Richard P. Palluzi, P.E., CSP
Richard P. Palluzi, P.E., CSP, of Richard P Palluzi LLC is a consultant to the pilot plant, laboratory, and research community on safety, code compliance, design and area electrical classification for research support and facilities. He retired as the senior pilot plant and laboratory design and safety specialist after almost 40 years at ExxonMobil Research and Engineering, where he was involved in the design, construction, and support of pilot plants and laboratories for ExxonMobil affiliates worldwide.
Rich is the author of two books, 150 articles and 100 presentations. He was chair of the AIChE Pilot Plant Committee, ExxonMobil’s Pilot Plant and Laboratory Safety Standards Committee, and ExxonMobil’s Clinton Facility Safe Operation Team. He is a member of AIChE’s Process Development Division and was elected an AIChE Fellow in 2021. Rich is also working on the CCPS team wring their new book on Pilot Plant and Laboratory Safety, tentatively scheduled for publication in 2022.
Rich is also a member of the American Chemical Society (ACS), International Code Council (ICC), The American Association of Safety Professionals (ASSP), and the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) where he is on the NFPA-45 Fire Protection for Laboratories Using Chemicals and NFPA-55 Industrial and Medical Gases technical committees.
Rich also taught continuing education courses for AIChE for almost 15 years and currently teaches 15 courses for the University of Wisconsin’s Department of Engineering Professional Development as well as developing and delivering customized training to the research community. He holds a BE(ChE) and an ME(ChE) from Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, NJ and has a Professional Engineering (PE) license as well as being a Certified Safety Professional (CSP).
Rich was the 2012 recipient of the ExxonMobil Chemicals worldwide award for excellence, the 2011 recipient of the ExxonMobil Process Research achievement award, the 2007 recipient of the American Institute of Chemical Engineering’s Process Development Division Practice Award and ExxonMobil’s “Golden Tiger” Award for excellence four times. Rich now works full time providing consulting on all aspects of safety and design for pilot plants, laboratories, and research facilities and operations.
Services Provided
Pilot plant and laboratory design, construction, start up, and operations
Pilot plant and laboratory safety consulting and audits
Pilot Plant and Laboratory codes compliance, interpretation, and audits
Research support
Research safety
Area electrical classification consulting
Hazardous area wiring
Troubleshooting and problem solving
Project management
Pilot plant and laboratory unit relocation
Laboratory relocation design, estimating, and project management
Hazard analysis and risk assessment for all types of research equipment and operations
Standards development
Safety program development
Inspection and safety procedure development
Training both custom and standard
Start up and commissioning for laboratories and pilot plants
Piping and Instrument Diagrams (P&ID’S)
Research vessel and equipment design
Past Experiences
Pilot Plant and Laboratory Design and Safety Consultant
Richard Palluzi LLC
Sep 2015 – Present
Consultant in all phases of pilot plant, laboratory and research support including hazard analysis and risk assessment, design, estimating, scheduling, facility reviews, troubleshooting, code compliance and problem solving. Provide research, pilot plant, and laboratory project design support, reviews and evaluation to clients. Develop and present numerous courses on specialty topics customized to client’s needs.
Lecturer and Custom Course Developer
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Jun 2004 – Feb 2022
Develop and teach courses on pilot plant and laboratory design, construction and process safety as well as area electrical classification and hazardous area wiring, technical fundamentals of process safety, pumps and process piping and hazard analysis and risk assessment. Develop custom courses to meet client needs in the process industries.
Senior Pilot Plant and Laboratory Specialist (Distinguished Engineering Associate)
ExxonMobil Research and Engineering
Feb 1976 – Sep 2015
Senior pilot plant specialist in safety, design, construction, operation, start up and quality control. Author of numerous books and articles on the subject. Pilot plant design, construction, operation and maintenance. Pilot plant and laboratory safety. Laboratory design, codes and construction. Pilot plant and laboratory cost estimating.
Richard P Palluzi LLC 