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Cover Story

Part 2

Commissioning and Startup:


Increase Certainty Through
Advanced Planning
Taking commissioning and startup into consideration during the early design phase can resu
more predictable project schedules and more robust equipment designs

H
Anna Farokhi istorically,
and Charlie Lyda new capital
Ruor projects and
facility up-
IN BRIEF grades in the chemi­
cal process industries
DESIGN PHASE
(CPI) were designed
EQUIPMENT with a primary focus
PRESERVATION PLANS on operations. As the
MODULE-YARD CPI have worked to re­
EXECUTION PLANS duce the total installed
cost (TIC) of projects,
SITE-SPECIFIC many engineering, i

EXECUTION PLANS
procurement and con­
struction (EPC) firms
have begun to incor­ FIGURE 1. Many large capital projects in the CPI put great focus on decreasing overall costs
porate modular de­ and compressing plot footprints, but they must do so while still considering the proper con­
sign and fabrication struction execution sequence
methodologies into their project-execution commissioning and startup of the facility are
strategy. The design teams spend consid­ not easily understood or quantified.
erable time finalizing the site plot plans. In addition to modular designs, projects
The objectives here are to compress the continue to transition from the typical ex­
overall plot footprint and reduce piping ecution model - consisting of mechanical
and electrical system quantities, while still completion, commissioning and startup —
considering the construction execution to a parallel-activity model where power,
sequence (Figure 1). utility and process systems are commis­
As module-design techniques continue to sioned and placed into service while con­
mature, piping-system lengths are reduced,struction continues in other facility areas
the density of the operating equipment is and systems.
often compressed, electrical system quanti­ Especially in this type of project-execu­
ties are minimized and the total cost of con­tion environment, early involvement of the
struction is reduced. Recent data suggest commissioning and startup team members
that with modular designs, piping and elec­ is critical. Involvement of the team during
trical systems quantities can be reduced by module design reviews and the develop­
25 to 30% when compared to traditionally ment of equipment preservation plans,
designed facilities. module-yard execution plans, site commis­
While the cost of design, materials, con­ sioning and startup execution plans and
struction labor and logistics can be easily performance testing plans leads to safer
developed and compared against histori­ execution, a reduced project TIC and op­
cal data to illustrate the TIC benefit of new timized project schedule durations. This ar­
techniques, the potential benefits to the ticle describes several areas where early in-

CHEMICAL ENGINEERING WWW.CHEMENGONLINE.COM NOVEMBER 2018 41


eral parties — the quality, commission­
ing and turnover teams, as well as the
startup team and client — facilitate this
work during the project’s systems com­
- pletion, turnover and handover phases.
The modular design techniques that
£'
*' drive down construction costs are reviewed
from the commissioning and startup per­

spective to ensure that pre-commissioning,
A' i commissbning and startup activities are
4A
supported and included in the modular
design considerations.
To guide this process, mark up a series
of plot plans illustrating the sequence in
»r* v which the systems or units will become
\ energized or operational. Each drawing
M (one per project month is recommended)
figure 2. utility systems are typically the volvement and advanced planning
reflectsfrom
all energized systems and areas
firstto become operational during a large (he commissioning and Startup fromteam
the previous month, with the addi­
facility startup
can improve a project's certainty with tion of systems coming online in the cur­
regard to costs and scheduling. rent month. Additional plot-plan draw­
ings are marked up until the entire facility
Design phase is shown as operational. To read more
Information from the system piping on plot plan drawings, please see Plot
and instrumentation diagrams (P&IDs) Plan Design: Process Requirements,
and electrical system one-line draw­ Chem. Eng., Jan. 2015, pp. 52-57.
ings are marked on the issued-for- These marked-up plot-plan drawings
design (IFD) drawings to define startup provide the project team with a high-level
system boundaries and serve as the overview of the path from construction to
basis for the construction and com­ final operation. Through these marked-
missioning teams’ planning efforts. up drawings, engineering teams can
The design databases including visualize better layout options; construc­
equipment lists, instrument lists, pip­ tion teams can validate construction
ing isometric lists, cable databases sequences and execution plans; health,
and so on — are populated with the safety and environmental (HSE) teams
startup system identifiers attached can better prepare the required safety
to each component and help to drive programs as areas become operational;
system- and commissioning-test com­ and commissioning teams can better
pletion. The component tags in these prepare for the detailed system-isolation
databases, along with agreed-upon design reviews.
attributes (including the startup sys­ Utility systems, such as power, instru­
tem identifier), are uploaded into the ment air, service water, cooling water,
completions software and updated as steam and so on, are typically the first
the design progresses. These data sets systems to be made operational and
are very useful in the early construction often span across multiple modules and
planning phase and are required during process-unit boundaries (Figure 2). A
the final phases of a project. detailed review of these systems and
Early involvement of the commission­ the construction sequence may lead to
ing and turnover team during the de­ the identification of additional isolation
velopment of the inspection and test points. Incorporating additional compo­
plans (ITPs) included in the site quality nents into the base design that are not
manual reduces the cost of tracking andrequired for normal operations but sup­
locating the documentation required for port commissioning and startup mini­
systems completion and commission­ mizes cost and schedule impacts later
ing. Specific system-critical documents in the project lifecycle,
should be loaded and connected, as A similar review of the process sys­
required, against the applicable compo­tems is conducted to ensure that pro­
nents in the completions software. Earlyvided isolations support the construc­
agreement on these documents by sev-tion execution sequence as the systems
42
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING WWW.CHEMENGONLINE.COM NOVEMBER 2018
are commissioned and placed into when reviewing and searching the initial operation with validity of data
initial operational service. vendor manuals for requirements, recording maintained throughout
A detailed review of piping-system If modular execution strategies are the program,
cleaning needs is conducted in par- employed, the equipment preser-
allel with the isolation review noted vation program should be in place Module-yard execution plans
above. This review identifies addi- to support the equipment arrival at The pre-commissioning and com-
tional components that may be re- the module yard facility and con- missioning activities conducted at
quired to support the piping-system tinue through shipment to the site the module yard are clearly defined
cleaning that will be required prior (Figure 3). Execution plans are de- to ensure alignment with all parties
to initial operation. These cleaning veloped to ensure a comprehen- and validate that expected results
activities typically include air blows, sive program is conducted through (and cost reductions) are realized,
water flushing, hydrolazing (ultra
high-pressure hydroblasting), steam
blows and pipeline and system
dry-out activities.
This review focuses on access
points for cleaning services, avail­
ability of rollout spools, bypass pro­
visions to flush around critical com­
ponents and the entry and exhaust
points of the activities. During this
review, identify all permanent plant Your Valve and 115
equipment that may require removal
prior to the cleaning activities, such Instrumentation **
as valves, valve trims, orifice plates
or flow nozzles. As this review pro­ Partner i
gresses, identify all materials that «
may be required for reinstatement
and develop the material requisi­ GEMU Valves features
tion information required. This re­
view forms the basis for the detailed
cleaning plans that are developed
diaphragm valves, a,
during the site commissioning and
startup planning phase prior to
butterfly valves, angle
seat and globe valves,
™l
field mobilization. *
lined metal valves, .1

