Fuel receipt, conditioning and metering

How does Fuel receipt, conditioning and metering work, step by step?

1. 1

   Step 1: Establish the connection to the fuel supply

   The station connects to a supply network or a delivery arrangement owned by somebody else, and that connection is negotiated and designed with them. Their requirements govern the boundary equipment, the metering, the protection and the operating procedures at the interface. Lead times on this work are long and largely outside the project's control, so it is started early. The physical point where the project's responsibility begins and ends is defined precisely and recorded, because it also defines who does what during commissioning.

2. 2

   Step 2: Lay out the compound with hazard and access in mind

   The receiving compound is normally located at the site boundary, near the incoming supply and separated from the main plant. Layout is driven by hazardous area classification, by separation distances, by ventilation, by escape routes and by the access that delivery vehicles or maintenance need. Security and monitoring are designed in. The layout is fixed early because the classification affects every item of electrical equipment placed anywhere near it, including lighting, small power and instrumentation.

3. 3

   Step 3: Build the civils, containment and buildings

   The compound needs foundations, hardstanding, containment, drainage, buildings or enclosures, and a security boundary. Containment and drainage are designed to the environmental requirements for the fuel in question. Buildings and enclosures are ventilated and detected as the classification requires. This civils work is straightforward but it is specific, and it is not a place to substitute details, because the arrangement has been assessed as a whole and changing part of it changes the assessment.

4. 4

   Step 4: Install the conditioning equipment

   Conditioning covers whatever brings the fuel to the condition the plant needs and keeps it consistent - commonly cleaning to remove particles and liquids, and adjustment of the fuel condition to what the burners or the turbine require. The equipment is supplier scope, installed to the supplier's arrangement with its own instrumentation, protection and control. Materials, jointing and testing all follow the specification exactly. Nothing about a fuel system is improvised, and substitutions are referred back rather than resolved on site.

5. 5

   Step 5: Install the metering to the standard both parties accept

   The metering installation is built to the arrangement agreed between the operator, the fuel supplier and the relevant authority, including the upstream and downstream pipework conditions the meters need to read correctly. Installation is by the plant supplier or a specialist. The whole assembly is inspected, proved and sealed in the presence of the interested parties, and the records are retained. After sealing the installation is not disturbed, and any work in its vicinity is controlled through the permit system.

6. 6

   Step 6: Complete detection, protection and emergency systems

   Detection, alarm, isolation and emergency systems serving the compound are installed and integrated with the main plant control and with the operator's emergency arrangements. Emergency isolation from a safe location, fire detection and suppression where required, and the routing of alarms to the control room are all part of the design. These systems are proved as systems by the plant supplier and the operator, and they are proved before fuel is admitted rather than after.

7. 7

   Step 7: Complete pipework, inspection and records before fuel arrives

   The pipework from the compound to the plant is installed, supported, examined and recorded to the specification, with full traceability. Every joint, every support and every valve is inspected and documented while access exists. Cleanliness is proved and the system is closed under a formal record. From the point at which the system is declared ready, it passes out of construction control and no further work is done on it except under the operator's permit system.

8. 8

   Step 8: Hand over for specialist commissioning under permit

   Bringing a fuel system into service is a specialist operation. It is planned and executed by the plant supplier, the fuel supplier and the operator's commissioning team under the operator's permit-to-work system, with the compound and a defined area around it cleared of all other personnel and all other work stopped. The project's role at this point is to have completed and documented the installation, to keep people out of the area and to support the permit process. Nothing else is appropriate.