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Pre-commissioning

Article  in  Appita Journal · April 2013

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PRE-COMMISSIONING
GEOFF COVEY
Executive Chairman, Covey Consulting Pty Ltd,
660 High Street, Kew East, Victoria, 3102,
Australia.
Keywords: Commissioning, Pre-commissioning
INTRODUCTION
It is not always easy to make a precise definition of
pre-commissioning, but broadly it covers the
activities between the mechanical completion of a
plant and the when process fluids are first fed into
the plant with the intent of making product.
The stage is usually characterised by the use of
water and air (or occasionally steam) in place of
process fluids, but sometimes it is more appropriate
to use other fluids if water in the equipment is
unacceptable.
There are several objectives in pre-commissioning:
 Removing foreign material and
construction debris from the process.
 Testing that drives and instruments are
functioning correctly (to the extent that is
practical).
 Checking that lines are connected properly
and that they can accommodate an
acceptable flow.
 Testing that valves function correctly
 For plant that will regularly be dismantled
and re-assembled, to familiarise crews
with how this is done and to identify any
difficulties in undertaking these tasks so
that corrective measures can be taken
before the plant becomes live.
There is also the benefit of enabling everyone who
will be involved in commissioning and operating
the plant to gain familiarity with the details of its
construction and layout.
It is obvious that it is better to undertake these tasks
before corrosive, toxic, flammable or expensive
materials are introduced to the plant. This is why
water is usually used at this stage.
Often time, cost or inconvenience will prevent all
of the proper steps in pre-commissioning from
being undertaken. Therefore, the following should
be considered as what should be done rather than
as a prescriptive list. Conversely, the following is
not in any way exhaustive, it is merely a guide for
‘ordinary’ installations; more thorough methods
will be required with some equipment and with
some hazardous materials
PRELIMINARIES
Even before pre-commissioning begins there are
some tasks to be performed to ensure that the plant
is ready for pre-commissioning. The general
objective here is to check that the plant has been
assembled as intended.
Typical functions at this stage will include:
 ‘Walking all lines’ – tracing the route of
all pipework to see that it runs between the
vessels it is supposed to connect. At the
same time look for errors in construction
e.g. open flanges on spare “T’s”, pipe run
in a manner inappropriate for its duty.
Although there will be resistance to
changes at this stage it is better to fix the
problem now than to wait until the plant is
being commissioned and confirm an
already identified fault then. Example:
process engineer’s inspection of a plant
shortly before pre-commissioning found
lines for fast settling slurry rising at 45°-
rising slurry lines will block rapidly unless
they are vertical. The fault was corrected
while the plant was still at the end of the
construction phase and operational
difficulties in this area were avoided.
 Check that plant really is mechanically
complete. This includes ensuring that all
construction tools and accessories have
been removed. Example: start-up of a high
temperature fluid bed had been delayed
several times. At last it was possible to
start heating it for the first time. When the
bed reached incandescent temperature,
looking through the viewing point
revealed an aluminium ladder propped
inside.
 Confirm that all lines have been pressure
tested – this is a better way of finding
leaks than waiting until pre-
commissioning. It is important to note that
although pressure testing involves filling
 lines with water, it is a static process and
does not avoid the need for line flushing.
 Vessels have been water filled – looking
for leaks, flexible flanges etc.
 Rotation direction of all motors and driven
equipment – remember that some
gearboxes will reverse the turning
direction as well as altering shaft speed.
Example: this is particularly important
with screw conveyor. A piece of equipment
had multiple screws which conveyed
material in a zig-zag manner. One of the
screws should have run in the opposite
direction to the rest. This was not picked
up before the first material was put
through the plant and the screw jammed
(fortunately without significant damage).
CLEANING
This should be undertaken before any other
function as it minimises risk of damage during
subsequent testing. The objective is to remove both
large debris (e.g. welding rods, bolts, gloves) which
can block lines and damage equipment and small
debris (e.g. ‘dirt’, tape, metal filings) which can
plug instruments etc. and contaminate product.
Figures 1 and 2 show typical debris found when
cleaning lines and equipment. In the past, welding
rods have been a major source of contamination,
but the increased use of TIG welding has reduced
this problem.
Figure 1 Debris found in equipment during pre-
commissioning
Figure 2 Typical debris found in pre-
commissioning
Water flushing
This work will usually involve the breaking of
lines, will often be undertaken before all drives are
activated and may require flow to be in reverse
direction to that for normal operation. Therefore it
will often not be practical to use the pump normally
associated with the line for flushing. Often one
large pump can be used for most of the line
flushing. The fire pump is commonly suitable for
this purpose: it has high capacity, it is attached to a
large water reservoir and it must be tested anyway.
Therefore for the purpose of cleaning lines it is
convenient to employ a fire hose and an adaptor
with a series of flanges and couplings to suit the