Equipment preservation plans O


flow measurement,
The need to develop detailed
equipment-preservation plans early and multiport
rv'i *
i
in the project cannot be overstated.
These plans ensure that equipment
is properly stored and maintained
prior to its delivery and final instal­
block valves.
i ‘LSSt
9

)
lation on site. The comprehensive
equipment-preservation plan is
often a combination of EPC and cli­
ent quality program requirements,
coupled with the equipment suppli­
ers’ recommendations. As supplier
information is received, the docu­
ments should be reviewed with a
focus on preservation and any re­
3800 Camp Creek Parkway • Building 2600 • Suite 120
quirements recorded in the com­
Atlanta, GA 30331 • 678-553-3400 • info@gemu.com
pletions software. It is advisable to
include any required forms in the
vendor purchase orders that out­ www.gemu.com
line and record preservation activi­
ties. This requirement saves count­
less hours and potential omissions For details visit adlinks.chemengonline.com/70312>19

CHEMICAL ENGINEERING WWW.CHEMENGONLINE.COM NOVEMBER 2018 43


Photo oi SMI Quest cartxn capture and storage protect
Site-specific execution plans
The site-specific commissioning and
startup execution plans are an exten­
sion of the planning efforts performed to
date. The system isolation requirements
have been identified, the flush connec­
tion points have been validated, the
fcr. l
equipment removal list to support flush­
ing has been developed, module yard
pre-commissioning and commissioning
plans and documentation are devel­
oped and the equipment-preservation
management plan is fully functional.
Building on the previous efforts, the
team develops system-specific proce­
dures defining the activities required to
bring the plant up to its ready-for-startup
(RFSU) status.
Each process piping system of the
FIGURE 3. Equipment preservation To minimize site rework, documen­ facility has specific procedures outlining
programs should be in place to supporttation requirements must be clearly many areas, including the following:
equipment arrival at the module-yard fa­
cility through shipment to site identified in advance and incorpo­ • The cleaning required to be performed
rated appropriately into the project at the site
completions software. • Cleanliness acceptance criteria
Consideration for the electrical • Component removal checklists
and control-system components to • Parts required listing
be distributed on process modules • Component restoration checklist
should be evaluated. Many pre-com­ • Equipment isolation checklists
missioning and commissioning ac­ • Any post-cleaning drying and preser­
tivities, such as loop checks, motor vation requirements
run-ins, power system energization A set of “cleaning" P&IDs are de­
and so on, can be conducted in the veloped for inclusion into this system
module yards if supported in the pro­ cleaning package.
cess module design. During piping-system flushing and
The team develops a detailed pipe- steam-blow activities, tremendous
system cleaning strategy for the mod­ amounts of water are required. A tem­
ule yard and incorporates that strategy porary water-management plan is de­
into the project's overall system-clean­ veloped as part of the commissioning
ing specialty requirements (Figure 4). and startup planning process. This plan
Items to consider during plan devel­ includes several important items, includ­
opment include module size, shipping ing the following:
durations and cleanliness preservation • Limitations on makeup water
during shipment, as well as cleaning availability
activities that will be required onsite • Limitations on wastewater discharge
prior to equipment going online, in­ • System designs that consume water
cluding component removal and re- as part of the operational process
installation to support the required • Limitations in onsite storage
cleaning processes. The plan provides the system draw­
Evaluate the module yard infrastruc­ ings required for temporary piping
ture prior to finalizing commissioning systems and equipment, a strategy
plans. Consider power availability (volt­ document summarizing water move­
age, capacity and frequency), cleaning ment around the site and a final waste-
media capacity, pumping capacities, disposal plan. The team considers the
water retention facilities, waste man­ use of permanent plant sumps and re­
agement and other applicable areas. tention basins in the temporary water-
The final plan includes any require­ management strategy.
