Processing, April 2018
he transition from construction to operation T Special efforts are needed to ensure safety and reliability at commissioning Since commissioning startup and shutdown activities have been responsible for many accidents failures and other issues these activities merit special attention This article discusses commissioning including pre commissioning core commissioning startup and post commissioning Common difficulties and challenges during commissioning and startup are described General notes on commissioning Before a plant or facility is handed over for normal realistic conditions auxiliaries per plant Complex automatic control schemes are being installed to reduce the likelihood 48 Processing APRIL 2018 operation it should be inspected checked cleaned ushed veri ed and tested is process is called commissioning and involves both the contractor and Overall commissioning includes mechanical completion leak tests cleaning flushing provisional acceptance pre commissioning first startup and post commissioning Careful planning is necessary for commissioning and startup Integration of different systems particularly control systems with others has to be seamless is mandates a wide range of verifications checks and tests under Economies of scale have led to a rapid increase in output of processing plants which has resulted in an increase in the number of items and auxlihood of mal operation and consequent damage to plants and facilities Added to this is vast and complicated condition monitoring systems which are extensively used in modern processing plants Commissioning of technologically advanced and computer controlled plants and facilities usually requires a radical and advanced approach and highly competent teams e high performance modern plants and units leaves smaller margins for error is the commissioning and startup Commissioning embraces activities such as cleaning ushing veri cations leak tests performance evaluation and functional tests essential for bringing a newly installed plant or facility into routine operation e commissioning expertise is a specialized branch of engineering equivalent to the related skills of design construction and operation Correct commissioning is vital to the satisfactory operation of any plant or facility and it is essential that su cient time and resources be allocated to di erent stages of the commissioning and startup Since commissioning is the last major phase before operation there is a risk that commissioning will take place under great time pressure or even some delayed commissioning activities may continue after the initial operation of the plant operator of a facility plant commissioning Commissioning processing facilities How to plan for the dif culties and challenges of bringing a plant into routine operation By Amin Almasi Kerkez iStock
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