Yaojun Lu

12015 Rampy Green Dr.
Tomball, TX, 77377, USA
Phone: 713 955 8556
Yaojun Lu Email: yaojunlu@yahoo.ca

HIGHLIGHT
• CFD Simulation: Over 20-year experience in delivering industrial strength solutions to new product development,
troubleshooting process equipment, and technical consultation for engineering project; expert user of ANSYS CFD,
FEA solvers and associated pre- and post-processors; demonstrated proficiency in coupling CFD and FEA codes to
conduct fluid-structure interaction (FSI) analysis (flow-induced vibration, thermal-stress, etc.); proved capability in
conducting root-cause analysis to dress challenging problems involving fluid flow, heat transfer and mass transport;
The flow scenarios include but not limit to multiphase flow, turbulent flow, non-Newtonian flow, compressible
flow, swirling flow, free-surface flow, porous medium flow, reaction flow, turbomachinery flow, liquid sloshing,
erosion wear, heat transfer, etc.
• Experiment Test: Hand-on skills in flow measurement using Laser Doppler Velocimetry (LDV), Particle Image
Velocimetry (PIV), and Optical Fiber Probe (OFP) approaches; particle characterization using Marlven/Coulter
counter/digital image processing technique, rheology quantification using commercial rheometers, and
development of customized rheometer for on-line/in-situ measurement of complex fluids; highly skillful in
experimental design and pilot plant test for validation/verification purposes.
• Industry Application: extensive experience in onshore, offshore, oil/sand, subsea industries, deeply understanding
oil/gas production process/system from reservoir, downhole device, subsea equipment, flowline/riser, to topside
processing facilities; demonstrated competence in supporting product development/industry application from
concept development, numerical simulation, experimental verification, to field application; considerable expertise
in separation technology (gravity settler/hydrocyclone), subsea equipment (wellhead, tree, manifold, jumper, gate
valve, choke, etc.), oil/gas processing facility (separators, scrubbers, slug catchers, phase splitter, etc.), and flow
assurance (line sizing, artificial lift, thermal management, hydrate remediation, etc.); recognized expert in optimal
design and performance evaluation of subsea equipment, oil/gas processing vessel, and produced water treatment
facility based on CFD and FSI analysis; Demonstrated proficiency in modeling thermal-hydraulics in flowline/riser
system or pipeline network using OLGA, PIPESIM, HYSYS, and PVTSim programs.

EXPERIENCE
Principal Flow Assurance Engineer, Bechtel Corporation, Houston, TX, 2012 to present.
Perform CFD and flow assurance studies (OLGA, PIPESIM, and PVTSIM) to support deep-water project and LNG
plant development from Pre-FEED, FEED to detailed design; work closely with other discipline leader and engineering
manager to meet the project deliverables; responsibilities include but not limited to thermodynamic characterization of
production fluids, steady state and transient simulation to define operating envelope for early/middle/late life production;
identify flow assurance related issues and propose appropriate prevention actions; development of design basis, flow
assurance promise, and associated technical reports; conduct CFD evaluation of subsea equipment (tree, manifold,
jumper, valves, chemical injection, etc.); specify/ troubleshoot topside oil/gas processing facilities (slug catchers, phase
separators, liquid sloshing, flowmeters, pump/compressors, etc.). The completed and ongoing projects are.
• Development of ABS design guide for subsea tie-in spool (technical proposal, flow assurance related issues, and
documented design guide).
• CFD evaluation of liquid sloshing for Bechtel FLNG program.
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• CFD support to Bechtel Semi-Submersible development
• Prediction and mitigation of slug surge in a subsea production system by coupling OLGA and CFD solvers.
• FSI analysis of flow-induced vibration in a subsea jumper subject to internal slug and external current flows.
• Liquid carryover in finger-type & vessel-type slug catchers for BP Trinidad LNG project.
• Flow assurance support to BP Trinidad LNG Pre-FEED and FEED (BOD & CTR, thermodynamics &
hydrodynamic analysis, pigging & slugging operation, modeling of gas-system & liquid system, selection of
compressors & flowmeters, reports, etc.).
• Flow assurance support to Chevron TVEX Pre-FEED and FEED (line sizing, insulation design, slugging, pigging,
hot-oil circulation, chemical injection, reports, etc.).
• Flow assurance support to Chevron Blind Faith Pre-FEED (BOD & CTR, line sizing, insulation design, slugging,
pigging, chemical injection, equipment evaluation, reports, etc.).
• CFD prediction on chemical injection to replace production stream in a subsea jumper for Chevron Blind Faith II
• Development of a multi-physics approach for characterizing fluid-structure interaction in subsea system for Bechtel
Technical Grant (proposal development and lead the grant study).
• Technical review of finger-type slug-catcher design for Liwan field development.

