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Heirloom is building oxy-combustion technology to address climate change. As Senior Project Engineer, you will own the technical delivery of the oxy-combustion island from detailed design through procurement, construction, commissioning, performance testing, and commercial operation date (COD). You are a process engineer at heart, responsible for the island's heat and material balances and the critical interfaces where steam generation, oxygen supply, flue gas treatment, and CO₂ processing meet. You will drive designers, OEMs, and contractors to deliver on performance, schedule, and safety.
Key responsibilities include:
**Process Design & Integration:** Own the island process design basis including heat and material balances, operating envelopes, and air-fired/oxy-fired/transition cases across load and ambient conditions. Review and approve PFDs, P&IDs, datasheets, line lists, and control narratives from design engineers and OEMs; lead 30/60/90 design and model reviews. Define and manage process interfaces with the air separation unit (ASU), CO₂ processing unit (CPU), steam turbine-generators, and air-cooled condenser. Lead HAZOP, LOPA, and SIL reviews with focus on oxygen service, oxygen-enriched, and high-CO₂ atmospheres.
**Procurement & Vendor Management:** Collaborate with Supply Chain on technical specifications, RFPs, and material requisitions. Prepare technical bid evaluations and recommend awards. Manage OEM technical deliverables, vendor document review, and design changes while protecting performance guarantees. Witness shop inspections and factory acceptance tests for critical equipment.
**Construction, Commissioning & Turnover:** Serve as owner's technical lead on site; resolve RFIs, field changes, and nonconformances. Develop and own the island commissioning strategy including system turnover, first fire on air, and staged transition to oxy firing. Lead troubleshooting and tuning of flue gas recirculation, oxidant flow, and O₂ trim control. Plan and witness performance and guarantee testing; close punch items through COD.
**Project Controls:** Maintain the island technical risk register, interface register, and change log; flag engineering-driven schedule risk early. Support cost and schedule updates for stage gates; manage technical change orders. Develop engineering procedures, design guides, and lessons learned.
You will travel approximately 50% to vendor shops and the West Texas site, and take an extended onsite assignment during construction and commissioning phases.
**Requirements:**
- Bachelor's degree in Chemical or Mechanical Engineering (Chemical preferred); PE a plus
- 10+ years of engineering experience on power or industrial process projects, including 5+ years as a project or lead engineer
- Delivered at least one major combustion, steam generation, gas processing, or similar process unit from detailed design through commissioning and startup
- Hands-on field experience during construction, commissioning, and startup troubleshooting
- Oxy-combustion, oxy-fuel, or carbon capture experience is a strong plus
**Key Skills:**
- Process engineering: heat and material balances, PFDs and P&IDs, process simulation (Aspen Plus/HYSYS, Thermoflex or equivalent)
- Boilers/HRSGs, burners, flue gas recirculation, burner management systems, and combustion controls
- Process safety: HAZOP, LOPA, SIL; oxygen service design and cleaning (CGA G-4.4 / EIGA practices)
- Flue gas treatment (SCR, direct contact coolers) and CO₂ compression, purification, or cryogenic air separation interfaces
- Performance testing to ASME PTC standards; performance guarantees and OEM warranties
- Technical bid evaluation, vendor document control, and scheduling tools (Primavera P6 or MS Project)
- Experience working with internal and external stakeholders (internal SMEs, OEMs, owner's engineer, contractors, GC)
- Strong safety leadership around oxygen handling and high-CO₂ atmospheres
- Willingness to learn new technologies and evaluate new ideas in a dynamic, early-stage environment
