DWIGHT B. PFENNING, Ph.D., P.E.
President and Chief Engineer
Detailed Experience Record
As a Senior Consultant for Risk Assessment and Safety Engineering, Dr. Pfenning is responsible for the development and implementation of hazards analysis and risk assessment modeling. Additionally, he consults with clients on fires, explosions, flammability of material and safety issues.
Examples of past projects for which Dr. Pfenning has been responsible include the following:
Directed the development of an integrated computer programs for quantitative evaluation of flammable and toxic hazards resulting from releases of hazardous materials.
Performed preliminary hazards analysis (PHA) for gas processing plants located in the U.S. for a major oil and gas producer.
Directed large-scale field testing for determining vapor cloud concentrations from the release of propane, butane, ammonia, and monomethylamine.
Supervised the analysis of data obtained from large-scale vapor dispersion tests and evaluated vapor dispersion prediction models.
Supervised large-scale field testing of a fire-fighting system for gas well blowout fires.
Supervised production plant safety audits for three production facilities for a major manufacturer of artificial sweeteners.
Conducted field tests to determine the thermal performance of heat transfer equipment for a large nuclear power plant.
Designed specialized fire protection systems for petroleum production and storage facilities.
Performed hazard identification and evaluation for a gas pipeline for an Australian regulatory agency.
Conducted tutorial on vapor dispersion modeling for the technical staff of the National Energy Board (NEB) of Canada.
Determined potential hydrogen sulfide hazard zones for a blowout of a high hydrogen sulfide gas well.
Performed field testing and engineering analysis to determine the flammable hazard zones for releases of LPG from underground storage caverns.
Directed performance of safety audit of a hydrogen peroxide production facility to determine the adequacy of the plant hazard protection system.
Participated in over 100 forensic assignments and provided expert testimony in various cases related to fires and safety issues.
Patents
Method and apparatus for recovering water from a hydrocarbon slurry (3,686,090).
Apparatus for exchanging energy between high and low pressure systems (4,174,925).
Method and apparatus for vending a containerized product on multiple occasions following at least one refill of the container with the product (4,929,818).
Publications/Technical Reports
"Thermodynamic Properties of Helium-Nitrogen Mixtures". M.S. thesis prepared for School of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Oklahoma, October, 1963.
"Radiative Transfer from Laminar Diffusion Flames", Ph.D. dissertation prepared for School of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Oklahoma, May, 1970.
"A System Approach to LNG Fire Safety", prepared for the 7th International LNG/LPG Conference (Gastech 79); November, 1979 (with H. H. West and L. E. Brown).
"Safety of LNG Facilities in Arctic Environments", prepared for 33rd Chemical Engineering Conference; October, 1983 (with L. E. Brown and W. E. Martinsen).
"Comparison of Thorney Island Heavy Gas Test Data to Model Predictions", prepared for Heavy Gas Dispersion Trials at Thorney Island; April, 1984 (with J. B. Cornwell and J. Natale).
"Prediction of Heavy Gas Cloud Dispersion Using an Analytical Model", prepared for the American Petroleum Institute Committed on Safety and Fire Protection; September, 1984 (with J. B. Cornwell and J. Natale).
"Extinguishment of Gas Well blowout Fires Using Water Spray", prepared for the American Petroleum Institute Committee on Safety Protection; September, 1984 (with D. Evans).
"Risk Assessment Methodologies and Procedures", prepared for the proceedings of the Heavy Gas LNG/LPG Workshop; January, 1985 (with L. E. Brown).
"Final Report for Blowout Fire Simulation Tests,"NBS-GCR-85-484, National Bureau of Standards, Gaithersburg, Maryland, 200899, January, 1985.
"Water Sprays Suppress Gas-Well Blowout Fires", prepared for Oil and Gas Journal, Vol. 83, No. 17; April, 1985 (with D. Evans).
"Siting Considerations for Liquefied Gas Storage", prepared for the American Petroleum Institute Subcommittee on Storage and Handling; May, 1985 (with L. E. Brown).
"Current Trends in Risk Engineering", prepared for the Australian Institute of Petroleum; October, 1985 (with L. E. Brown).
"Comparison of Thorney Island Data With Heavy Gas Dispersion Models", for the Symposium on Analysis and Interpretation of Results of the Thorney Island Trials; September, 1986 (with J. B. Cornwell).
"Structure and Radiation Properties of Large-scale Natural Gas/Air Diffusion Flames", prepared for Fire and Materials, Vol. 10; 1986 (with J. P. Gore, G. M. Faeth, and D. Evans).
"Radiant Heat Fluxes from 100-200 MW Natural Gas/Air Diffusion Flames", prepared for the Fall Technical meeting, Eastern Section of the Combustion Institute; December, 1986 (with J. P. Gore, G. M. Faeth, and D. Evans).
"Comparison of Turbulent Jet Model Predictions With Small-Scale Pressurized Releases of Ammonia and Propane", prepared for the International Conference on Vapor Cloud Modeling; November, 1987, (with D. W. Johnson and S. B. Millsap).
"Potential Fire Hazards of Lowering Gasoline Volatility", prepared for American Petroleum Institute; January, 1988 (with D. W. Johnson and S. B. Millsap).
"Atmospheric Release Tests of Monomethylamine", prepared for Journal of Loss Prevention, 3:77, 1990 (with R.J. Lantzy, R.D. Meyers, and S.B. Millsap).
"Sour-Gas Pipeline Risk-Analysis Procedures Ensure System Safety", prepared for Oil and Gas Journal, June 3, 1991 (with M. Mannan and C. D. Zinn).
"A Structured Approach for Vapor Dispersion Modeling of Pure and Multicomponent Mixtures", prepared for AICHE Process Plant Safety Symposium, February 18, 1992 (with M. Mannan).
"Effective Process Safety Information Management", prepared for AICHE Process Plant Safety Symposium, February 19, 1992 (with M. Mannan).
"Causes of Pipeline Failure and Prevention and Mitigation Procedures", prepared for the Conference on Pipeline Risk Assessment, Rehabilitation and Repair, Houston, Texas, May 18-21, 1992 (with M. Mannan and H. West).
"LNG Containment Release; Comparison of NFPA-59A and 49-CFR-193", prepared for Petro-Safe '94, Houston, Texas, January 25-27, 1994 (with H. West)
"Fire Modeling for Process Industry Applications", presented for Petro-Safe '95, Houston, Texas, February 1, 1995 (with R.G. Rein)
Guidelines for Safe Process Operations and Maintenance, Center for Chemical Process Safety of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, New York, NY, 1995 (with M. Mannan, H. West, and W. Varnado)
"Effects of Heat Flux from Natural Gas Explosions on Personnel Protective Equipment", prepared for American Gas Association 1998 Operations Conference, Seattle, Washington, May 17-19, 1998