REMOVAL IN AMINE SYSTEMS” Bob Veroba (Sulfur Recovery Engineering) |
| 6:00 – 7:30 pm | Evening Mixer, sponsored by Vail Vendors (King’s Club and Library) |
Wednesday, September 10th
| 8:30 – 9:15 am | ANNUAL AMINE BEST PRACTICES GROUP (ABPG) TECHNICAL PAPER: “THE H2S LIMBO IN LEAN AMINE – HOW LOW CAN YOU GO?” Nate Hatcher (P66) |
| 9:15 – 9:40 am | CAMEO PRESENTATION: “EFFECT OF HCN AND CYANIDE ION IN AQUEOUS SOLUTIONS” Al Keller (Consultant) |
| 9:40 – 10:05 am | CAMEO PRESENTATION: “IMPACT AND FEASIBILITY OF CONVERTING REFINERY SEPARATIONS TO MEMBRANE SYSTEMS” Bryce Mason, Brent Keller, Chris Thompson (Via Separations) |
| 10:05 – 10:25 am | Coffee Break |
| 10:25 – 11:10 am | ANNUAL ALBERTA SULPHUR RESEARCH (ASRL) TECHNICAL PAPER: “SHEDDING LIGHT ON THE FACILE CONVERSION OF CS2 ACROSS CLAUS TAIL GAS HYDROGENATION CATALYSTS” Rob Marriott, Chris Lavery, S.S. Nanji (Alberta Sulphur Research Ltd.) |
| 11:10 – 11:35 am | CAMEO PRESENTATION: “ASTM INDUSTRY HEAT TRANSFER PROGRAM DISCREPANCIES” Heeth Orr, Dan Millsaps, Andy Piper, Jeff Proctor (Thorpe Specialty Services) |
| 11:35 – 12:00 pm | ANNUAL MR. / MS. SULFUR CLUB AWARD Philip Oberbrockling (Independent) |
| 12:00 – 1:30 pm | Lunch (Ludwig’s Restaurant) |
| 1:30 – 2:15 pm | “SRU CAPACITY RESTORATION THROUGH SAFETY/OPERABILITY/ RELIABILITY PROGRAM” Marco van Son, Bill DeWees (Worley Comprimo), Elmo Nasato (Nasato Consulting Ltd.) |
| 2:15 – 3:45 pm | WAR STORIES FORUM I: “A SERIES OF BRIEF PRESENTATIONS AND OPEN CONVERSATIONS ABOUT NOVEL AND/OR INTERESTING EXPERIENCES RELATING TO SRU OPERATIONS AND EQUIPMENT” Facilitated by Dave Sikorski (HEC Canada), Dominica Misale (Industrial Ceramics Ltd.), Andy Piper (Thorpe Specialty Services) with short presentations by various delegates [includes Coffee Break around 3 pm] |
| 3:45 – 4:10 pm | CAMEO PRESENTATION: “MANAGING MYSTIFYING MERCAPTAN IN TAIL GAS UNITS” Michael Huffmaster (Consultant), Hans Wijnbelt (Shell Catalysts & Technologies) |
| 4:10 – 5:00 pm | OPEN FLOOR Q&A SESSION |
| 6:30 – 9:30 pm | THE BRIMSTONE CLUB – 2025 EDITION: BELOW THE DEW POINT / DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE A chill speakeasy for the coolest minds in sulfur (The Rabbit Hole @ Chasing Rabbits) |
Thursday, September 11th
| 9:00 – 10:35 am | “SMARTER, FASTER, CLEANER: REDEFINING THE MODERN TURNAROUND CYCLE” |
| 9:00 am | Shutdown for Turnaround – Faster and with Lower Emissions Jay Davis (Chevron) |
| 9:25 am | Turnaround Process Engineer Roles Philip Oberbroeckling (Independent) |
| 9:50 am | Startup from Turnaround – Faster and with Lower Emissions Scott Harper (Chevron) |
| 10:15 am | The SRU Run-Length Dilemma – How Long Can We Go Between Turnarounds? (ABPG Survey) Jonathan Centurier-Harris (Chevron) |
| 10:35 – 10:55 am | Coffee Break |
| 10:55 – 11:40 am | “ONCE IN A LIFETIME? COMMON DEFICIENCIES WITH SULFUR PIT MECHANICAL INSTALLATIONS, AND POTENTIAL FOR THEIR REMEDIATION DURING A PIT TURNAROUND” Gavin Palmer (Brindley Engineering), Tom Kline (Structural Technologies) |
| 11:40 am – 12:10 pm | OPEN FLOOR Q&A SESSION |
| 12:10 – 12:35 pm | CAMEO PRESENTATION: “REFRACTORY PERFORMANCE IN EVOLVING SRU CONDITIONS” Daniel Starr (Harbison Walker, Inc.), Jacob Dupree (J.T. Thorpe & Son, Inc.) |
| 12:35 pm – 2:05 pm | Lunch (Ludwig’s Restaurant) |
| 2:05 – 2:50 pm | “MOLTEN SULFUR TANK INSTRUMENTATION” Darshan Sachde (Trimeric Corporation) |
| 2:50 – 4:20 pm | WAR STORIES FORUM II: “A SERIES OF BRIEF PRESENTATIONS AND OPEN CONVERSATIONS ABOUT NOVEL AND/OR INTERESTING EXPERIENCES RELATING TO SRU OPERATIONS AND EQUIPMENT” Facilitated by Dave Sikorski (HEC Canada), Dominica Misale (Industrial Ceramics Ltd.), Andy Piper (Thorpe Specialty Services) with short presentations by various delegates [includes Coffee Break around 3.30 pm] |
| 4:20 – 4:45 pm | CAMEO PRESENTATION: “INNOVATIVE CERAMIC SOLUTIONS FOR THE SRU REACTION FURNACE AND INCINERATOR” Uday Parekh (Blasch Precision Ceramics) |
| 4:45 – 5:10 pm | CAMEO PRESENTATION: “SHELL TURBO TECHNOLOGIES: A NOVEL COLUMN INTERNAL THAT UNLOCKS EXISTING GAS TREATING UNIT POTENTIAL” Anh Do, Farhang Abdollahi (Shell Catalysts & Technologies), Hans Kumar (Schlumberger) |
| 6:00 – 7:30 pm | Evening Mixer, sponsored by Vail Vendors (King’s Club and Library) |
Friday, September 12th
| 8:30 – 9:15 am | “SOME LIKE IT HOT! RELIABLE SRU STACK MONITORING” David Inward (Endress + Hauser Sick) |
| 9:15 – 9:40 am | CAMEO PRESENTATION: “SULFURIC ACID MIST REMOVAL FROM THERMAL OXIDIZER EXHAUST” Andy Olds (Envitech Inc.) |
| 9:40 – 10:10 am | Coffee Break (a great time to check out if you are leaving today) |
| 10:10 – 10:30 am | “ANNUAL GLOBAL SULFUR INDUSTRY UPDATE” Angie Slavens (UniverSUL Consulting) |
| 10:30 – 11:15 am | OPEN FLOOR Q&A SESSION |
| 11:15 – 11:30 am | Closing Remarks |
– END OF SYMPOSIUM –