Air Liquide

Instrumentation Reliability Engineer

Houston, TX (HO) - NAM Corporate Full time
R10085614 Instrumentation Reliability Engineer (Open)

Location

Houston, TX (HO) - NAM Corporate

Air Liquide Large Industries provides our customers with industrial gas and energy solutions that are vital to their own industrial production. We own and operate over 2,000 miles of industrial gas pipelines in the U.S. supplying mainly oxygen, nitrogen, hydrogen and syngas in large quantities from multiple production sources to major customers in the chemicals, petrochemicals, refining and steel industries. Our pipeline operations and industrial gas production facilities are closely monitored 24/7 within our leading-edge operations control center located in Houston, Texas. Our operations control group monitors over 89,000 data points and assists with product supply and coordination. We are constantly optimizing our supply network to provide high reliability and energy efficiencies allowing Air Liquide to adjust supply needs more quickly and effectively enabling growth to our customers.

How will you CONTRIBUTE and GROW?

At Air Liquide, we are committed to building a diverse and inclusive workplace that embraces the unique perspectives of our employees, our customers, patients, community stakeholders, and cultures across the world. We believe that a variety of backgrounds makes our team stronger and more innovative.

The Instrumentation Reliability Engineer is responsible for identifying and proposing solutions to improve the reliability performance related to instrumentation, control valves, and control systems. Investigate and analyze instrumentation and critical valve reliability issues to help define sustainable solutions to improve plant production reliability and asset uptime. Leads, facilitates and implements key instrumentation reliability programs, Trip Abatement and Alarm Management program at an LI-NAM level, as well as, bad actor plant sites. Ensures the successful implementation of proposed solutions. Partners with other reliability team member’s, Subject Matter Experts, Plant Management, Engineering, and Operations personnel to develop sustainable strategies to reduce and/or eliminate instrumentation reliability incidents and the associated costs of unreliability.
  • Ensures safe, efficient, and reliable asset operations as relates to self and others during operational, maintenance, optimization and troubleshooting activities

  • Implements continuous improvement programs and strategies for instrumentation, critical valves, and control systems

  • Leads the trip abatement program for all our sites, working closely with experts and operations to define improvement strategies, secure funding, and implement improvements.  

  • Follows all AL Policies and Standard Operating and Maintenance Procedures.

  • Ability to work towards the role as a Technical Expert in instrumentation & critical valve reliability and maintenance

  • Follows governmental rules and  engineering standards: (API, ASME, ANSI, NBIC, NFPA, etc)

  • Ability to read and interpret company industrial/quality standards  and local documents

  • Keeps abreast of industrial standards and automation trends for applicability

  • Utilizes and understands Enterprise Asset Management system (Maximo) in reference to instrumentation and critical valves

  • Responsible for identifying instrumentation reliability threats and driving improvements to improve plant reliability and asset up time. 

  • Ownership of the instrumentation reliability programs to improve performance of LI-NAM plant operations 

  • Ensures instrumentation reliability programs and  technologies and maintenance are applied uniformly throughout the facilities and zone level. 

  • Collects, Organizes, Analyzes, Interprets, and prioritizes instrumentation & critical valve preventive and/or predictive maintenance data as relates to asset performance.  Identifies opportunities and develops programs to improve instrumentation reliability. 

  • Conducts  reliability data analysis –examples include but are not limited to: statistical Process Control, Reliability modeling and prediction, Data mining, Fault Tree Analysis, Mean Time To Repair, Mean Time Between Failure, Overall Equipment Effectiveness related to instrumentation and valve performance. 

  • Reviews and analyzes instrumentation reliability incidents. Identifies trends and proposes long-term solutions, supports execution of solutions at the facility level. 

  • Collaborates with Maintenance & Operations Teams

  • Solves complex problems: takes a broad perspective to identify innovative instrumentation solutions.

  • Works independently, with guidance in only the most complex situations

  • Implements continuous improvement strategies

  • Works closely with other experts and the training department to develop and implement training program enhancements to improve reliability

  • Identifies and recommends  solutions and processes that are sustainable

 

Skills:

  • Possess expertise to interface with plant operations to address instrumentation operability as well as instrumentation reliability improvement programs. 

  • Strong knowledge of applicable instrumentation communication protocols and hardware improvements. Understands the direction of technology trends

  • Instrumentation and valve troubleshooting experience within a  typical petrochemical plant equipment

Accountabilities:

  • Attend monthly safety meetings

  • 100 % compliant with Air Liquide Business Entity Safety Standards

  • Owns the instrumentation reliability program performance for Department of Reliability 

  • Detailed knowledge of Maintenance and Reliability Best Practices

  • Excellent project management skills

  • Excellent planning and organizational skills

  • Excellent verbal and written communication skills

  • Excellent practical and the theoretical  Mechanical skills (Primary Discipline)

  • Cross-Functional  Discipline Experience a plus (Operations, Rotating Equipment, Electrical (HV, MV, LV)   and /or Instrumentation)

  • Practical understanding of instrument and critical valve asset management systems

  • Experience in Google, MS and other software applications

  • Possess the following competencies: Initiative, Impact and Influence, Conflict Management/Teamwork, Development of Self and other, Strategic Thinking, Organizational skills.

  • Accountabilities:

  • Attend monthly safety meetings

  • 100 % compliant with Air Liquide Business Entity Safety Standards

  • Owns the instrumentation reliability program performance for Department of Reliability 

  • Complies with all Air Liquide Business Entity Maintenance Strategy Guidelines and  follows Industry Best Practices

  • Complies with all  government Health and Safety regulatory agencies  (OSHA, MSHA, FDA, EPA, etc)

  • Monitors and generates reports on Instrumentation program performance standards and activities

Physical Requirements: 

  • Physical range of motion required to climb/descend ladders, work off elevated platforms/surfaces at heights above 50 feet; inspect equipment in high elevation areas (cooling tower fans, gearboxes, Fin Fans, compressor decks, etc)

  • Has full range of motion; ability to lift 50 lbs

  • Ability to travel as needed and on short notice if necessary

  • Can be consulted 24/7 by Operations and Industrial Direction Departments

____________________

Are you a MATCH?

  • Bachelor’s degree (BS) in Electrical, Mechanical, Process Control & Automation,  Chemical Engineering or Equivalent field experience with 10 years of related reliability engineering or maintenance & reliability activities

  • Extensive working knowledge of machinery, process equipment and associated reliability or maintenance practices

  • Ability to work self directed and make sound decisions 

  • Able to travel as required

  • Provide 24/7 production support as needed during turnaround periods. 

  • Assists in coaching, mentoring others within the production team on  instrumentation reliability engineering and reliability culture for improvement.  

Our Differences make our Performance


At Air Liquide, we are committed to build a diverse and inclusive workplace that embraces the diversity of our employees, our customers, patients, community stakeholders and cultures across the world.


We welcome and consider applications from all qualified applicants, regardless of their background. We strongly believe a diverse organization opens up opportunities for people to express their talent, both individually and collectively and it helps foster our ability to innovate by living our fundamentals, acting for our success and creating an engaging environment in a changing world.