Reports To: Inspection Manager
- The Materials & Corrosion Engineer is responsible for safeguarding refinery assets against degradation caused by corrosion, erosion, and material incompatibility.
- They act as the technical authority for materials selection and corrosion control, ensuring that equipment and piping systems are designed, operated, and maintained to achieve maximum reliability and safety.
- This role is critical in extending asset life, reducing maintenance costs, and preventing failures that could lead to safety incidents or production losses.
Key Duties and Responsibilities
Materials Selection & Specification:
- Recommend appropriate materials for new projects, repairs, and modifications.
- Review design packages to ensure materials meet service conditions (temperature, pressure, chemical exposure).
- Develop and maintain refinery materials standards and specifications.
- Provide crude selection integrity assessments and implications and can veto the crude proposed if this risks plant integrity.
Corrosion Control & Monitoring:
- Design and implement corrosion monitoring programs (coupons, probes, ultrasonic thickness surveys).
- Evaluate corrosion data and recommend mitigation strategies.
- Specify and oversee application of protective coatings, linings, and cathodic protection systems.
Failure Analysis & Investigation:
- Lead root cause analysis of material failures (fracture, stress corrosion cracking, erosion, hydrogen embrittlement).
- Prepare detailed reports with corrective and preventive recommendations.
- Liaise with OEMs and laboratories for advanced metallurgical testing.
Inspection & Integrity Support:
- Work closely with inspection teams to interpret material degradation findings.
- Support RBI engineers with corrosion risk assessments.
- Validate inspection intervals based on corrosion rates and material performance.
Chemical Treatment & Inhibitors:
- Recommend and monitor use of chemical inhibitors in process streams.
- Evaluate effectiveness of treatment programs and adjust dosing strategies.
- Ensure compliance with API, ASTM, ASME, NACE, and refinery-specific standards.
- Participate in Management of Change (MOC) processes for material-related modifications.
- Support audits and regulatory inspections.
- Train inspectors and engineers on corrosion mechanisms and materials awareness.
- Mentor junior engineers in metallurgy and corrosion engineering practices.
Education & Certifications
- Education: BSc/BEng in Metallurgical, Materials, Mechanical, or Chemical Engineering.
Certifications (preferred):
- NACE Corrosion Specialist or CP Level 3 Certification.
- API 571 - Damage Mechanisms in the Refining Industry.
- API 580/581 - Risk-Based Inspection.
- ASME Metallurgy and Materials courses.
- Advanced training in failure analysis and corrosion monitoring techniques.
- Engineer: 5 - 8 years in materials/corrosion engineering, preferably in oil & gas.
- Senior Engineer/Technical Authority: 10 - 15 years, with proven expertise in refinery or petrochemical environments.