Some general guidelines for Pre-commissioning and Commissioning of a

Chemical Process Plant

1. Check rotation direction of all rotating equipment such as pumps, compressors, agitators, turbines.

2. Check gland packing of packed valves and any lubrication requirements.

3. For flushing, cleaning & pneumatic testing of piping systems following should be checked:

a. Preferably equipment such as vessels & columns should be blanked off.

b. Remove expansion joints, rupture disks, relief valves installed on pipework, if any and install pipe
spool pieces.
c. For steam lines, flushing and cleaning shall be by steam with adequate safety precautions.

d. For nitrogen lines it is preferred to flush with nitrogen, however, if nitrogen is not available
dry and clean compressed air may be used.
e. Water (cooling tower/ chilled / process / DM) should be flushed with dry and clean compressed air.
f. Blow-off boards shall be provided at the open end of the pipe being flushed and adequate safety
precautions taken so that personnel are not exposed to impingement of high pressure
compressed air, which may carry solid debris and weld spatters that can cause serious injuries.
4. Check requirement of any special coatings or finish for the vessel / tank inside/outside surface is
addressed, if any.
5. Make a final check that all debris, loose materials, and dirt is removed from vessels, columns before
final box-up of the static equipment prior to commissioning.
6. For rotary equipment check that there is no debris or loose material at the suction and discharge
connections which can damage the equipment.
7. Orifice plates, instruments, relief valves, permanent strainers shall only be installed after the flushing
and cleaning operations are completed.
8. Check alignment of the rotary equipment with the coupled driver (motor / turbine) to ensure that
there is no failure due to misalignment. This will be logged in the specific rotary equipment check list.
9. Check and ensure that correct lubricants as per the manufacturer’s recommendations are used for
the lubricated rotating machinery. Also check the functionality of lubrication system which may
include lubricant storage, lubricant pump, piping, strainers & lubricant heat exchanger.
10. Calibration of instruments and loop checks to be carried out during pre-commissioning and records
to be maintained for all calibration and loop checks.
11. Ensure that for any equipment which has refractory lining such as fired heaters, the refractory is
completely dry and there are no cracks or uneven layers before commissioning.
12. Maintain a blinds register during the pre-commissioning activities. This will allow the
pre-commissioning team to know the number of blinds and their location used during the pressure
testing, cleaning, and flushing operations. This will also ensure that the blinds are removed prior to
commissioning and start-up.
13. Stroke and travel of control valves should be checked during pre-commissioning and can be included
as part of the instrument loop check activity.

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14. Wherever possible, mechanical run tests of rotary equipment shall be conducted prior to
commissioning and start-up.
15. Whenever a heat-up operation is started as part of commissioning, all flange joints involved in the
heat-up require to be re-tightened due to expansion of piping and equipment.
16. During dry heat-up operation of any system during commissioning check zero setting of the
instruments mounted in the system and re-adjust as per the original calibration, if required.
17. Prior to heat-up operations, the bolts of any bolted pipe support for the pipe undergoing heat-up
shall be kept loose in order toa allow for pipe expansion and lateral movement. The bolts shall only be
tightened after the desired operating temperature is reached.
18. Wherever possible and with all safety considerations, vents should be kept open while material is
charged into the system to vent out non-condensibles such as air.

Prepared by: Ankur Srivastava

Chemical Engineer
Email: ankurcheme@gmail.com

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