Energy — Refining & Petrochemicals · Tank Inspection Program / Mechanical Integrity · HF Sinclair
Tank Inspection Program / Mechanical Integrity Project Manager Simulation — HF Sinclair
Coordinate HF Sinclair's annual API 653 storage-tank inspection program at the El Dorado, Kansas refinery — 40 atmospheric tanks, $1.5M, 14 weeks. Sequence tank-outs around a production schedule that resists them, run an inspection contractor and a cleaning vendor in lockstep, and hold every regulatory due date while protecting the refinery's output. Your first mechanical-integrity program: quiet, disciplined coordination across 40 assets. Gain hands-on project management experience over 27 days of real decisions, stakeholders, and PMO deliverables — no prior experience required.
The scenario
HF Sinclair's El Dorado, Kansas refinery runs 135,000 barrels of crude a day, and every barrel passes through its tank farm — 40 atmospheric storage tanks holding crude, intermediates, and finished products. Those tanks are governed by API 653, the code that sets the inspection intervals, thickness limits, and repair rules for aboveground storage tanks once they are in service. Inspections are not optional and the due dates are not flexible: an external inspection at least every five years, an internal inspection on an interval driven by the tank's measured corrosion rate, and a reportable gap if either lapses. This is the annual cycle. A defined slate of tanks is due for external or internal inspection this year, and the refinery has approved a $1.5M, 14-week program to get them done. The work itself is routine and well understood — that is exactly why it is hard to schedule. To inspect a tank internally you have to take it out of service, degas it, clean it, and send people inside it under confined-space and hot-work permits. Every tank you pull from service is a tank Operations can't use, and Operations runs a production plan that does not want to give up capacity. You have been brought in as the Mechanical Integrity Project Manager to run the program. You report to Marcy Holloway in Reliability & Inspection; your sponsor is Ted Trevino, the refinery manager. You coordinate the inspection contractor, the cleaning vendor, the mechanical-integrity engineer who reads the data, the operations superintendent who controls the rotation, and the EH&S lead who owns the permits. Your job is to take 40 tanks out of service, inspect them to code, and put them back — without ever being the reason a unit had to slow down.
What you'll do as the project manager
- →Complete API 653 external and internal inspections for all 40 atmospheric tanks due this cycle, within 14 weeks and $1.5M
- →Sequence tank-outs to protect refinery production while meeting every API 653 due date
- →Produce regulator-ready inspection records and close every reportable finding with a named owner and date
- →Coordinate the inspection contractor and cleaning vendor so each out-of-service window is used efficiently
- →Bring the program in on budget, preserving contingency for repair scope discovered during internal inspections
Project management skills you'll build
The challenges you'll navigate
- •Production-schedule resistance — Operations is reluctant to release tanks during high-demand season, compressing the tank-out windows the program depends on
- •Unknown internal condition — corrosion-rate estimates for several tanks rest on external UT only; internal inspections may reveal floor-plate corrosion requiring unplanned repair scope
- •Contractor and vendor sequencing — the inspection contractor and the cleaning vendor must be tightly coupled; a slip in cleaning idles the inspection crew and stalls the rotation
- •Permit lead time — confined-space entry and hot-work permits carry EH&S lead times that stall tank entries if not built into the schedule
- •Regulatory due dates — several tanks are approaching their API 653 external or internal due dates; an interval lapse is a reportable gap
- •Budget contingency — the $1.5M budget assumes inspection-only scope; discovered repairs draw down contingency quickly
Technology & stakeholders
You'll manage 7 stakeholders, including Ted Trevino (VP & Refinery Manager, El Dorado), Marcy Holloway (Reliability & Inspection Manager), Dwight Kessler (Fixed Equipment / Mechanical Integrity Engineer), and more.
What you'll walk away with
A verified, shareable record of a completed enterprise project — plus the PMO deliverables you produced along the way (charter, project plan, SteerCo deck, closure document). It's real, demonstrable project management experience you can put on your resume and speak to in interviews.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need project management experience to start?
No. This simulation is built for aspiring and practicing project managers alike — you learn by doing. You make real decisions and get feedback, with no PMP or prior PM job required.
How long does this simulation take?
It runs over 27 days, roughly 23 minutes per day, covering the full project lifecycle from initiation to closure.
What will I learn?
You practice the core of project management — stakeholder management, budget and schedule control, risk, scope, and PMO governance — in the context of tank inspection program / mechanical integrity in energy — refining & petrochemicals.
Is this based on the real HF Sinclair?
It's a realistic scenario inspired by HF Sinclair and the Energy — Refining & Petrochemicals sector. Details and names are fictionalized for training — it's a simulation, not a record of any actual project.
What do I get at the end?
A verified project completion plus the PMO deliverables you produced (charter, plan, SteerCo deck, closure) — proof of hands-on experience you can show employers.
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