Reza Asgharzadeh - BYU PRISM Group

Reza Asgharzadeh Shishavan

Contact Information

Education

  • Aug 2011-2014: PhD student in Chemical Engineering, Department of Chemical Engineering, Brigham Young University (BYU), Provo, Utah. (GPA: 3.9/4.0), Dissertation Title: Nonlinear Estimation and Control with Application to Upstream Processes.
  • 2007-2010: M.Sc. student in Chemical Engineering, Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Tarbiat Modares University (TMU), Tehran, Iran.
  • 2003-2007: B.Sc. certificate in Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Chemical Engineering, Sahand University of Technology (SUT), Tabriz, Iran.

Research Interests

  • Process modeling, control, and optimization in the oil and gas industry

Dissertation

Publications

  1. Asgharzadeh Shishavan, R., Hubbell, C., Perez, H.D., Hedengren, J.D., and Pixton, D.S., Combined Rate of Penetration and Pressure Regulation for Drilling Optimization Using High Speed Telemetry, SPE Drilling & Completion Journal, SPE-170275-PA, 5 March 2015. Article
  2. Asgharzadeh Shishavan, R., Hubbell, C., Perez, H.D., Hedengren, J.D., Pixton, D.S., and Pink, A.P., Multivariate Control for Managed Pressure Drilling Systems Using High Speed Telemetry, SPE Journal, SPE-170962, Published Online 7 Oct 2015, DOI: 10.2118/170962-PA. Article
  3. Hedengren, J. D. and Asgharzadeh Shishavan, R., Powell, K.M., and Edgar, T.F., Nonlinear Modeling, Estimation and Predictive Control in APMonitor, Computers and Chemical Engineering, accepted for publication, 2014, DOI: 10.1016/j.compchemeng.2014.04.013. Preprint Article
  4. Brower, D.V., Brower, A.D., Hedengren, J.D., Asgharzadeh Shishavan, R., A Post-Installed Subsea Monitoring System for Structural and Flow Assurance Evaluation, Offshore Technology Conference, OTC 25368, Houston, TX, June 2014. Preprint
  5. Asgharzadeh Shishavan, R., Brower, D.V., Hedengren, J.D., Brower, A.D., New Advances in Post-Installed Subsea Monitoring Systems for Structural and Flow Assurance Evaluation, ASME 33rd International Conference on Ocean, Offshore and Arctic Engineering, OMAE2014/24300, San Francisco, CA, June 2014. Preprint
  6. Brower, D., Hedengren, J.D., Asgharzadeh Shishavan, R., and Brower, A., Advanced Deepwater Monitoring System, ASME 32nd International Conference on Ocean, Offshore and Arctic Engineering, OMAE2013/10920, Nantes, France, June 2013. Preprint
  7. Reza Asgharzadeh Shishavan, Mohammad Ghashghaee, Ramin Karimzadeh, , Investigation of kinetics and cracked oil structural changes in thermal cracking of Iranian vacuum residues, Fuel Processing Technology; 2011; 92; 2226.
  8. R. Asgharzadeh, A. A. Babaluo, P. Ahmadian Namini, Modeling of Hydrogen Permeation through Palladium/a-Alumina Nanocomposite Mebranes, Iranian Journal of Chemistry & Chemical Engineering; 2011;29(4 (59)):97-111.