ments for maintaining cleanliness dur­ As steam-blow plans are developed,
ing transit, such as purges, end caps, carefully consider the routing of any
routine monitoring and so on. temporary pipe, the location of the ex-
44 CHEMICAL ENGINEERING WWW.CHEMENGONLINE.COM NOVEMBER 2018
Photo ol Shell Quest carbon capture and storage protect
haust points and the source of the steam
generation. Should the steam source
be provided by the existing operating
facility, a steam-flow demand plan is
extremely helpful in coordinating the op­
erating facility interfaces. Because multi­ :z J |l>
unit facilities rely on the process units to
generate the steam required for facility
operation and power generation, the
4

7
startup source (for instance, an auxiliary
boiler or heat-recovery steam generator)
may not have the capacity required to
meet the downstream requirements for iii
cleanliness criteria. As cleaning plans
are finalized, the teams consider tempo­
rary sources for the steam supply, the
required fuel-supply connections, steam
system connections and temporary ■*.
exhaust points.
Building on the activities performed
in the module yards, detailed proce­ gether to provide great benefits in terms figure 4. a detailed pipe-system ciean-
dures are developed to finalize the of more-effective plans and designs. Ing strategy must be developed for the
module yard
pre-commissioning activities for the The opportunity to influence a project’s
electrical systems, instrumentation and safety, productivity, cost and schedule is
controls systems and equipment lube-oilat its greatest during the design phase.
flushing activities. The commissioning and startup teams’
System- and unit-specific startup early involvement enables the develop­
procedures are developed based on ment of a comprehensive set of testing
the manufacturer or licensor’s instruc­ activities that span the project lifecycle,
tions, process system descriptions and commencing at the module yards and
major-equipment supplier manuals. As­ completing at the site in support of a
sembling this information prior to mobi­ successful facility startup. Conducting
lization ensures that a comprehensive early design reviews with a commission­
startup program is in place and that the ing and startup focus reduces total costs
appropriate reviews are performed. Thesignificantly and yields a more predict­
procedures include sections outlining able outcome in the field. ■
the interface requirements to other units Edited by Mary Page Bailey
within the facility, special drying and
refractory-curing processes, temporary Authors
feedstock requirements (if any), initial Afsaneh (Anna) Farokhl is a commis­
valve alignment tables, initial operating sioning manager with Fluor Corp.
(1 Fluor Daniel Dr. Sugarland, TX
setpoints and a summary of equipment 3» 77478: afsaneh.tarokhi@tluor.com),
operating alarms. currently supporting a government proj­
Similar to the process-system commis­ ect in Virginia. She also supports the
functional organization, overseeing
sioning procedures, electrical-system en­ global commissioning operations and
ergization plans are developed to ensure execution. With 12 years of industry ex­
the proper pre-energization testing is per­ perience. she has held a diverse range
of office and field assignments, both domestic and interna­
formed, all safety precautions are in place tional. Farokhi was named to Engineering News-Record's
and the correct energization sequence (ENR) first national Top 20 Under 40 in 2017. a list that rec­
ognizes the construction industry's top young professionals.
is followed.
Charlie Lyda currently serves as vice
The electrical and process system president of commissioning and turn­
startup procedures are developed to over at Fluor Corp. (100 Fluor Daniel
align with the project-specific lockout/ Or., Greenville. S.C. 29607; chades.
lyda@fluor.com). in this role, he is re­
tagout (LOTO) procedures, electrical sponsible for pre-commissioning, com­
arc-flash safety procedures, system missioning, startup and turnover for
boundary tagging and blinding proce­ Fluor's projects across all business
lines. Lyda has more than 30 years of
dures and established HSE practices experience in commissioning, startup,
and procedures. operations and maintenance of electric power-generation,
All of these individual pieces come to- petrochemical and chemical manufacturing facilities.

CHEMICAL ENGINEERING WWW.CHEMENGONLINE.COM NOVEMBER 2018 45

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