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Pumps Onboard Offshore Facility with Reciprocating Pumps (left) and Centrifugal Pump (right)

Pump Commissioning – Personal Notes

Published on January 17, 2018 Edit article | View stats

Maskan Md Hassan
Senior Mechanical Engineer in Oil and Gas Industry 362 88 8 11
1 article

When I was asked to commission pumps offshore, the impression was that it would be
a “push a button” type work and then record how the pump is running. It was more than
that and below are my personal notes after going through that assignment. The aim was
to commission three pumps onboard a remote offshore wellhead platform (see
photos). The term commissioning is often referred to testing the pump with the
designated pumping media, while pre-commissioning is testing the pump with the test
media such as water, as commonly used.

I elected to use present tense to generalize the lessons learned.

1. Review the recycle line to enable the test media be discharged to the reservoir,
which is located upstream of the pump.

2. Review the P&ID and understand the valves open and close positions in order to
route the test liquid.

3. Review PCV and PSV accordingly. If there is a PCV, it must be set correctly. If
there is PSV, ensure PSV is set and calibrated correctly. The boundary of high
pressure and low pressure need to be determined to identify risk of high pressure
area.

4. Check the pump base skid and ensure the skid is securely mounted to the deck or in
compliance to pump manufacturer’s recommendations.

5. Check the suction and discharge piping and ensure they are completely fabricated
and tested. Checking or sampling the recorded pressure test documentations is a
good practice.

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6. Check the reservoir where the test media is stored. Ensure the level is sufficient as
per test requirement or at least not to let the pump running dry during
commissioning. Typically the reservoir is at atmospheric pressure and sufficient
breathing / vent is available.

7. Review the test media and get agreement with other parties if water can be used.

8. Mobilise pump manufacturer service engineer or technician as part of warranty

obligation. Normally the service engineer / technician can be asked to bring along
the required tools for shaft alignment and data recording during pump
commissioning.

9. Check with Electrical & Instrument team to ensure they have connected electrical
power to the motor and instrumentations are tested for pump start and stop or
pressure measurement. Local start or remote start needs to be agreed with them as
well.

10. Run the motor with no load (or uncoupled run) to obtain motor base line
performance data.

11. Perform shaft alignment and complete filling in lubricants. Complete seal piping
assembly and fill in barrier fluid.

12. Line walk the P&ID and re-check valve open and close positions. Then, push the
start button or ask someone in Control Room to do the same to run the
pump. Normally, the first pump run is without bringing in the end user to witness. In
this case, Operations representative is the final end user.

13. Once the test is acceptable and results are deemed credible, arrange the
representative to witness the testing. Brief the testing procedure. Observe their
feedback and possible areas for improvements.

14. Run the pump and record the testing data. Get the representative to sign off the
testing report as a witness.

15. Do housekeeping at the pump skid. Complete preservation as required. Note and
record valve open or close positions, un-used spare parts, and lubricants.

16. Communicate the test results to relevant parties and highlight key achievements or
issues.

17. Consolidate areas for improvement for the pump skid and its system and review
them with peers for feedback.

18. Compile and share lessons learned.

Further technical explanations to most points above are available in many literatures and
they can help prepare, as back ground information, before heading to the assignment.

The above points also can be converted into a check-list format to facilitate planning
and tracking of pump and its system commissioning.

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Please feel free to drop an email to maskanmdhassan@gmail.com for comment or query

and I will be more than happy to respond.

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Paul Dackermann 15h

Independent Design Professional

Maskan Md Hassan Great Article. Thank you for sharing.

Like Reply 1 Like

FIRDAUS MOHAMAD 13h

Electrical & Instrument Engineer at Petra Energy

Great info sir..thanks for sharing

Like Reply 1 Like

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