The shift engineer

Khalid – The Shift Engineer Who Held the Line

Khalid had only been a shift engineer at the Lestari Oleochemicals Plant for nine months, but he was already known as the man who kept his cool under pressure.

The plant never slept — distillation towers hummed through the night, boilers hissed with steam, and operators in hard hats moved like clockwork between reactors, control panels, and sampling points.

The Night Everything Happened at Once

It was a rainy Tuesday night shift. Khalid was halfway through his routine DCS monitoring when an alarm blared:

"Vacuum Drop – Deodoriser Section"

His mind clicked into troubleshooting mode.

Vacuum pump failure? Steam ejector leak? Seal water issue?

He radioed his control room operator:

“Hold product flow steady. I’m going to the deodoriser floor.”

As he made his way up, the maintenance supervisor called — one of the hydrogenation reactors was showing a temperature spike. That meant two critical issues at the same time.

Making Decisions Under Pressure

Khalid didn’t panic. He followed the plant’s emergency hierarchy of priorities:

1. Safety of people

2. Protection of equipment

3. Product quality

First, he instructed the hydrogenation team to isolate the heat exchanger, bypass the steam line, and start cooling water circulation — preventing a runaway reaction.

Then he checked the deodoriser’s vacuum pump. The cause? A clogged seal water filter. He immediately coordinated with the standby pump and got maintenance to clean the filter during operation changeover.

Keeping the Team Together

Back in the control room, Khalid gathered the shift operators:

> “We had two near-miss situations tonight, but everyone stayed focused. That’s how we win shifts.”

He logged a detailed shift report, including root causes, corrective actions, and preventive recommendations for the next day’s production meeting.

Before leaving at dawn, he made sure the morning shift was fully briefed.

Earning Respect

By the end of the month, his plant manager told him:

“Khalid, it’s not just that you solved problems. It’s how you made quick, safe decisions and kept the team calm. That’s what makes a great shift engineer.”

Khalid smiled. In his mind, it wasn’t about being a hero — it was about being prepared, knowing the process, and leading the team through the storm.

He knew that in oleochemicals, every shift was an interview, and every crisis was a test you couldn’t fake.