Industrial process commissioning is complex and there are many project-specific details that are required for each specific project and each specific industry in order to successfully commission and start up these complex systems. Detailed plans are required that give the specific operating configurations to test for mechanical flow configurations, detailed switching orders indicating breakers to open/close with associated LOTO for electrical configurations to test, and lots of settings and control parameters to test for monitoring and control of each plant process. All of these details are specific to each project and specific to each industry, which makes industrial process commissioning challenging and fun at the same time.

The structured and organized commissioning process you must follow to properly plan and execute the commissioning of industrial plant processes is the same in order to de-risk your project commissioning and ensure on-site testing goes smoothly, so startup of the plant processes is successful.

I’ll show you how the industrial commissioning process applies to the following industries:

• Upstream, midstream, and downstream oil and gas 
• Power Generation (hydro-electric, gas turbine, nuclear, coal, geothermal)
• Power Transmission (HVDC Converter Stations, power substations)
• Renewable Energy (wind, solar, biogas)
• Water Treatment
• Wastewater Treatment
• Manufacturing Facilities
• Food Processing Facilities
• Chemical Plants
• Fertilizer Plants
• Desalination Plants
• Semiconductor Manufacturing
• Pharmaceutical Manufacturing
• Any capital project that establishes an industrial process to perform a specific output or function

Let me explain further.

Each of these projects requires the same level of detailed planning to prepare for on-site commissioning. While the specific mechanical valves to operate, the specific breakers to open/close, and the control philosophy of each system are different for each of these industries and even different for projects within the same industry, the same risk-mitigating activities are required in advance to prepare for commissioning and startup of each plant process.

For example, the contracts for each of these projects – regardless of their delivery model – need to define the details of how commissioning will be accomplished to conclude the project and who is the commissioning authority.

Equipment procurement contracts – whether the equipment is mechanical, electrical, or automation related – needs to define the requirements for testing in the factory before the equipment is shipped to site.

Design groups need to have the end in mind, to ensure that what they are putting on paper can be successfully installed and commissioned in the field. This applies to all industrial plant processes and designs must align with the overall commissioning philosophy.

Construction quality management plans are required to ensure every detail as defined by the design, and all contract quality requirements, are met to ensure the commissioning team is receiving snag-free equipment to prevent delays. Miss any detail and this impacts any of the plant processes listed above.

Integrated Factory Acceptance Testing of complex control and protection cubicles needs to be thoroughly performed in the factory before cubicles ship to site. This includes both the hardware and the software. Deferring integration of the hardware and software to take place for the first time is too late in the project and will impact the commissioning of any type of plant process.

The pre-commissioning set of tests for mechanical, electrical, and automation systems is the same, regardless of what type of process fluids are in the pipes. Flushing and cleaning of pipes need to take place, verification of P&ID drawings needs to be done, point-to-point and megger checks are required, and loop checks need to be completed.  There is a standard set of important pre-commissioning activities that need to be performed for all industrial processes to prepare equipment for more detailed system commissioning.

Each project and industry will have a detailed PCN – Process Control Narrative – that gives the specifics of how the plant process is to function, for both normal operating scenarios and fault/contingency conditions. Commissioning is required for all industrial plant processes to verify that the PCN has been correctly implemented in the field – to verify that the project-specific control and operation of the systems are functioning correctly. Of course, the detailed operating scenarios and process control functions are specific to each industry and each project, but the process to follow to verify correct operation is the same. While different stimuli or operating conditions are applied to each system, the thought-process and test execution are the same, and once you understand the industrial process commissioning, you can apply it across all industrial plant processes.

Again, the PCN defines how systems are to function, and once properly verified during commissioning, the startup of each specific plant process will go much smoother. When you understand the industrial commissioning process, your industry-specific startups go much smoother and much safer. The process specific experts are certainly required to participate – for example, process engineers that understand how to analyze the detailed biological nutrient removal requirements of wastewater treatment are required as part of your commissioning team – and there will be other process-specific experts required to evaluate the results of each specific plant process, but the stages of commissioning and the steps t take during each stage are the same for all plant processes.

Performance Verification verifies that your plant process meets the original project technical requirements set out at the beginning of your project, and the process to monitor and record project-specific parameters is the same.

Also, note that the Operational Readiness process is very similar for all industrial plant processes – you will need to set up an asset management system, provide operational documentation such as SOPs and SWPs to operators, and your operating team will require training to prepare for operation and maintenance of the new facilities.

Miss any of these stages of the commissioning process for any of these types of projects in any of these industries and your commissioning and startup will not go well.

However, when you apply a structured and organized commissioning process to these industrial process facilities, you have a much higher chance of success to complete your projects on-time and on-budget, so that you can provide reliable systems to plant operators to operate the plant process. And this must be the end-goal – to provide high-quality plant processes with the end user in mind so that we can depend on the critical infrastructure that our society needs.

Understand the stages of industrial process commissioning and the steps to take at each stage, and your projects have a much higher chance of success.

One thing to note, while similar, industrial process commissioning is different than building commissioning, given that there is no industrial process as part of a building project. The building is the enclosure and the life safety systems, but within the building, there is no additional process equipment to implement a plant process – no power generated or gas products produced – the building is an environmentally controlled space with other support systems such as lighting and security systems. For this reason, the building commissioning process is missing some of the critical aspects required for process equipment commissioning, particularly related to the operational aspects of the facilities.

The Commissioning Academy specializes in helping projects implement the industry-best commissioning process for industrial plants. Learn more at www.commissioningandstartup.com, where you can enroll in our Commissioning Academy: Full System Commissioning Training program, or enroll in our free 3-Day Mini-Course to get started for free.