Five decades of exchangers and vessels.
From early oil sands expansion work to today's high-pressure breechlock exchangers — grouped here by sector, with the innovations that earned a Shell Canada award along the way.
The signature designs.
FIG. 3 — WHY THE GRID-SUPPORT DESIGN MATTERS. Segmental baffles force the shell-side stream across the bundle, raising pressure drop and risking flow-induced tube vibration. Don's no-baffle grid-support design supports every tube while letting flow run axially. A vacuum-service condenser built on this design has run 15+ years without failure in a major chemical plant — work recognized with a Shell Canada innovation award.
No-baffle grid-support condenser
Problem: a vacuum-operating condenser in a major chemical plant, where pressure drop and tube vibration are the enemies. Design: no-baffle grid supports with axial flow. Outcome: 15+ years in service without failure.
Heavy oil exchanger
Problem: heavy oil service that punishes conventional exchangers. Design: a purpose-built heavy oil heat exchanger. Outcome: ten years of operation without failure.
All-welded pipe exchanger
An all-welded pipe design delivering the duty of conventional double-pipe or hairpin exchangers at roughly one-tenth the cost.
Where the work was done.
Roles held at Canada's major EPC firms — Bantrel, SNC/Foster Wheeler, Monenco, Delta Projects, and MHG International — and independently through PVHTC since 1989.
Oil Sands & Upgraders
Expansion, Caps Project & Debottleneck
- Expansion study — heat exchangers and fire-heaters
- Caps Project (hydrotreater and hydrogen plant) — hydrogen reformer, pressure vessels, high- and low-pressure shell-and-tube and air-cooled exchangers
- Debottleneck Project — shell-and-tube exchangers across hydrogen, ammonia, crude, coke, sulphur, and cooling tower services
Naphtha recovery, debottleneck & GCOS expansion
- Naphtha recovery unit and Suncor Debottleneck — exchangers and fire-heaters
- Great Canadian Oil Sands (Suncor) expansion — exchangers, API and FRP tanks, pressure vessels
Upgrader studies & heavy fuel oil upgrading
- Husky Upgrader Phase I study; BP Wolf Lake II lump-sum bidding
- Petrosar heavy fuel oil upgrader — exchangers, tanks, vessels
Refining & Heavy Oil
Peace River & Progress gas plant
- Shell Peace River Prep II study — exchangers and fire-heaters
- Shell Canada Progress gas plant — air coolers and shell-and-tube exchangers
Cold Lake & Judy Creek
- Esso Cold Lake heavy oil plants 1 & 2 — air coolers and shell-and-tube exchangers
- Esso Judy Creek ethane extraction plant — vessels and heat transfer equipment
Gas Processing & Sulphur
Sulphur plant — Kenai, Alaska
Head mechanical engineer for the full plant's mechanical scope.
Sour gas and gas plant programs
- Petro-Canada Brazeau River sour gas plant — air coolers and shell-and-tube exchangers
- Canadian Occidental Mazzeppa gas plant — heat transfer equipment, vessels, piping
- PanCanadian Morley gas plant — exchangers, tanks, vessels
- Plus numerous smaller gas and heavy oil plants
Butyl rubber plant expansion
Heat exchangers, API tanks, FRP tanks, and pressure vessels.
Early Career — Offshore & Manufacturing
Arctic offshore platforms & western Canadian drilling rigs
Machinery for special-alloy seamless tube manufacturing
