Project Highlights
- Major mechanical construction completion achieved.
- Safe introduction of all hydrocarbons, fluids, and gases into the facility.
- Successful plant startup, turnover, and readiness for services.
- Project completed with no injuries or accidents.
Project Description:
The Karnes natural gas compressor central distribution facility is owned by BPX and was designed for a capacity of 84 million standard cubic feet per day (MMSCFD). The facility includes dehydration capability.
The commissioning work involved multiple steps to ensure complete and successful construction for safe facility startup and operation. These steps included:
- Verify and manage mechanical completion.
- Implement and verify piping and equipment cleanout.
- Manage the introduction of inert gases and fluids into the facility for initial functional testing.
- Manage the introduction of process fluids and hydrocarbons into the facility for final functional testing of equipment.
- Provide oversight and assist vendors and contractors as equipment is brought online.
- Facilitate the plant startup and final turnover to BPX.
Project Scope:
The BPX Infrastructure team engaged Sargent & Lundy to manage the planning, scheduling, documentation, verification, and functional testing of the 84-MMSCFD-capacity natural gas compressor station, which includes dehydration capability. Sargent & Lundy was involved through the final construction phase and turned the fully operational facility over to BPX operations.
The scope encompassed the following primary tasks:
- Set up the pre-startup safety review (PSSR) process and delegate responsibilities to personnel.
- Conduct oversight of mechanical completion in conjunction with the construction manager with primary focus on confirming the facility is constructed per design and verifying the facility will operate as designed.
- Ensure equipment and piping are cleared of debris and a plantwide leak check is performed using compressed air. Repair any identified leaks prior to proceeding with further commissioning activities.
- Purge all equipment and piping of air using nitrogen to achieve an oxygen-free environment within the equipment and piping.
- Add water to all liquid-service equipment so testing can begin. Function-test devices and equipment with liquid in the vessels and tanks, and pressure from nitrogen in all other equipment and piping.
- Introduce hydrocarbons into the facility and perform final functional testing and commissioning of the remaining equipment.
- Hand over the plant to BPX once all equipment is online and fully operational.
The project deliverables included:
- Development of a commissioning schedule.
- Development and implementation of blowout plans, nitrogen purge plans, liquids introduction plans, and fuel gas introduction plans including the review of procedures and piping and instrumentation diagrams (P&ID) and conducting risk assessment and what-if analyses.
- Development and management of punch list of action items needed to drive project to completion.
- As-built P&ID redlines.
- Primary source verification (PSV) and management.
- Equipment verification and management.
- Pre-startup safety review turnover books.
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