Ever wondered what it would be like to work at one of our refineries? Well wonder no more Totalites!
We have here in Redhill a rather interesting individual. Cristina Ayala, our Value Optimisation Analyst extraordinaire who knows a thing or two about oil refining.
Before joining our commercial department, Cristina worked at our Lindsey Oil Refinery as a Process Engineer.
Established in 1968, the Lindsey Oil Refinery is wholly owned by Total, and is located five miles from the Humber River in North Lincolnshire, UK. The plant is the country's third-largest oil refinery, processing nearly 10 million tonnes of crude oil a year. Total acquired the Lindsey refinery from Fina in 1999.
Cristina’s day would start promptly at 08:00am, and after a routine check on the email inbox - which we are all used to - it would be time to suit up and get out into the refinery itself.
As you’ve by now guessed, this was a much more physical role, although some time in the morning is always set aside for preparation and planning.
The central control room is the venue for the morning’s operations meetings, located nearer the entrance rather than at the heart of this very complex facility. Time is spent carefully outlining the issues and plan for the day ahead, as well as sharing any other important information that will assist throughout the working day. Although much control of the facility is maintained from this room, there are still a number of tasks which must be done manually around the facility.
Cristina was kind enough to attempt to explain what actually happens at a refinery. I made it clear that she would have to keep it very simple if I stood a chance at comprehending the technicalities.
In a nutshell, a very basic nutshell, a refinery takes crude oil and refines it into different products by treating it in different ways to create different fuel products.
Gas, jet fuel , diesel, petrol and even asphalt are all refined from crude oil and separated and stored into different units.
Next it’s on to ‘daily unit optimisation’ - making checks and assessments on all current equipment and lines to ensure the plants is running as economically and efficiently as possible. Improvements are made constantly and the mission to increase the quality of processes is an ongoing one.
It’s worth mentioning at this point that unusually, the facility is warm all the time. Heat is generated due to the kind of processes taking place around the clock. Nice in the Winter, right?
Cristina was also heavily involved in a number of important projects during her time at Lindsey including…
● ‘Opportunity crude analysis’, which involves making a technical assessment to decide which products to buy
● Long term crude pre-treatment optimisation
● Transportation of dangerous goods
● Daily operational optimisation (kerosene treatment, crude pre-treatment and LPG treatment)
● Optimisation of air-cooled heat exchangers (think fan, a massive, massive fan)
So all in all, the day to day was essentially full to the brim. But you bet there was still time for some fun too.
Employees at Lindesy were encouraged to take part in Lunch and Learn, informal session held to encourage the sharing of knowledge. There was also shift training and of course, rugby.
All the refineries in Europe are invited to take part in a mini tournament and choose a fun theme for their team.
Oh and by the way, Lindsey won the latest one dressed
“ The people. The friendly culture and support given to enable advances into real meaningful work feel the same here as they did there” she replied.
Thanks Cristina, welcome to Redhill and we hope you have a rewarding and fulfilling career here working with us.