Senior Research Engineer, FMC Technologies Inc., Houston, TX, 2007 to 2012
Initiated CFD and fluid-structure interaction (FSI) analysis capabilities in FMC Houston facility; provided technical
solution to pre-sale and post-sale of FMC CDS separation business in North America (oil/gas/water separators, liquid
sloshing, produced water treatment, gas scrubbers, etc.); supported FMC subsea equipment development (wellheads,
production tree, manifolds, jumpers, valves, Choke, etc.); provided flow assurance support to subsea field development
(steady & cool-down analysis, sand erosion, hydrate mitigation, chilly choke, startup & shut down, fluid-structure
interaction, etc.); development of new concepts and technologies for subsea applications (the 1st full-scale CFD model
for thermal analysis of subsea equipment, the 1st FSI model for characterizing thermal-stress in gate valve and riser
connector, the 1st FSI model for flow induced vibration in subsea jumper, the 1st CFD model for sand erosion in
multiphase flow loop, development of technical concept for erosion reduction in FMC swivel joint development, etc.).
Some of the completed projects are:
• CFD analysis of oily water separator for Total ABK.
• CFD evaluation and internal optimization of gas scrubbers for BP Exploration Alaska.
• Troubleshooting study of glycol separator for Enbridge Pipeline.
• CFD evaluation of liquid carryover in 3-phase separator for BHP Billiton.
• CFD prediction on flow distribution in inlet cyclone cluster with upstream piping effect for BP Norway.
• Troubleshooting short-cut flow in allocation separator for Anadarko Petroleum Corporation.
• CFD evaluation of liquid sloshing in 11 topside processing vessels for Total Pazflor FPSO.
• CFD simulation on crude oil flash drum for Statoil Hydro.
• CFD simulation on liquid sloshing in 8 topside processing vessels for Total Uscan platform.
• CFD evaluation of sand erosion in a novel FMC tubing hanger.
• CFD characterization of thermal performance of Shell Princess Tree.
• CFD analysis of FMC EHXT annular porting system.
• CFD analysis of subsea manifold for BP Atlantis.
• CFD analysis of pressure release process in FMC high pressure test cell.
• Optimal design and CFD evaluation of flow conditioner for subsea multiphase pump.
• CFD analysis of erosion in upstream and downstream flow loop of FMC enhanced horizontal tree.
• FSI analysis of thermal-stress distribution in a subsea riser connector.

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• Troubleshooting leaking issue in a subsea gate valve on Statoil Kvitebjorn platform (FSI analysis).
• CFD characterization of subsea choke performance and verification against experimental data.
• CFD thermal analysis of FMC hyperbaric chamber.
• CFD investigation of liquid leaking in a Torus connector for Suncor Energy.
• CFD hydraulic analysis of subsea wellhead for Total Singapore.
• CFD prediction on erosion wears in hydraulic fracture tree for Nexen Canada.
• CFD Erosion analysis of FMC swivel joint for hydraulic fracturing application.
• Development of next generation of swivel joint with enhanced erosion resistance.
• CFD thermal analysis of jumper, manifolds, and subsea tree for Shell Bonga.
• FSI analysis of flow induced vibration in subsea jumper for Shell Bonga.
• CFD Analysis of chilly choke effect in EVDT tree for Shell Bonga.
• CFD analysis of cavitation in subsea equipment for Shell Bonga.
• CFD analysis of sand erosion in tree and manifold for Exxon Hibernia.

