Phase 1 - Plant Instrumentation and control system commissioning

This mostly involves with the field instrumentation and the actual controller. M
ost of the critical systems and some of the non critical systems will be operati
onal, commissioning and testing guys make sure that they work perfectly ( or fak
e it :P in some cases ).
Step 1 - Divide the turbine control into different subsystems - this is when the
plant PID comes into play. The PID's make the job easier and does the subdivisi
on for you. In a Gas Turbine system the different subsystems will look like this
.
Scheme
Scheme
Scheme
Scheme
Scheme
Scheme
Scheme
Scheme
Scheme
Scheme
Scheme
Scheme
Scheme
Scheme

for
for
for
for
for
for
for
for
for
for
for
for
for
for

lube oil
cooling and sealing air
trip oil
cooling water
starting means
liquid fuel
GCV/SRV
atomising air
Hydraulic oil supply
IGV
flow inlet and exhaust
compressor washing
control devices
Fire Protection

Step 2 - Make a list of all instrumentation points (DI/DO, AI/AO, control actuat
ors, etc) connected to each subsystem - Again its PID to the rescue. PID will ha
ve all field instrumentation (and also control room instrumentation) laid out. A
ll you have to do is to segregate it into DI/DO, AI/AO, etc. A sample list for l
ube oil is shown below
Scheme for Lube oil
Lube oil pressure switch
Lube oil temperate switch
lube oil pressure indicator
Lube oil temperature indicator
Lube oil tank vacuum indicator
Lube oil level indicator
Lube oil low switch
Lube oil high switch etc ....
Step 3 - Make a "protocol sheet"/"checklist" - Once you have all the instrumenta
tion points segregated the next important thing is to make a protocol sheet. A s
ample protocol sheet "row" for a pressure switch is given below.
SLNo Field ID Control system Tag Field Inspection connection health Loop health
Point health Remarks
Here Field ID - Field ID as given in PID
control system tag - point tag corresponding to the field instrument as in the c
ontrol system
Field inspection - visually inspect the filed instrument for any damage and tick
if it is ok
Connection health - this is optional for new commissioning but important for mai
ntenance. Most of the problems are because of bad wiring. Most if not all instru
mentation have a standard connection specification. Checking the health of the c
onnection wires though important is often time consuming and people skip it. Onc

e again this is recommended.

Loop health - This means that you test the control loop till the control system
without the field instrumentation. ie if a digital point you short the potential
free contacts or if analog inject a 4-20 ma signal , or if you are using a fiel
d bus device , you can do this without disconnecting the instrument with the hel
p of fieldbus testing devices.
Point health - This the over all point health , ie you test the loop with instru
ment. sometimes it is possible to test the instrument on the field itself. like
a pressure switch where compressed air is injected till it turns on or a limit s
witch where all you have to do is to is to push the small switch actuator, but i
n some cases it is not possible , like a temperature switch which needs a extern
al heat bath calibration. In either case you declare this ok if either of the ab
ove is done depending on which point you are testing.
remarks - Boast you success of having tested a difficult loop here :)
I gave a sample for Digital input, the same can be applied to analog input. In o
utput points you do the same expect that instead of looking at the control panel
for the input to come , you force the signal in the control room and look in th
e field if it is working or not. the rest is the same. for actuators , the proce
ss is essentially the same , you can consider a an actuator as a output with a f
eed back input so you check both at the same time. for example in a servo you fo
rce a current ( output point) and see the servo movement (an input point) etc.
by the end of this step , you will be having a lot of lists. if there are 10 sub
systems and each subsystem has at least one DI , DO , AI , AO and actuator you w
ill be having a total of 50 separate sheets. This seems like a lot of work but b
elieve me this is what is going to save you in the end.
step 4 - execution - Yes once you have completed the first three steps and have
gathered a good group who are willing to do whatever it takes to get the job don
e ;) you are ready to proceed to execution of the plans. as i said you have 50 s
heets left to fill up , proceed sheet by sheet. If you have the liberty of a lot
of manpower most of it can be done concurrently. at the end of the execution of
the 50 blank sheet you started with , thumb rule is at least 90% should have "s
uccess / checked ok" marked in the remarks column ;)
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on 10 April, 2012 - 1:56 pm
Phase 2 - Plant control logic testing and tweaking
by the end of phase 1 , you have almost if not all the plant instrumentation wor
king , feeding picture perfect data into your control system to munch on. This p
hase is to make sure that all the control philosophy is implemented correctly.
Step 1 - Divide the control logics into different subsystems - Again in a well d
esigned system the Field PID subdivision and control logic subdivision will be t
he same. And ideally each subsystem should be independent of one another with an
y dependencies explicitly defined. This is where GE systems comes crashing down
on you like a boulder off a cliff. They do a reasonably good job of dividing the
control system into different subsystems , but the dependencies are not well de
fined and a single point will be used in a 100 different places that it becomes
hard to keep track on. But commissioning engineers do not have
the luxury to revamp the system , you just have to live with it and make it work
. Which leads us to the second point

