Oil & Gas

Background

15+ years of experience in midstream and refining — helping operators improve reliability, reduce OPEX, and optimize operations.

With over 15 years of experience in refining, midstream, and gas processing, we’ve helped operators boost uptime, reduce OPEX, and navigate complex plant challenges. From turnaround planning to unit debottlenecking, we bring the technical depth and field-level clarity that drives real operational gains.

We’ve worked with teams at Chevron, Bechtel, and across the Gulf Coast to solve chronic reliability issues, optimize process flow, and improve profitability under pressure.

Case Study

Eliminating Ghost Trips in a Gulf Coast Sulfur Recovery Unit

The Problem

A major Gulf Coast refinery was experiencing chronic “ghost trips” in its sulfur recovery unit (SRU), disrupting operations every 4–6 weeks.
Each unplanned shutdown cost ~$300K in lost production, OPEX, and emissions-related penalties.
Previous troubleshooting attempts had failed to isolate the root cause.

Our Solutions

Appiah Strategy Group led a multi-discipline root-cause investigation across operations, instrumentation, and process engineering. We discovered a hidden failure mode in the reagent usage system tied to salt accumulation. We implemented a first-of-its-kind purge strategy to clear the salt buildup without shutting the unit down. The plant eliminated all ghost trips for over 12 months post-implementation. Result: Over $2.5MM in direct cost savings and improved environmental compliance.