Conference Proceedings

  1. Asgharzadeh Shishavan, R., Perez, H., and Hedengren, J.D., Multivariate nonlinear model predictive controller for managed drilling processes, AIChE Annual Meeting, Atlanta, GA, Nov 2014. Abstract Presentation
  2. Asgharzadeh Shishavan, R., Hubbell, C., Perez, H.D., Hedengren, J.D., Pixton, D.S., and Pink, A.P., Multivariate Control for Managed Pressure Drilling Systems Using High Speed Telemetry, SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition (ATCE), Amsterdam, The Netherlands: 27-29 Oct 2014. Article
  3. Asgharzadeh Shishavan, R., Hubbell, C., Perez, H.D., Hedengren, J.D., and Pixton, D.S., Combined Rate of Penetration and Pressure Regulation for Drilling Optimization Using High Speed Telemetry, SPE Deepwater Drilling and Completions Conference, Galveston, TX: 10-11 Sept 2014. Article
  4. Pixton, D., Asgharzadeh Shishavan, R., Hedengren, J.D., and Craig, A., Addressing UBO and MPD Challenges with Wired Drillpipe, SPE/IADC MPD & UBO Conference & Exhibition, Madrid, Spain: 8 - 9 Apr 2014. Article
  5. Asgharzadeh Shishavan, R., Memmott, J.A., Hedengren, J.D., and Pixton, D., Pressure Regulation and Kick Attenuation with Wired Pipe Technology in Managed Pressure Drilling, AIChE Spring Meeting, New Orleans, LA, April 2014. Abstract
  6. Brower, D., Brower, A., Memmott, J.A., Asgharzadeh Shishavan, R., and Hedengren, J.D., Advanced Monitoring Systems on Existing Deepwater Infrastructure for Intelli-Field Advances, AIChE Spring Meeting, New Orleans, LA, April 2014. Abstract
  7. Asgharzadeh Shishavan, R. and Hedengren, J.D., Improved Estimator Insensitivity to Outliers, Measurement Drift, and Noise, AIChE Spring Meeting, New Orleans, LA, April 2014. Abstract
  8. Hedengren, J.D., Mojica, J.L., Asgharzadeh Shishavan, R., Safdarnejad, S.M., Recent Advances in the Application of MIDAE Systems, AIChE National Meeting, San Francisco, CA, Nov 2013. Abstract
  9. Asgharzadeh Shishavan, R. and Hedengren, J.D., Nonlinear Model Predictive Control of a Thermal Oxidizer System, Computing and Systems Technology Division, AIChE National Meeting, Pittsburgh, PA, Oct 2012. Abstract
  10. Asgharzadeh Shishavan, Karimzadeh, R., Ghashghaee, M., Abbasi Aliabadi, S., Effect of Operating Conditions in Thermal Cracking of Vacuum Residue, The 13th national Iranian Chemical Engineering Congress & 1th international regional Chemical and Petroleum Engineering conference (IChEC 2010).
  11. Abbasi Aliabadi, S., Karimzadeh, R., Ghashghaee, M., Asgharzadeh Shishavan, R., Effect of Operating Conditions and Physical Properties of the Feed upon Sulfur Content of the Liquid Product in Thermal Cracking of Vacuum Residue, The 13th national Iranian Chemical Engineering Congress & 1th international regional Chemical and Petroleum Engineering conference (IChEC 2010).

Experience

  • Process Control and Automation Scientist, National Oilwell Varco
    • Led development of Advanced Process Control and Optimization for Managed Pressure Drilling systems
    • Combined controllers into a single application to maximize rate of penetration and maintain pressure
    • Gained organizational support and resources from an NOV Vice President for a new drilling automation program
    • Participated in forming a new group within NOV for drilling automation solutions
  • Applications Engineer, Astro Technology Inc. and Hess Corporation 2012- 2013
    • Designed data acquisition and monitoring software for fiber optic sensors on offshore platforms for load balance control.
  • Configured HMI operator interfaces using OPC, Modbus and web programming for fast and reliable satellite communications and control.
    • Collaborated on modelling temperature, load and strain for platform stability.
  • R&D Engineer, Rock Wool Company 2008-2010
    • Designed thermal oxidizer and control system for burning waste gas during mineral wool production.
    • Researched and modeled burning waste gas emissions from a cupola (high temperature) furnace.
  • Process Safety Engineer, Sodreh Sazeh Pars Company 2008
    • Contributed to a team effort to provide emergency shutdown procedures for chemical processes.
  • Process Engineer, Tabriz Refinery 2006
    • Analyzed the performance of a catalytic reformer.

Other Design Projects

  • Experimental steam cracking of vacuum residue.
  • Designed algorithm for olefin furnace to determine optimal operating conditions.
  • Simulated air separation plant via Aspen Plus.
  • Designed preliminary stages of Methanol to Olefin (MTO) Unit.
  • Designed shell & tube heat exchanger for Tabriz petrochemical plant.

Honors and Awards

  • 2011-2012: Top chemical engineering graduate student at BYU.
  • 2007: Ranked top 1% in the Nationwide University entrance examination for MS degree and admission to Tarbiat Modares University, ranked 6th among Middle Eastern graduate schools.
  • 2003: Ranked top 1% in nationwide university entrance examination for BS degree and admission to Sahand University of Technology.
  • 2011-present AICHE membership
  • 2012-present SPE membership

Computer Skills

  • Advanced Process Control (APC), simulation, and optimization with APMonitor Dynamic Optimization Suite, MATLAB, Simulink and Python
  • OPC and Modbus Interface with KEPServerEX and Python
  • Process simulation with HYSYS and Aspen plus
  • Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) using Fluent
  • Programing languages: MATLAB, Python, MySQL Database, APMonitor, PHP, JavaScript and HTML
    • General Software: Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, Power point), EndNote, Mathcad, Visio and Photoshop

Languages

  • English
  • Farsi
  • Azeri
  • Turkish