About the role
About Zeeco
Zeeco is a global leader in combustion and environmental solutions, delivering advanced technologies for the refining, petrochemical, LNG, chemical, and power industries. We engineer and manufacture world-class fired heaters, burners, flares, thermal oxidizers, and combustion systems that maximize thermal efficiency, operational reliability, and environmental compliance.
Position Summary
If you are passionate about fired heater thermal design and have deep expertise in FRNC5, this is an opportunity to work on some of the industry's most technically challenging and complex combustion systems.
We are seeking a highly skilled Process Engineer with 10+ years of experience in the thermal design, rating, revamp, and performance optimization of refinery and petrochemical fired heaters. In this role, you will take ownership of critical thermal engineering activities across proposals, detailed engineering, and project execution, collaborating with multidisciplinary teams and global subject matter experts to deliver high-performance fired heater solutions.
You will play a key role in developing and validating thermal designs, evaluating heater performance, optimizing combustion efficiency, and ensuring compliance with API 560, API 530, and client specifications.
Extensive hands-on experience with FRNC5 is mandatory and will be central to your success in this role. This position is ideal for professionals who thrive on solving complex thermal engineering challenges and want to contribute to industry-leading combustion technologies.
Thermal Design & Process Engineering
- Perform fired heater thermal design and rating using FRNC5.
- Optimize radiant and convection sections to maximize thermal efficiency and performance.
- Carry out material selection and pressure drop calculations.
- Design and size expansion tanks, oil coolers, oil pumps, slipstream filters, and complete heat transfer oil systems.
- Perform heater rating, capacity verification, debottlenecking, revamp studies, coil replacement, fuel switching, burner upgrades, and thermal optimization.
- Validate heater performance against process guarantees, project specifications, and client requirements.
- Design fuel gas and fuel oil systems, including line sizing and duct sizing.
- Develop process deliverables including PFDs, P&IDs, equipment specifications, and process calculations.
- Prepare equipment specifications for burners, relief valves, control valves, shut-off valves, fans, dampers, and other process equipment.
- Design and evaluate heat recovery systems, including air preheaters.
Engineering Deliverables
Prepare and review:
- Heat & Material Balance
- Equipment Datasheets
- Utility Summary
- Performance Guarantee Calculations
- Equipment Specifications
- Technical Bid Deviations
- Technical Evaluation of Bought-Out Equipment
- Commissioning Documentation
- Performance Test Procedures
Proposal Engineering & Project Execution
- Review customer specifications and perform fired heater sizing.
- Support proposal engineering by preparing thermal designs during the bidding stage.
- Develop Bills of Quantity (BOQ) and project cost estimates.
- Prepare comprehensive techno-commercial proposals.
- Participate in technical discussions with customers during bidding and project execution.
- Review vendor documentation and technical submittals.
- Participate in HAZOP studies and multidisciplinary design reviews.
- Coordinate closely with Mechanical, Combustion, C&I, Electrical, and Project Engineering teams.
- Support site commissioning, performance testing, troubleshooting, operational optimization, and guarantee runs.
Mandatory Technical Expertise
The ideal candidate must possess hands-on experience in:
- FRNC5 Fired Heater Design Software
- Fired Heater Thermal Design & Rating
- Fired Heater Revamp & Debottlenecking
- Operational Troubleshooting
- Design of Expansion Tanks
- Oil Coolers
- Oil Pumps
- Slipstream Filters
- Complete Heat Transfer Oil Systems
Technical Knowledge
Strong understanding of:
- API 560
- API 530
- ASME Codes
- TEMA Standards
- Fired Heater Design Principles
- Combustion Engineering
- Radiant & Convection Section Heat Transfer
- Burner Performance
- Fuel Gas & Fuel Oil Systems
- Heat Recovery Systems (Air Preheaters)
- Low NOx Combustion & Emission Reduction Techniques
- Energy Optimization & Efficiency Improvement
- Process Equipment including Pumps, Fans, Filters, Dampers, Process Valves, and Control Valves
Preferred Software and Industry Experience
Mandatory Software experience
- FRNC5
Preferred software experience
- HTRI
- Advanced Microsoft Excel
Preferred Industry Experience
Experience in one or more of the following:
- Fired Heater OEMs
- Oil & Gas
- Refineries
- Petrochemical Plants
- LNG Facilities
- EPC Companies specializing in Fired Heater Design
What Makes You Successful
- You will excel in this role if you:
- Are an expert user of FRNC5 for fired heater design, rating, optimization, and revamp studies.
- Possess strong fundamentals in thermal engineering, combustion science, and heat transfer.
- Can independently execute complex fired heater thermal design assignments.
- Have experience leading technical discussions with customers, licensors, and multidisciplinary engineering teams.
- Enjoy solving complex operational challenges through analytical thinking and engineering excellence.
- Demonstrate strong communication, problem-solving, and project coordination skills.
Why Join Zeeco?
At Zeeco, you'll work on technically challenging global projects that shape the future of combustion technology. You'll collaborate with internationally recognized experts, gain exposure to cutting-edge fired heater applications, and contribute to innovative solutions focused on efficiency, reliability, and environmental performance.
If you're looking for a role where your expertise in FRNC5 and fired heater thermal design can make a meaningful impact on world-class engineering projects, we'd love to hear from you.