Rami E. Kremesti, M.Sc.
Water Treatment Specialist - Power Station Chemist
Summary:
M.S. in industrial chemistry specializing in demin water production, silicon surface science and contamination detection and control from the USA. 11 years of experience in design, construction, commissioning and operations of water/waste water treatment systems with an emphasis on power stations (coal and gas fired). 6 years of experience in IT consulting specializing in web design and technical writing. Two years of experience in research and teaching chemistry at the university level. Superb management and leadership skills. Fluent in English, Arabic, Bulgarian and conversant in French. German A2 Level completed. Dual nationality: Lebanon and Bulgaria. Age: 41. Divorced. Two children.
Education/Training:
- M.Sc. Industrial Chemistry, University of North Texas, Denton, Texas 1998 - GPA 3.73/4.00 (Full teaching/research assistantship) Area of specialization: Ultra-pure water production, contamination detection and control, Silicon surface science.
- B.Sc. Chemistry, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon 1995 - Dean's List
- ALSTOM sponsored course in Siemens' COMOS (Basic PID, Queries and Lists), Baden, CH October 2013
- ALSTOM course on Concurrent Engineering - June 2013
- ALSTOM Sponsored David H. Paul CBT Course on Demineralization and Reverse Osmosis (Certificate in RO Operation and Maintenance) - 2011
- AES sponsored power plant training visits: Kilroot (Ireland), Cartagena (Spain), Barka (Oman) and Tisza/Borsod (Hungary), June-July 2007.
- AES sponsored GPI Learning online course in Power Plant Operations.
- AES sponsored training seminar in ISO 17025 Accreditation of Laboratories at the Bulgarian Accreditation Service, Sofia, September 2007.
- AES sponsored training seminar on REACH legislation at the Bulgarian Industrial Association, Sofia, November 2007.
- AES sponsored APEX proprietary training in Bansko, Bulgaria. November 2007.
- AES sponsored training in coal analysis (calorific value, ash content, moisture, carbon/sulfur content & volatiles)/ISO 17025 accreditation at AMEES Labroratory, Radnevo, Bulgaria. November 2007 - December 2007.
- IOSH certificate "Managing Safely", Stara Zagora, Bulgaria March 11-14, 2008
- Nalco training program in water treatment engineering (power generation, cooling systems, water chemistry and wastewater treatment), and industrial safety (Safety On Site TM), Dammam, KSA and Dubai - 2005
Relevant Skills and Abilities:
Water Treatment Skills:
- Experience in brown sugar syrup decolorization using anion exchange, caustic brine regeneration and recovery using NF
- Experience in power plant and water treatment plant engineering, construction and commissioning.
- Experience in industrial (cooling tower make up, demin water make up), potable, domestic, and waste water treatment (activated sludge process, trickling filter, RBC's, Membrane filtration, oil water separators, and cooling) systems.
- Experience in industrial water chemical treatment applications: boiler water treatment (pre-treatment, corrosion inhibition, O2 scavenging, anti-scalant and dispersant programs), cooling systems (exchangers, chillers, closed cooling water loops, cooling towers - programs used: corrosion inhibitors, anti-foulants, biocides, algaecide, and dispersants).
- Experience in water quality analysis (Standard Methods, EPA and ASTM water and deposit analysis techniques)
- Experience in RO/RO pre-treatment system design and understanding of membrane fouling processes, and cleaning/maintenance chemical programs.
- Thorough understanding of boiler and cooling system failure mechanisms (corrosion, scaling, fouling) and chemical treatments.
Surface Science and Semiconductor Clean Room Skills:
- In graduate school, maintained advanced analytical equipment such as Ultra-Pure water systems, ppb-range contaminant detectors, Potentiometers, Scanning Tunneling Microscope, Scanning Electron Microscope, FTIR Spectrophotometer, CVD reactors and Atomic Force Microscope as part of graduate research.
- Conducted silicon surface science experiments under clean room conditions.
Technical Writing and Computer Skills:
- Experience developing water treatment contracting offers and SOP's.
- Superb technical writing skills honed by writing myriad academic scientific research papers as well as 6 years of IT experience working in the areas of web/graphic design, consulting, technical writing, business process analysis and implementation support (developing training materials) on large software projects.
- Excellent computer skills (MS Office, Dreamweaver MX, Photoshop, Visio, AutoCAD).
