Typical Schedule for Testing & Commissioning of New Alumina Refinery

Hi Friends,

In earlier posts, we have discussed the methodology for design, engineering and execution of  Alumina refinery adopting different technology suiting the Bauxite quality specifications. Soon after declaration of Mechanical completion, construction completion checking is carried out  which includes erection of equipment and facilities, lubrication, no load testing of decouple drive motor  and its direction of rotation including hydraulic testing of vessels, equipment and pipelines as per statutory guidelines. Soon after checking the mechanical completion, cold water run, hot water run and commissioning of individual equipment and facilities of Alumina refinery are taken up. Generally, checking of mechanical completion including cold water run requires about two weeks time. Cold water run, hot water run and caustic concentration build up activities are considered as pre-commissioning stage of the Alumina refinery. However, the Bauxite charge to process is considered as the Zero hour for commissioning of the plant. Commissioning stage of the plant requires about 8 to 10 weeks time from start up to calcined alumina production.


In present post, we will broadly discuss the schedule for pre-commissioning and commissioning stages of Alumina refinery clearly indicating the major activities for shortening its commissioning and stabilization period. Since alumina production is a complex and continuous chemical process, hence it's commissioning is also tedious and thus requires systematic planning and a team of experienced professionals as well. A typical schedule for testing & commissioning of Alumina refinery is given below-

It is evident from above graphical presentation that generally the total time for testing & commissioning of green-field Alumina refinery is about 16 weeks after the mechanical completion i.e. 6 weeks for pre-commissioning and 10 weeks for commissioning of entire Alumina refinery up to production of alumina in calciner. There is a scope for further compressing the commissioning schedule by systematic planning and involvement of experienced personnel as elaborated above. Planning for required input materials like Bauxite, caustic soda, water, lime, flocculent, fuel and consumables as well as required technical professionals are the key to successful commissioning of Alumina refinery.


Please put your views / suggestions / remarks / comments, if any.
Regards.


Kunwar Rajendra