Process engineers play a crucial role in driving innovation and efficiency across industries like petrochemicals, pharmaceuticals, food, and more. In this series, we spotlight the dedicated professionals who solve complex challenges and shape the future of these vital sectors. With over 800 members, The Community of Process Engineers is AIChE’s most active discussion group, connecting experts who make a real impact. Interested in being featured? Learn more and join the conversation at aiche.org/CPE.
This month, we introduce you to Cahyo Hardo Priyoasmoro, Quality, Health, Safety, Environment, and Security Senior Manager at Harbour Energy (retired December 2024). He discusses the path that led to his career in process engineering, overcoming challenges, and the importance of his work.
Tell us a bit about your work as a process engineer and the transition to your role as a QHSE Senior Manager.
My work as a process engineer has shown me that the science and skills of chemical engineering make it easier to solve production operation challenges, such as rate optimization, debottlenecking, and process troubleshooting. This expertise ultimately led me to the role of Production Manager.
During my time in operations, I developed a strong background in safety, particularly in plant safety, due to my experience as a process design engineer. I believe management recognized my expertise, making it a key factor in my consideration for the role of Senior Manager of QHSE (quality, health, safety, environment, and security), reporting directly to the President of Harbour Indonesia. Chemical engineering is closely related to QHSE, especially in process safety, which allowed me to transition smoothly into the role.
To further enhance my expertise in these areas, I completed my education in Occupational Health and Safety in July 2024. I remained with the company until December of last year when I took early retirement. I am still actively pursuing work related to HSE and operations, including my dream of obtaining a doctoral degree in process safety.
Why did you become a process engineer?
Originally, I enjoyed chemistry in high school, but I didn’t want to become a chemist because it somehow didn’t seem like a cool career to me at the time. Instead, I chose chemical engineering. Process engineering, a branch of chemical engineering, stood out to me as a cool career because it gives you a sense of ownership over a plant. You design it, commission it, start it up, and later work on debottlenecking and optimizing its performance.
What were some of the biggest challenges you faced in your role as a process engineer?
Communication with stakeholders—such as operators, supervisors, and managers—was a challenge for me, especially right after graduating from university, as I had no strong communication skills at the time. However, I gradually developed them through hands-on experience and learning by doing.
I've learned that communicating with different stakeholders can sometimes be difficult, and it may require a tailored approach, depending on who you're speaking with. When speaking with operators, it's best to use simple, straightforward language and avoid over-explaining your requests. In many cases, operators may insist that their way is correct, so keeping explanations brief can prevent unnecessary debate. With supervisors, you can provide more detailed explanations, but timing is crucial. Mornings are usually hectic as they handle reports, so finding a more relaxed moment leads to a more productive conversation. When dealing with plant managers, it's important to first address how the work will impact production, safety, or reliability. If they are on board with your approach, future discussions will be much smoother.
Of course, difficult interactions are inevitable. I’ve encountered operators who didn’t even want to speak with me because they assumed I was only adding to their workload. The key to overcoming this challenge is a human approach—demonstrating that as engineers, we are there to support them, not burden them with extra tasks. A great way to build rapport with operators is through casual, face-to-face interactions. Talking during coffee breaks, sharing a smoke if you’re a smoker, or even joining them for lunch in the mess hall can help foster acceptance and ease communication. With supervisors, it can be helpful talk about their challenges, and offer any useful suggestions or advice you might have. And follow up later to see if your advice was helpful. This approach can help to develop trust and can often make your next interaction go better.
How was your work as a process engineer critical to your particular job assignment or industry?
My work as a process engineer was absolutely critical, especially when it came to troubleshooting process plant issues that limited production. The impact of these problems extended beyond financial losses—it also affected the reputation of the Indonesian government as a leading LNG and gas producer.
One particularly high-stakes troubleshooting experience occurred at a gas plant with three train separators, each containing three separators in series. One day, all the separator levels started rising simultaneously. If the issue wasn’t resolved quickly, the entire plant would shut down, halting production of approximately 300–450 MMSCFD of gas. This would have had a domino effect, forcing the shutdown of an LNG train located 60 km away due to a lack of gas feed.
I worked on troubleshooting the issue for about an hour and ultimately identified the root cause—a common water outlet line from all the separators had been choked by someone performing a chemical trial for water-oil separation improvement in the produced water treatment unit. If the issue had not been resolved in time, the LNG train shutdown could have severely disrupted Indonesia’s LNG export schedule and commitments. Given that Indonesia was one of the world’s largest LNG producers at the time, the stakes were incredibly high, making process engineering and quick problem-solving essential to maintaining both production and the country's standing in the global market.
What do you think was the most important part of your role as a process engineer?
The most important part of my role as a process engineer was effective communication and actively going into the field. The truth is always out there, and the only way to fully understand a situation is to see it firsthand.
One memorable experience involved a report from our Jakarta Engineering Department regarding an issue with the fuel gas treatment system. They had discovered thermal erosion on the blades of a gas turbine, indicating the presence of liquid in the fuel gas feeding into the combustion chamber. This issue had already led to the premature replacement of the gas turbine two or three times, costing around $400,000 to $500,000 per replacement, at that time. Since the manufacturer attributed the problem to field conditions, they refused to provide replacements under warranty. Understandably, this put immense pressure on the Division of Technical Support, as management demanded answers.
The report from Jakarta was highly detailed, backed by extensive process simulations (HYSYS). As Senior Field Process Engineer, my manager instructed me to review their findings and either approve or disapprove their recommendations. However, after going through the report, I had a gut feeling that something was wrong in the field. Instead of making a decision from my desk, I went to the plant and physically walked the fuel gas line from the source to the compressor fuel treatment station.
What I found was a simple yet critical oversight—the fuel gas scrubber had been bypassed for some time. The evidence was clear: The valve handle had clearly remained untouched for a long time, as evidenced by the moss buildup around the bypass line and the coldness of the surrounding pipes. This likely went unnoticed after a plant turnaround. When I presented my findings, the plant superintendent acknowledged the issue, and I ultimately rejected all recommendations from Jakarta. Instead, I simply instructed operations to properly reinstate the use of the fuel gas scrubber.
This experience reinforced the importance of field verification. Nothing replaces physically inspecting the plant and engaging with operations to find the real cause of an issue.
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