Senior Process Consultant, NATCO Group, Houston, TX, 2006-2007
Conducted CFD and process analysis (HYSYS) of separation equipment for onshore, offshore, and subsea applications
(oil/water separator, electrostatic dehydrator, degasser, skimmer tank, heat-exchanger, and other oil/water/gas
processing equipment); work together with project team and clients to troubleshoot oil/gas processing vessels
(performance evaluation, flow distribution analysis, introducing enhanced internals, fine-tuning operating parameters,
etc.), and debottleneck oil/gas processing systems (heat/mass balance, equipment/vale sizing, and piping hydraulics,
liquid sloshing, etc.); provided consulting services to technical challenges in oil/gas processing system. The typical
accomplishments cover:
• CFD prediction on overall performance of free water knockout vessel for Suncor Firebag project.
• CFD study on internal design of electrostatic treater for Suncor Firebag project.
• CFD evaluation on liquid sloshing in electrostatic treater for Shell Perdido project.
• CFD evaluation on liquid sloshing in degasser for Shell Perdido project.
• CFD study and debottlenecking of skim tank for Oman Ai-Burj project.
• CFD simulation of glycol heat exchanger for gas dehydration (in-house R&D project).

NSERC Scholar and Research Scientist, CANMET of Natural Resource Canada, Alberta, 2002-2006
Performed CFD and rheology studies to enhance bitumen froth treatment and oil/sand tailing management; conducted
laboratory and pilot plant test on multiphase flow and separation in bitumen froth treatment settlers and oil/sand tailing
ponds; developed on-line/in-situ rheometers for charactering solid-liquid slurry/suspension flows in oil/sand processing
system; carried-out CFD simulation of chemical transport in oil sand tailing ponds, CFD simulation of sand slurries
injected into stratified soft-deposit in tailing ponds, CFD simulation of Non-Newtonian flow and separation in bitumen
froth treatment settler; online/in-situ characterization of fluid rheology in bitumen froth treatment and tailing ponds at
elevated temperature and pressure; conducted process scale-up and pilot-plant studies for bitumen froth treatment and
oil/sand tailing management. The completed projects include:
• For Suncor Energy: development of a field rheometer for in-situ characterization of stratified tailing pond materials,
rheological measurement of tailing pond materials (MFT, CT), conducted flume test of MFT and CT from Suncor’s
oil/sand tailings pond, development of rheological correlation for stratified tailings pond materials, CFD simulation
of sand slurry injected into stratified soft deposits for reclamation of tailing pond materials, and CFD analysis of
chemical transport in tailing ponds for sedimentation enhancement.

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• For Shell Canada: development of tube rheometer for on-line characterization of complex fluids in bitumen froth
treatment settler; rheological measurement of overflow product in bitumen froth settler at elevated temperature and
pressure; online rheological characterization of underflow mixture under pilot plant condition; flow visualization
study of multiphase flow and separation in bitumen froth treatment settler during pilot plant operation, CFD
simulation of flow and separation in bitumen froth treatment settler with implementation of localized rheology
correlation, experimental validation of settler performance based on residential time distribution.
• For Imperial Oil: On-line rheology characterization of underflow stream in Kearl bitumen froth treatment settler.
• For Luscar Ltd: rheology study of wet pyrolysis process for sub bituminous coal and lignite.
• For Agrium Inc: rheological characterization of Gypsum tailings materials (GT).
• For TransAlta Energy: CFD simulation and experimental verification of sparger tube performance for flue gas
desulphurization.
• Development of in-line rheometer for characterizing settling slurries (data acquisition, data processing,
experimental validation, and rheological correlations);
• CFD and experimental investigation on geometry departure effect in four-bladed vane rheometer;
• Rheological modeling of viscoplastic and pseudoplastic behavior in a unified way (critical review and evaluation of
existing rheological constitutive equations);
• CFD simulation on batch sedimentation of monodispersed suspension;
• CFD prediction on impinging jet in erosion/corrosion test system;
• CFD simulation of stagnation flow in a radial impinging jet;
• CFD prediction on flow pattern of solvent, bitumen, and water mixture in pipeline.

Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Chemical Engineering Department, University of Alberta, Canada, 2000-2002
Performed computational and experimental investigation on primary oil/sand settling vessel (PSV), which was a R&D
project jointly sponsored by NSERC & Syncrude Canada. My responsibilities included:
• Designed and established a scale-down test system for simulating flow and separation process of oil/sand slurry in
the primary settling vessel.
• Improved an intrusive optical-fiber-probe instrument for noninvasive measurement of condensed solid/liquid
suspension.
• Conducted experimental studies on flow and concentration distribution under varied configurations and operating
condition by using the improved no-intrusive optical-fiber-probe technique.
• Performed CFD simulation of multiphase flow and separation in primary settling vessel using CFX code, followed
by quantitative verification against experimental measurements.