Step 2 - " STUDY " the control philosophy for each subsystem - Though this is a
generalization, i believe that this is where problem starts no one bothers about
studying the control philosophy of the equipment they are commissioning. The en
d result is you do not know why the code is behaving in a way and worse you do n
ot know how to fix it. GE provides a rudimentary documentation of the control ph
ilosophy, but plant auxiliaries will differ from site to site and as far as i kn
ow not documented anywhere. Yes this is a inherent disadvantage, but taking a lo
ok at the code will help. you can also consult site engineers/operators if they
have a prior plant running , over the years i have come to know that they have a
intuitive wisdom of what is good as they are seeing these machines every day. b
ut the main thing is to know how the machine is supposed to to controlled. GE co
ntrol can be subdivided into the following
Startup and shutdown control
Core control
flame control
compressor discharge control
Speed and load control
generator load control
Exhaust control
IGV control
FSR control
FSRN control
FSRA control
FSRSU control
FSRSD control
FSRT control
VIbration protection control
steam/water injection control
DLN burner control
DLN fuel mixing control
AUxillary control
Lube oil control
trip oil control
Hydraulic oil control
Starting means control (diesel engine)
Hydraulic ratcheting control
fuel pump control (site specific)
vent fans control
generator and excitation control
Trip and protection logics
Step 3 - Once again make a Logic check "protocol sheet" - Once you know the logi
c subsystems and the control philosophy behind them , it is time to make a check
list. This can be tricky as this is not a straight forward one. for example lub
e oil control subsystem will have the following important logics
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

AOP start
EOP start
Lube oil temp high trip
Lube oil pressure low trip
Lube oil tank low alarm, etc .....

if you have studied the control philosophy well you should be able to differenti
ate the important logics well. the check list can look like this

Logic Description Signals involved Logic health Modifications needed Remarks

here
Logic description - a brief description of the logic under test
Signals involved - tag Nos and descriptions of the important signals involved in
the logic
Logic health - How well you think the logic is performing up to the control phil
osophy , Individual testing may not be possible always , it is
numerous to list here all the things that can be done around it , but once you k
now the control philosophy you can intuitively
figure out how to test the logics. Again testing can be done in many ways. One i
s pure virtual testing, ie you force signals
and test the output , this is is mostly the first stage. Given that you have alr
eady throughted the field signals in the first
phase " Plant Instrumentation and control system commissioning " , it should wor
k. Some times client will ask you to test the logic
with the field instruments , they pay you for it so you better keep them happy :
).
Modifications - If you or the client think that the logic is not performing well
, jot down a few modifications necessary to make it work
Remarks - Once again boast a success story of a difficult logic or rue over impe
nding modifications : P
By the end of this phase you will again have a lot of
subsystems and 5 main logic per subsystems , you have
and tweak. But many are tried and tested logics which
ything. Once again i stress the importance of keeping
this for a few sites you will see that you would have
you need to see , as always getting by the first few
ult task.

papers , assuming 20 main

around 100 logics to test
you will not need to do an
this record , when you do
covered most of everything
sites is always the diffic

Step 4 - Testing and tweaking - This is an iterative process, but i have seen th
at most of the turbine systems come with a tried and tested code and you seldom
tweak anything, its mostly testing to make sure that it works. The conditions is
different for boiler control so it it with the turbine auxiliaries. Take into a
ccount what the operating and maintenance personnel have to say , at the end of
the day you need a stellar reputation and it only happens when you keep the clie
nt / operating personnel happy. Over the years i have seen that most of the requ
est for tweaking does not come to modifying the control code but the graphics in
the HMI , so make sure that you not only know the control system but also the H
MI part of the controller. The final test in tweaking is always a battery of per
formance tests. This is again platform specific, usually done to test the redund
ancy and robustness of the controller. you do not have to make a list of battery
tests , it will be given to you (much to your displeasure) by your superiors an
d it is mostly based on the initial contract.
Phase 3 - Optional , always recommended and usually mandatory "End of Commission
ing party "!!! where booze flows in rivers but always ends with you getting home
for a good rest but still contemplating weather "l63p21%$#" works ;). sigh..
SO that brings to an end of a crash course in commissioning a turbine control sy
stem. hope you guys enjoyed it :)