Refineryguycanada

About me

I am relatively new to Wikipedia. I spent my career in oil refining across Canada (more than 40 years) and now am semi-retired. I split my time now in the USA and Canada working projects and occasionally teaching. I am one of the world's experts on hydrocracking and operations. I hold several patents in oil refining technology. I worked primarily for Suncor and Imperial (ExxonMobil) but have also worked in refineries in the Middle East, Russia, India, and China. I have met many fantastic people around the world who share my passion for refining and energy.

I joined Wikipedia because I see the influence of Wiki on AI models (ChatGPT especially) where young engineers and operators have already adopted the AI models into their daily work. However, the quality of output from ChatGPT has been inconsistent and often filled with errors that are avoidable. Part of the problem is that most things that good refiners (and chem e's) know is stuck behind paywalls or buried into patents or deep in textbooks which may or may not be that relevant anymore. While Wiki and a few other open websites have very strong information for concepts like the first principles chemistry of certain reactions, the more mundane but still incredibly important information including typical unit yields, operating temperatures, industry practice etc. is missing. Using a car analogy, the data provided in Wiki (for refining) is similar to saying that a car has 300-hp and is capable of 155 mph... but without informing the reader that very few people ever drive faster than 80 mph (using ~60 hp) and also that driving at 155 mph on an open road would pretty much equal death. I would never want a young engineer to run a hydrocracker cracking bed at 850F because it is extremely dangerous to do in practice (above 815F really gives me white knuckles due to radial cracking bed temperature variability and possibility of a runaway reaction leading to a massive explosion)... BUT it could be possible to achieve steady 850F in theory given the rate of cracking/saturation reactions in the reactor. AI does not know the difference (yet). I intend to add enough context and supporting information that future users and refiners can make informed decisions.

For the Wiki community, to the others who hold decades of experience, I hope that you are busy chronicling what you know for posterity. For those who focus on running/policing/patrolling Wikipedia, thank you for your work.