Industrial Commissioning

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Industrial Commissioning is one of the two types of commissioning within the Project Commissioning discipline. The other type of commissioning is Building Commissioning.

Industrial Commissioning refers to verification and startup of new or upgraded industrial plant processes to test the systems and prepare the systems for in-service operation.

Industrial Commissioning differs from Building Commissioning, in that Building Commissioning refers to verification of the building enclosure and building support systems, while Industrial Commissioning refers to verification of the electrical, mechanical, and automation equipment within the building that implements the intended plant process of the project.

What is (industrial) commissioning?

Industrial Commissioning is the phase of capital projects to verify that electrical, mechanical, and automation systems meet contractual requirements, and to prepare the systems for in-service operation..

What is the commissioning process?

A structured commissioning process starts very early in the project lifecycle, as early as the conceptual stage. Several activities precede on-site commissioning and are included in the structured commissioning process required to successfully place industrial projects in-service. A general overview of a structured commissioning process is as follows:

Procurement

Commissioning requirements are specified in all major contracts, and commissioning qualifications reviewed during evaluation of proponents to ensure commissioning groups have the necessary skillsets available to commission and start up complex systems. As well, all equipment contracts specify the required testing to be conducted in the factory before equipment is shipped to site.

Integrated Factory Acceptance Testing

Testing in the factory is conducted to perform equipment meets to the project specific requirements. This includes both the hardware and the software, particularly for protection and control cubicles, where the hardware cubicles and control logic is integrated to confirm to manufacturing errors or design errors of automation cubicles prior to equipment being shipped to site.

Construction Quality Management

QA/QC processes during the installation phase of projects ensures that equipment is installed per the project technical specifications. A properly structured Quality Management System during construction ensures there are no defects that are missed or deferred to the commissioning phase of projects.

Mechanical Completion

Mechanical Completion is the joint-process between construction groups and commissioning groups to verify that all QA/QC processes are complete, that a "walkdown" has been completed to very that all installations in the field match the project design drawings (P&IDs, SLDs, etc), and that any outstanding deficiencies are identified and tracked to be addressed at an agreed to time. Mechanical Completion is the formal handover process from the construction group to the commissioning group that includes all physical assets as well as all documentation for a particular scope of work of the project.

Pre-Commissioning

Pre-commissioning is the set of tests to be completed at an equipment level to verify individual pieces of equipment and the interfaces between equipment. An example of an electrical pre-commissioning activity is a motor bump test, where power is momentarily connected to a motor to verify correct direction of rotation. An example of a mechanical pre-commissioning activity is flushing, leak testing, and pressure testing of mechanical piping to verify piping is correctly installed, cleaned, and ready for further commissioning. Not that pre-commissioning activities can be performed by either the construction group or the commissioning group, dependent on how the contract is defined or how each mechanical completion is defined. Pre-commissioning activities that require disassembly typically are performed by construction groups (example: flushing before mechanical piping is fully installed) and pre-commissioning activities that require specialized test equipment (example: loop checks) are performed by the commissioning team. There is no defined split of roles and responsibilities during pre-commissioning and is project specific, which can cause confusion of projects if not clearly defined in advance of on-site testing.

Commissioning

Commissioning is the set of tests to be completed at a system level to verify that all pieces of equipment function together as one system. Each scenario of the project Process Control Narrative is tested to verify correct control and response of the system, including all normal operating scenarios as well as fault scenarios. Each subsystem is systematically integrated with the overall plant process to build up the complete system.

Startup

Once all systems are verified during commissioning, the plant process can be started for the first time. For a mechanical system, this includes introduction of process fluids. For electrical systems, this includes first power transfers of main circuit elements. Mechanical and electrical systems are slowing ramped up to operating levels to verify the systems are operating per contract requirements.

Performance Verification

Once systems are started, further testing takes place to complete any fine tuning of settings of the systems and operate any normal or fault operating scenarios to confirm the systems with plant fluids or power transfers. Performance Verification is the final set of test to optimize performance or make any final changes to the system.

Trial Operation

Once performance verification of the system is complete and the system is in it's final configuration, the system enters a trial operating period as defined by the project contract. Not all industrial projects have a trial operating period, but those that do may have a trial period of 3 days or 30 days (whatever is defined in the contract) where the system must operate uninterrupted for the duration of the trial period. The project contract will typically define what constitutes a project restart. If an interruption occurs, the root cause is addressed and the trial period starts over. Once the system operates uninterrupted for the full duration of the trial period, the systems are ready to be placed into in-service operation.

Project ISD

The systems are ready for in-service operation once the commissioning team signs the commissioning certificate deeming the system ready for commercial operation

See also

• Project commissioning
• Building commissioning
• Building enclosure commissioning

References

This article "Industrial Commissioning" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Industrial Commissioning. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.

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