President’s Column and Profile of Jan DuPlessis Theron


of the natural enthusiasm we have in the Institute and take it forward to showcase what and who we are with not only new talent but also our suppliers, installers and end users.


Which brings me nicely onto the future, I want to wish Jan Theron every success for his upcoming presidency and I would encourage every member of the Institute and every branch and exec/council official to support him and the teams as much as possible. For sure, the Institute will benefit from Jan’s experience and interest.


www.ireng.org


So, here ends my last President column and I’d like to sign off by again thanking everyone for their support, feedback and hard work.


Thank you.


Callum Arthur President


Institute of Refractories Engineers PROFILE OF JAN DUPLESSIS THERON


I started out as a chemical engineer/technologist, working for the petrochemical


plant


Sasol Secunda in South Africa. We were a unique group as part of Sastech that formed the bridge


between research fundamental performed in Sasolburg and the operations in Secunda.


During my time there I was introduced to Louis Boshoff, who had a direct influence on the direction my career took for the rest of my life. He was involved with refractory quality control, had a real passion for refractories and always told me you can’t go wrong with having a career in refractories. My first job in refractories was to oversee the quality of the refractory installation of the new SAS reactors. Very soon in the project quality control was replaced by problem solving and project management. Our contribution was so valuable that word spread fast and soon every plant in Sasol wanted our involvement. A few years later I managed to establish the Refractory Support Group, consisting in total of five people to oversee all the refractory activities in Sasol Secunda.


In 2007, Mike Williams from RHI, told me about a company in the UK that he believed I would fit in very well with. At that specific time, it just happened that there was also an advertisement in the Refractories Engineer for a refractory specialist at Ceram (now called Lucideon), the exact same company he was referring to. Needless to say, this is where I ended up, and I started working in the UK in January 2008, not looking back one moment.


In my day to day job at Lucideon in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, I focus on a range of technical and more often than not, highly complex issues such as failure analysis, improving


lining integrity, refractory selection,


comfortably quote Louis Boshoffs words to me: “You will never experience a dull moment in refractories”


With the help and inspiration of some of the great masters in the refractory industry along with existing literature, I learned and gained most of my refractory knowledge. To name a few (in no particular order, of course); Ron Perry, John Hancock, Dave Thomas,Tex Palin, John Dover, Markus Horn, Ralph Van Der Merwe, Wim Kastelic and Geoff Evans. One learns from the literature, but there is nothing to replace that personal contact with those who have first- hand experience of what works and what does not.


I have been called out all over the world, working on units such as: reformers, heaters, arc furnaces, induction furnaces, rotary kilns, shaft kilns, sulphur burners, boilers, CFB reactors, FCC units and thermal oxidisers. When dealing with each unit, it is best to understand the process and refractory properties in order to obtain the best solution. Often the refractory lining reveals important information about the process conditions, not obtainable from the standard monitoring instrumentation. One needs a good comprehension of the refractory material behaviour, along with the tools to dissect it in order for the material to reveal its intimate secrets. Many a time, hours are spent obtaining relevant evidence inside these units, mostly during break- out; a dirty, dusty and noisy work environment.


quality control, design evaluation and commercial contracts. I can 6


My hobbies and interests have also made some dramatic turns over the years. It started with cross country marathons, then cycle racing and it ended with not only participating in pedal car racing, but also serving as committee member and chairman for the South African Cycle Car Racing Association. I farmed with milk goats and kept Koi ponds and marine aquariums. Lately my interests have matured into arts and culture: sampling single malts being a particular favourite and more recently, ballroom and latin dance (recommended by NHS).


ENGINEER THE REFRACTORIES November 2017 Issue


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