- Excellent online, library and resource research skills.
- Samples of technical wrinting can be seen at this link.
Environmental, Health and Safety Knowledge and Skills:
- Experience in identifying hazardous situations, and mitigating the risk using proper equipment/design and risk assessment.
- Experience in hazmat equipment and clean up operations
- Indepth knowledge of chemical hazards and potential risk to health and environment
- Hands on Experience working with concentrated sulfuric acid, hydrochloric acid, sodium hydroxide (caustic soda), and chlorine based compounds (Chlorine Gas, sodium hypochlorite, and chlorine dioxide)
Management/Leadership Skills:
Managed teams of up to 15 technical personnel. Effective people skills. Effective communication skills. Conflict resolution skills.Strong leadership.
Selected Scientific Papers/Projects/Presentations:
- Thesis Research Topic: "Potentiometric and FTIR-ATR Study of the Surface SiO2 Etching Using Hydrofluoric Acid", Presented in regional ACS meeting. Advisor Dr. Oliver Chyan, UNT Chemistry Department.
- "Biosensors: Fundamentals, Applications and Advantages", Advanced Analytical Chem. Graduate project. Advisor Dr. Oliver Chyan, University of North Texas, Chemistry Department.
Work Experience:
Duro Felguera, Carrington Power Station, Greater Manchester, UK February 2015 – Present
As Commissioning Chemist:
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Developped the Site Chemistry Management Plan for commissioning phase
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Supported erection department in Erection supervision of water pretreatment and water treatment plants
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Developed Risk Assessment and Method Statements for chemical systems
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Trained EHS personnel in chemical safety
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Prepared the commissioning documentation
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Toolbox talks on chemicals safety
- Developed awareness about the Risk of Legionella and developed presentations and a Risk management and control plan based on the EHS L8 ACOP
- Lead efforts for mCERTS certification on site
Kremesti Environmental Consulting, Babylon, Iraq, November 2014 – February 2015
As Commissioning Specialist for the Novasep process at the Etihad Sugar Factory (250 Million Euro BMA project) in Babylon, Iraq:
• Participated in the FAT for Siemens Simatic PCS7 PLC at Bossard in La Roche Sur Yon, France.
• Checked erection completion of equipment, instruments and piping on site.
• Trained local engineers in water treatment, brine/caustic preparation/recovery and decolorization process
• Supervised cold and hot commissioning of the brine preparation, brown sugar syrup decolorization and brine recovery (using NF) processes.
• Improved EHS on site by reporting on safety and environmental issues and labeling of all equipment especially chemical equipment with safety signs.
• Advised owner and local engineers on implementing EHS culture on site
ALSTOM Power Switzerland Ltd., Baden, Switzerland April 2012 - October 2014
As Engineering Specialist - Water and Waste Water Systems, reviewed/developed technical specifications for Waste Water Systems which include oil water separator, sewage treatment plant, hot blowdown cooling system and various pumping systems.
Reviewed offers and documentation from suppliers. Responsible for waste water system PID, system manual and waste water source list. Coordinated with Electrical, I&C, Civil and Arrangement departments in aspects relevant to water and waste water treatment. Developed detailed calculations for waste water systems.
ALSTOM Power Poland, Belchatow 858 MW Power Station, February 2010 - February 2012
As Turnkey Manager for the water treatment plant, managed Remak Rozruch, the subcontractor contracted to commission and operate the water treatment plant which includes two lime softening clarifiers and attached chemical dosing equipment, sand filtration plant for production of cooling water and an ion exchange plant for demin water production.
Also supervised chemical dosing and water-steam cycle chemistry analysis for all BOP systems and boiler.
Participated in Cold Commissioning of Condensate Polishing Plant.
3 month expatriation to CCGT power station in Terga, Algeria: supported commissioning of MSF desalination plant, cold commisioning of sewage treatment plant and commissioning of lab instruments
AES Maritza East 1 Power Station, Galabovo, Bulgaria April 2007 - January 2010
As Water Treatment Plant Supervisor at the biggest Balkans EU investment project in 2007, I was brought in at the early construction phases of the AES Maritza East 1 power station to participate in the engineering review and oversee water treatment plant construction at the power station and to prepare the plant for the commissioning and operations phase of the project. Part of my duties are: Training operators and chemists on plant operation and water quality monitoring. Contributed to the understanding/critique of water treatment/analysis systems during the engineering phase. Supporting the environmental department in IPPC permitting efforts and water analyses. Supporting procurement in establishing quality chemical suppliers and spare parts. Supporting efforts for REACH compliance. Leading efforts for accreditation of the lignite lab according to ISO 17025. Involved in the recruitment of new operation and maintenance personnel and preparation of technical testing materials. Currently we are in the commissioning phase of the water treatment plant which includes FLOCOPAC clarifiers, sand filters, active carbon filters, Reverse Osmosis units, potable water treatment plant, a mixed bed polisher, chemical unloading and dosing equipment and a lignite and water analysis lab.