various line sizes in the plant.
When flushing lines the following principles should
be applied when possible:
 Visually inspect as much of the line to be
flushed and associated tanks before
starting flushing, and remove foreign
objects.
 Use a source of water that is sufficient to
flush at high velocity – at more than the
highest anticipated operating velocity and
always greater than 2 m/s. The objective is
to remove any material which might
otherwise be displaced in normal
operation. Therefore the conveying
capacity of the flushing water must be
greater than that of the process fluid. If the
process fluid is of high density and/or
viscosity, this will require an even higher
flushing velocity to be effective.
 Remove strainer baskets from the line and
where possible any instruments that
project into the line (annubar flowmeters,
thermowells etc) or which have small
sensing holes which might block or which
are easily damaged by impact (e.g. which
have membranes or soft surfaces). Many
instrument engineers prefer ALL
instruments to be removed at this stage. A
package cooling tower was stored in a
dusty section of the site for some weeks
before being put into position. Although
the lines had been flushed, first circulation
of water round the whole circuit blocked
the in-line filter in less than ten minutes.
 Wherever possible avoid flushing a line
into a vessel from which it is difficult to
remove large debris (e.g. a sealed tank
which does not have large access
openings).
 Remove any accessories which provide a
significant narrowing of the flow passage
in which debris can become wedged – e.g.
certain types of valves. (This may not
always be practical as it would require the
provision of temporary spools or breaking
the line into additional segments for
flushing. If this is the case, extra rigour
must be applied in checking for
obstructions in these valves before flow
testing). Example: A plant used a large
number of leaf type flow switches. These
were not removed prior to flushing.
Inspections following failure of these
switches to respond in operation revealed
that almost every switch was jammed open
by PTFE tape or reinforcing string
fragments.
 There should be no packing, ion exchange
resins, catalysts etc in vessels at this point.
If a vessel has already been filled before it
is handed over for pre-commissioning it
will be necessary to make a decision of the
relative inconvenience of emptying and re-
filling, or of consequences of
contaminating the contents. This is not as
great a problem if there is provision to
back-flush the vessel. Sometimes it is
possible to introduce a temporary mesh or
fabric to catch debris from flushing – if
this is done it is important to remember to
remove it at the end of pre-
commissioning!
 Where possible flush down-hill – this will
often be in the opposite direction to
normal fluid flow. Obviously, it is easier
to remove large debris when gravity is
working with the flushing water. For
complex lines it is best to break the line at
each high point and flush down-hill
towards both ends.
 Where lines branch, flush from small lines
into large lines. This will occasionally lead
to a complex procedure when a large
header feeds down into branches. In such
cases it will often be necessary to proceed
by first flushing the branches from the
header to cleanse the branches, and then
flush up through the branches to clear the
header (in this last stage it is important to
have sufficient flow to remove debris from
the header – often an end of line flushing
point can be provided on the header).
 Flushing must be continued for long
enough to give time for heavy (i.e. slow
moving) debris to be removed from the
line (say 10 sec/m run).
 Further visual inspection is required at the
end of flushing. This will sometimes show
that further flushing is required.
 On moving to the next line, fresh water
should be used whenever possible. There
is little value in flushing dirt out of one
line and then pumping it into another!
 If lines are broken to create a flush water
discharge, it may be necessary to cover
equipment etc. to avoid wetting it – even
hose proof motors may not yet be fully
sealed at the time you are flushing. If
discharge is not to the lowest floor, check
where the water will run to and protect
equipment on lower floors.
Cleaning without water
For large lines it may not be practical to supply an
adequate flow of water to properly cleanse them.
Such lines are often for vapour and water flushing
may present other problems as well.
In such cases some of the following may be useful:
 For vapour lines a very hard blow through
with compressed air (perhaps using a
 mobile compressor) or steam may be
sufficient to dislodge low density and
small size debris, but will probably not
dislodge items such as bolts. However,
these lines are usually for vapour, and
provided that the blow velocity is at least
2-3 times normal operating velocity, any
material not removed during this blow will
usually not be displaced once operation
begins. Figure 3 shows the remains of a
bird’s nest blown out of a pneumatic
conveying line.
 For very large lines, crawling through
(possibly on a trolley) is the only practical
method.
 For large liquid lines where there is
provision for ‘pigging’ this can be used for
clearing debris. However, it is not always
an idea solution as heavy items can jam
between the pig and the wall of the line
and may also damage the pig.
 Flue brushes (of the type to which extra
handle lengths can be added) may be
suitable for some lines, but there are limits
on the number of small radius bends round
which they can be manoeuvred, and to the
length of line for which they can be used.
 A plumber’s electric eel can also be
considered for longer lines (up to about
50m).
 A suitable flexible optical probe can be
