Commissioning Systemisation

One of the early activities required to enables the commissioning phase is the systemisation of the project or asset. Systemisation involves breaking the facility into logical systems and sub-systems in a prioritised manner and defines clear boundaries that govern the transition from construction to commissioning.  Although time-consuming, the systemisation activity is crucial in setting the structure and order of works that the commissioning team will follow. It also sets the priority for construction activities and assists efficient plant start up to achieve the initial first product milestone.  

To maximise the effectiveness of the systemisation exercise, it is best practice to wait until key engineering inputs are at a relatively mature stage (PFD’s, P&ID’s, Layout Drawings, Single Line Diagrams).  However, this may not always be practical, and often systems may be initially defined using alphanumeric revisions of documentation.  When these situations occur, it is very important that the commissioning engineer responsible for each system pays close attention to any changes in the design documentation as it reaches the “IFC” status and adjusts the system boundaries and equipment as appropriate.  

To minimise the start-up duration, it is vital that the overall approach to construction and commissioning activities are planned with the key objective of achieving initial first product.  This means that both construction and commissioning activities should be planned to allow early start-up of the most critical systems required to produce the desired product.

How to systemise?

Generally, the P&ID’s are the most important documents required to systemise a facility, followed by the single line diagrams that document the electrical supply power to the specific systems.

It is important to ensure that members of the team who are familiar with the process requirements of the facility are involved in identifying the “blue line”, or minimum flow line requirement to achieve the first product milestone. 

The commissioning systems are then identified by highlighting the PFD’s and P&ID’s in a functional and logical manner, clearly marking the boundaries of each system.  In non-process facilities, the mechanical layout drawings may become the primary source of systemisation.

Once the P&ID’s are systemised, the electrical single line diagrams associated with each system are also identified, with special care required to ensure energisation and isolation flexibility is identified for efficient energisation whilst maintaining isolation requirements. This becomes critical when certain parts of the plant are still under construction, whilst others may have become energised for pre-commissioning and commissioning activities.

Each system and sub-system are given a specific identification number and system tag, which is normally populated into the completion management system (CMS), governing the control of various phases of the commissioning execution phase.  The complete set of highlighted and systemised P&ID’s and SLD’s should become the “Commissioning Master” and be readily available to both the construction and commissioning teams.

Why smart systemisation matters?

It cannot be understated that the prioritisation of systems and their mechanical completion needs to be methodically identified to minimise start up duration. Firstly, common systems that allow general commissioning activities to occur should be prioritised, these include systems such as:

• Power Systems (Temporary & Permanent Power)
• Fire Water Systems
• Lighting, MCC Power
• Control Systems and SCADA Systems (Main Control Room), Communication Systems
• Utilities, Instrument Air, Water, WWTP, RO, Steam
• Non-Process Infrastructure – Offices, Toilets, Fuel Supply etc

Any system that is needed to allow safe energisation and increased work force should be completed first in preparation for process commissioning effort.  This should then be followed by the facility specific process requirements for “blue line” such as:

• Storage Systems, Tanks, Stockpiles
• Core Process Systems, Reactors, Ball Mills, Distillation Columns
• Raw Material Feed Systems, Conveyors, Crushers, Compressors, Offshore Wells, Subsea
• Raw Material Storage Systems, Storage Tanks

It is important to note, that although the systemised P&ID’s will become the master document that drives the commissioning phase, it is common practise for the boundaries of each system to be modified during the execution phase due to construction or project constraints.

Conclusion

In conclusion, systemisation is the prioritised and logical grouping of an asset or facility that governs the sequence and boundary limits for the commissioning effort. It is a time consuming, but important step of the commissioning planning process, and requires subject matter expert input to correctly define the “blue line”, as well as an understanding of the electrical system that supplies power to each system. Projects that do not systemise effectively result in inefficient use of construction and commissioning resources, as well as increase the required start up time and delayed first product milestones. The team at Nextek are multi-disciplined commissioning experts and can assist in all aspects of commissioning planning, including optimised systemisation.