Construction experience: Civil works, erection supervision, PP/SS/CS/GRP/PVC piping systems, hydrotests, erection turnover inspection.
QA/QC Experience: Participated in many electrical, mechanical, welding, and civil inspections.
Operations experience: trained operators on monitoring plant parameters and entering data in various journals, developed SOP procedures, developed plant operator routes.
WATERMASTER SARL, Beirut,
Lebanon
2006
Consulted for Lebanese water treatment contractor in thedesign of potable, domestic, and waste water treatment systems, in developing chemical water treatment products, and developing a water/deposit analysis lab. Supported procurement, R&D, maintenance and QC efforts as well.
Nalco Saudi, Dammam, Kingdom Saudi Arabia February 2005 - August 2005
As industrial water treatment Application Engineer/Consultant, worked on various projects/proposals related to the boilers and cooling systems of SABIC petrochemical industrial complexes SADAF (Arabian Shell) and Petrokemya. Performed weekly sampling/analysis of boiler and cooling water installations, wrote technical reports and made recommendations related to chemical treatment and operation of water systems and interacted with client process engineers, production teams, supervisors and plant operation personnel. Serviced Styrene, Utilities, Olefins, Ethylene, VCM, Polystyrene plants and a CIE 4500 m3 cooling tower. Within Nalco, I interacted with sales, distribution, production, lab, and the applied services departments. I trained a novice application engineer in water treatment.
KREMESTI.COM Consulting, Los Angeles, California 9/2001-4/2005
Founder of consultancy in Los Angeles, California in 1999. Worked with various companies in various industries (chemical, real estate, manufacturing, educational, industrial, web design etc.) as a consultant on IT/Chemistry related projects ranging from industrial water treatment, to web design, subject matter development, and training.
SPHERION TECHNOLOGY ARCHITECTS, Irvine, California 08/2000 - 08//2001
Spherion Technology Architects - the Technology branch of Fortune 500 Spherion (NYSE: SFN) - provides value-added consulting services and project support in the areas of Software Quality Management, Enterprise Application Integration, and Information Design Services. As a Consultant in Spherion's Southern California Information Design Services practice, I worked as a Technical Writer/Business Process Analyst on a variety of internal and external IT projects with large companies such as General Motors Acceptance Corporation (GMAC) and Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. On these projects I worked in the areas of software documentation, training and implementation support.
UNIVERSITY OF NORTH TEXAS, DEP'T of CHEMISTRY, Denton, Texas 08/96 - 12/98
Earned MS in Industrial Chemistry specializing in Silicon Surface Science and Process Contamination Detection and Control. Held TA and RA positions throughout course of graduate studies and research. Active member of AXE professional chemistry fraternity.
As a Chemistry Teaching Assistant, instructed freshman labs/classes, gave class lectures, corrected exams/quizzes/reports and taught students essential lab procedures, instilled sense of excitement about learning Chemistry. Supported three graduate students through the process of writing their MS/PhD. theses.
As a Research Assistant, conducted various research projects in silicon surface science and contamination detection and control, managed the operation of the Analytical Chemistry lab, trained/led three freshmen and one graduate student in miscellaneous research projects, managed supply and ordering and scientific equipment maintenance and repair. Interacted with various research groups in the university such as in materials science, biology and biochemistry. Established lab SOP's and validation protocols and maintenance/calibration routines for various instruments and processes.
Hobbies/Interests:
Family, Reading, photography, biking, golf, surfing, swimming, cooking, camping, hiking, mountain biking and traveling. Peace and Social activism: founder of amalid.org and bonka.bg.
Professional Affiliations/Interests: Water and Waste Water, IDA, AWWA, WQA, NACE and VGB. Contacts with several water treatment professionals internationally.