Commissioning management

Commissioning manager usually a chemical engineer, who will have to start up and operate the plant. 

Hazop is a structured review exercise carried out by a team of between three and six people, one of whom acts as chairman. Another member of the team acts as a secretary and records the results of the session. A typical team comprises chairman (study leader, experienced in Hazop) design engineer process engineer commissioning manager instrument design engineer ... 

Analytical routines should be established and rehearsed before startup. Additional analytical staff will be necessary to handle the amount of testing required during initial startup. Only when the commissioning manager is satisfied that all necessary commissioning testing has been completed should cell room startup be attempted. 

Regarding the schedule, the commissioning coincides with the residual work of the assembly. In many cases, at least the function tests can be started in some fields in which assembly is almost completed. The person mainly responsible for the commissioning activities is the commissioning manager who should be able to use their considerable experience gained in other projects. Commissioning, too, is subjected to a time schedule that should be adhered to. 

The courses should be conducted in seminar style. Suitable lecturers would be the project manager, the commissioning manager or senior engineer. Special importance should be attached to presentation of the functional principle and possible risks of the new plant... 

If additional equipment has to be procured or piping variations required, the commissioning management has to coordinate it with the project management. 

Statutory requirements will usually reinforce the need for proper ccsnpletion of all verification documentation before a plant can be put into operation. The commissioning manager must resist pressures to take shortcuts in the supposed interest of expediting start-up. 

Very often air has to be purged from a system with an inert ga.s — for example, nitrogen. There should be very strict rules for the admission of inert gas into a plant. Basically, none should be allowed in without the express authority of the commissioning manager, who has to be satisfied that all the process equipment has been handed over and therefore entry rules apply to all vessels. 

Bel ore process commissioning, the commissioning manager should lay down two more safety rules ... 

When these checks have been done, the commissioning manager usually calls the team of operating staff together to explain the sequence to be followed and to allocate specific duties. Communication betweai individuals and the manager is vitally important during this phase of the project. 

Only when the commissioning manager is fully satisfied that the steps described so far have been completed and all equipment commissioned to an acceptable level of reliability, should any attempt be made to commission a reaction... 

Batch plants are more flexible than continuous plants and so process conditions and sequences can more easily be altered both by design and error A systematic record of process conditions for each batch is essential so that drey can be related to quality analysis results. Such changes in process conditions are formally agreed with the process chemist, and authorized only after a thorough safeiy/hazard check by the commissioning manager. 

For projects where separate commissioning and operating teams are involved, a formal handover fram the commissioning manager to the operation manager is essential. The handover must list all items which need continuing technical input to deal with any unresolved problems or difficulties and define who is responsible for completing them to the satisfaction of the customer. 

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