Mechanical
engineering is one of the largest, broadest, and oldest engineering
disciplines. Mechanical engineers use the principles of energy, materials, and
mechanics to design and manufacture machines and devices of all types. They
create the processes and systems that drive technology and industry. It touches just about every industry,
including oil and gas. Mechanical Engineers work in exploration, extraction,
production and transportation of petroleum products. They explore new
technologies to improve equipment, tools and processes essential to the
industry. Additionally they apply modern and applied physics to the design,
manufacturing, maintenance and troubleshooting of mechanical systems. They
design and analyse the machinery and tools required to start and complete
processes. The key characteristics of the profession are its breadth,
flexibility, and individuality. The career paths of mechanical engineers are
largely determined by individual choices, a decided advantage in a changing
world. They also trouble-shoot and improve the performance of equipment and
machinery. These are the key roles:
·
Facility
Equipment and Operating Unit Maintenance: Mechanical Engineers design, install,
maintain and repair equipment such as piping, furnaces, turbines, pumps, tanks,
boilers, compressors, heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC) systems.
In oils and mining operations, they engineer draglines, bucket-wheels, conveyer
belts and crushers.
·
Capital
Projects/Large Projects: They oversee the design, implementation and shut down
phases of capital projects. They design specific mechanical equipment and
processes for these projects.
·
Product
Manufacturing: The engineers provide technical advice to custom equipment
design for manufactured products used in the oil and gas industry. They provide
research, development and technical support for new tools and equipment that
improve operations.
Mechanical
engineers play important roles in the petroleum industry, working in oil and
gas drilling and production, offshore and arctic operations, hydrocarbon
processing, syn-fuels and coal technology, materials, equipment design and
manufacture, fuel transport, new fuel technologies, and pollution control. Much of the
oil being consumed all over the world already comes from offshore sources. They
design and build ocean structures, systems, and equipment’s such as, hyperbaric chambers, life support equipment,
marine vehicles, submersibles and ROV's, propulsion systems, remote sensing
systems, moorings and buoys, ship structures, and ocean mining equipment. Any
given project may call for expertise in acoustics, construction and salvage
technologies, corrosion, and high-tech materials. Offshore Mechanics differs
from Ocean Engineering in that it focuses more on the science of mechanics. An
Mechanical Engineering specialist in this field deals with hydrodynamics,
structural mechanics, computational methods, offshore materials science,
materials fatigue and fracture, hydrodynamic forces and motion,
fluid-solid-soil interactions, deep-water platforms, cable and pipeline
dynamics, sensors and measurements, robots and remote control, and the
mechanics of offshore drilling operations. The arctic engineer deals with a
unique set of problems, such as ice mechanics, pipeline operations, and the
behaviour of materials in cold climates.
Mechanics,
energy and heat, mathematics, engineering sciences, design and manufacturing
form the foundation of mechanical engineering. Mechanics includes fluids,
ranging from still water to hypersonic gases flowing around a space vehicle; it
involves the motion of anything from a particle to a machine or complex
structure. To work as a mechanical engineer, you will need a four year Bachelor
of Science degree from an accredited college or university. Your coursework
will include fundamentals such as mechanics, thermodynamics, fluid dynamics,
kinematics (motion), and energy. You will also need a license to practice as an
Engineer. Provincial engineering associations are responsible for administering
and issuing licenses.
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