used to locate large debris, but there
remains the problem of removing debris
so located.
Figure 3 Bird’s nest blown out of a pneumatic
conveying line.
Steam lines
Steam lines are a special case because small, hard
pieces of debris, such as welding slag, can cause
serious problems once the plant is operational. For
most lines within a plant area, the flushing
procedures described above are adequate. However,
for long lines, particularly the line from the boiler
to the plant boundary, blowing of the line is
necessary.
Blowing steam lines is an art of its own, but the
following is a guide
(1) Preferably have a quick opening valve on
the supply end of the steam line. All other
valves and obstructions downstream of
this valve are to be removed before the
line is blown
(2) Get the boiler up to pressure
(3) Warm the line.
(4) Blow steam through for 5-30 seconds – as
hard as possible. This first stage is
merely to remove the ‘easy’ debris.
(5) Shut off steam
(6) Put a target plate about 150/200 mm in
front of discharge end of the line. The
target plate should be polished copper or
aluminium and at least twice the size of
the line opening
(7) Blow out again.
(8) Check target plate. If no dents, job is done,
otherwise repeat until no new dents are
formed.
In determining how hard to blow, one standard
piece of advice is “If you are not scared, you are
not blowing hard enough.”
The line blowing process is very noisy – large
volumes of sonic steam. Therefore it is best to
undertake it outside of normal working hours when
there are less people on site. However, it should
always be done during daylight hours. If the plant
is in a residential area early morning or late
evening blowing is unwise.
Depending on the size of the line, a very large
quantity of steam will be used. For a site where
there are already other manufacturing plants it will
be necessary to schedule the blowing for a time
when sufficient steam is available (e.g. during a
shut of another plant section).
CHECKS BEFORE TESTING
A great deal of time can be saved by performing a
few checks before attempting to test the plant on
fluids.
 Pumps running the right way (this should
have already been done, but it should be
repeated. It is alarming how often wiring
will have been disconnected and then
reversed at this stage of the project)
 Valves stroke in both directions.
 Instruments removed for cleaning stage
have been re-installed.
 Determine no-load current for all drives.
TESTING
The main part of the testing process is intended to
determine if the plant, as built, is physically
capable of providing an opportunity for the process
to work when commissioning begins.
The following checks will help achieve this.
 Flow goes to the right place
 Flow at least at the maximum design rate
(if measurable)
 Observed pressure drop is similar to that
expected (if measurable). Beware; a very
low pressure drop might be as serious as a
very high one.
 Valves do provide shut off (e.g. nothing
stuck in them). This involves stroking
valves while there is flow. For valves on
discharge side of pumps, a short duration
valve closure is usually acceptable. On the
suction side of pumps it is usually best to
shut the pump and open its drain valve to
establish that suction side valves seal.
Testing that valves do seal is critical.
Example: Many types of valve are very
effective in trapping debris, particularly
long items such as wire, welding rods and
gloves – in one valve in a pulp mill that
would not seal, inspection showed SIX
welding rods in the one valve.
Increasing use of TIG welding has
reduced the number of welding rods used
during construction. However, it has not
totally eliminated their use, and there are
plenty of other types of foreign objects
which can cause similar problems.
 Instruments work as expected:
o Flow switches and flow meters
give appropriate response (note if
the instrument is not calibrated
for water, it will not give the
‘correct’ reading, but for most
types of flow meter it will give
some reading, and the indicated
value should be positive)
o Temperature indicators should
give an indication similar to air
temperature when line is empty
(perhaps higher if exposed to
direct sun) and will usually go to
a lower temperature when water
flows.
o Pressure indicators and switches
should function normally.
o Level indicators and switches –
behaviour will depend on the
property used to determine level,
but for most types they should
indicate a change in level (even if
not the correct value).
 For pumps, measure at least two of:
pressure rise, power consumed and flow
rate – this provides data to permit checks
of deviation from the pump characteristic
curve.
AFTER TESTING
When the main testing phase is over, there are still
a few things to be done to minimise the probability
of problems during the commissioning phase.
 Recheck valve stroking (foreign objects
may become lodged in valves during
testing, despite efforts to remove them
during cleaning).
 Drain water from system.
 Where traces of water are not acceptable
in process fluids, dry system out.
 Check and clean strainers
 Visual inspection, particularly of vessels.
 Secure hatches etc.. Example: A furnace
operating at moderate pressure had
entries that were closed with dry fitted
bricks to provide a thermal barrier before
 the covering door was bolted up.
Inspection shortly after the furnace was
started found the door wide open and the
loose brick wall pulsating with pressure
variations

CONCLUSIONS

In the real world commissioning is almost always a

difficult time with a whole range of unexpected
process, mechanical, electrical and control
problems arising. However, careful pre-
commissioning can reduce the pain by identifying
many of these problems early and addressing them
while the plant is still in a non-hazardous state.

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