Postdoctoral Research Fellow, National Laboratory of Multiphase Flow, Xian, China, 1998-2000
Proposed and won two national grant projects from China Postdoctoral Science Foundation and China Education
Ministry, followed by successful completion of the following studies:
• Development of new liquid-liquid hydrocycone with lower pressure drop and higher efficiency.
• CFD simulation of multiphase flow and separation in proposed new hydrocyclone using FLUENT code.
• CFD evaluation of droplet deformation and breakup in shearing and turbulent fields.
• Development of technical criterion for droplet breakup-free operation of liquid-liquid hydrocyclone.

Department Chief Engineer, Henan Company of China National Petroleum Corporation, Nanyang, 1992-1998
Lead a team to establish an well-equipped oil/water separation laboratory including a gravity separation and
hydrocyclone separation test loops, sophisticated research facilities (Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV), Laser Doppler

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Velocimetry (LDV), Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), Coulter counter analyzer, Haake rheometer, etc.);
responsible for proposal development and project management; conducted fundamental and industry application studies
for oil/water emulsion treatment and produced water treatment; completed over 10 industry projects, including two
national projects funded by CNPC, titled oil/water emulsion settler with an enhanced performance in 1994, and
development and industry application of liquid-liquid hydrocyclone technology for produced water treatment in 1995.
The major contributions include:
• Gravity separation: developed and established an multi-functional test system for simulating flow and separation
process of oil/water emulsion in vessel of varied configurations and internals; experimental quantification of flow
and concentration fields by using particle image velocimetry (PIV) and digital image processing techniques;
proposed a patented oil/water emulsion settler with enhanced performance; developed an in-house software for
sizing an oil/water separator; experimental verification of separator performance based on resident time distribution
(RTD); followed by industry design and field application of the proposed vessels.
• Hydrocyclone separation: Performed numerical simulation of multiphase flow and separation processes in
liquid-liquid hydrocyclone of various configuration; experimental measurement of the strongly swirling flow in a
hydrocyclone using Laser Doppler Anemometry (TSI); performance evaluation based on grade separation efficiency
and droplet size distribution (Coulter Counter); developed a novel liquid-liquid hydrocyclone of high efficiency and
low pressure drop for produced water treatment, lead pilot-plant test and scale-up study for industry application of
liquid-liquid hydrocyclone technology.

Mechanical Design Engineer, Henan Company of China National Petroleum Corporation, Nanyang, 1983-1989.
Performed mechanical design of oil/gas/water separation vessels and general surface processing equipment, including
various storage tanks, oil/gas/water separators, skim tanks, electrostatic dehydrators, degassers, heat exchangers, gas
floatation cells, produced water filters, and hydrocyclones, etc., intensively involved in stress analysis, pressure vessel
design, internal selection, and material specification; In the last two years, exposed more to oil/gas gathering/processing
system from development of process flow diagram (PFD), process and instrument diagram (P&ID), process modeling
(PIPEPHASE/HYSYS), to selection of pumps, compressors, and heat exchangers; successfully completed dozens of
industry projects.

PUBLICATIONS
• 42 papers published on peer-reviewed journals.
• 14 papers published on industry leading conferences (OTC, ACTE, OMAE, etc.).
• 3 invited presentations on ANSYS annular conferences.

EDUCATION
• Postdoctoral research fellow, Chemical Engineering, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada 2000-2002.
• Postdoctoral research fellow, China National Laboratory of Multiphase Flow in Power Engineering, Xian, Shaanxi,
China 1998-2000.
• Ph.D. in Engineering Thermophysics, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China 1993-1997.
• M.S. in Mechanical Engineering, China University of Petroleum, Beijing, China 1989-1992.
• B.S, in Mechanical Engineering, China University of Petroleum, Shandong, China 1979-1983.

PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS
• The Society of Petroleum Engineer (SPE3282628), 2006.

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• The American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE9900032571), 2007.
• The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME889029), 2010.
• Professional Engineer registered in Texas (119969), 2015.
• Principal Engineer certified by Bechtel Corporation, 2015.

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