Selection, Installation &

Commissioning of
Instruments
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Contents
• Need for instrumentation
• Selection of Instruments
• Installation
• Testing and pre-Commissioning
• Commissioning
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Need for Instrumentation

The primary objectives of instrumentation and
control schemes are:

1. Safe plant operation & long-term

reliability
2. Product quality & Production rate
3. Cost
 Selection of Instruments
1. Considerations
2. Reliability of measurement
system
3. Total life-time operating cost
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1. Considerations:
• Process requirements
• Operators’ requirement
• Benefits to the plant from the proposed
instrumentation and control
• The way in which operator would like to interact
with plant process measurement, control and
monitoring instruments
• The location and environment of the control
room with respect to the plant process
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• The working culture of the operator and

maintenance staff and their level of awareness
• The existing maintenance facilities and
availability of test equipment
• The cost of instruments in terms of return-on-
investment (ROI) to the plant
• Time required to complete the installation
• Any preferred existing make (which is working
satisfactorily) by the plant maintenance
engineers to reduce inventory on spaces
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2. Reliability of Measurement system:

• Reliability:
▫ The probability that the system will operate to an
agreed level of performance for specified period,
subject to specified environmental conditions.
 The agreed level of performance means an accuracy of
±1.5%.
 If the system is giving a measurement error outside
these limits, then it is considered to have failed, even
though it is otherwise working normally.
▫ A measurement system that has just been checked
and calibrated should have a reliability of 1 when first
placed in service
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• Unreliability:
▫ The probability that the system will fail to operate
to an agreed level of performance, for a specified
period, subject to specified environmental
conditions.
▫ A system that has just been checked and
calibrated should have an unreliability of zero,
when placed first in service.
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• Element selection:
▫ Only elements or systems with well-established
failure rate data/models should be used.
• Environment:
▫ The environment in which the element (or system)
is to be located must first be defined.
▫ The system should consist of components which
can withstand that environment.
• Minimum complexity:
▫ The number of elements in the system should be
the minimum required for the system to perform
its function.
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• Diversity:
▫ Faults can occur which either cause more than one
element in each system, or a given element in each of
the several identical systems, to fail simultaneously,
this is referred to as “common mode failure”.
▫ To avoid this problem, a given function is carried out
by two systems in parallel, but each system is made
of different elements with different operating
principles.
• Maintenance:
▫ Mean down time should be as small as possible in
order to minimize the financial loss caused by the
element being out of action
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3. Total lifetime operating cost:

Total lifetime operating cost (TLOC) of a measurement
system is the total cost penalty, incurred by the user,
during the lifetime of the system.

TLOC = Initial cost of the system (purchase, delivery

and commissioning)
+ cost of failures and maintenance over lifetime of the
system
+ cost of measurement error over lifetime of the system

 The best system is one with the minimum TLOC.

Installation
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Considerations:
• Storage and protection:
▫ Unpacking
▫ Minimize handling
▫ Suitable covering
▫ Air-conditioning
▫ Prevention from mechanical abuse
• Mounting and Accessibility:
▫ Vertically plumbed
▫ Accessible for observation and maintenance
▫ As close as possible to the process taping points
▫ Corrosion prevention  Covering and painting
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• Instrument piping system:

▫ As short in length as possible
▫ Clearance for access
▫ Avoid hot environment or potential fire-risk areas
▫ Minimum number of joints
▫ Adequate support to avoid vibrations

• Air Supplies:
▫ Clean, dry and oil-free
▫ Properly sized
▫ Self-draining and should have drainage/blow off
facilities
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• Pneumatic signals:
▫ PVC outer sheath should be provided to copper tubing
▫ Should be run on a cable tray for its entire length

• Impulse lines:
“The impulse lines contain process fluids which run
between the instrument connection and the process
tapping point”

 Should be as short as possible

 Self-draining and self-venting
 Vent plugs/valves and drain plugs/valves be used
 Provision for isolation and de-pressurizing of system
and instrument for maintenance
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• Cable types:
▫ Solid conductors should be used to avoid
degradation of signals
▫ Mechanical protection
▫ PVC outer sheath (on open cable trays)
▫ Lead sheath (below ground in sand-filled
trenches)
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• Cabling and cable routes:

▫ As short as possible
▫ Should not cause any obstruction for access
▫ Avoid hot environment and potential fire-risk
areas
▫ Avoid areas where there is spillage or escaping
vapors/gases
▫ Should be supported the entire length
▫ Avoid cable joints
▫ Cables should be properly earthed
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• Cable segregation:
▫ Only signals of same type should be contained
within any one multi-core cable
▫ Cables for high-intensity systems such as
emergency shutdown systems should take totally
independent routes or should be positively
segregated from other cables
▫ Instrument cables should be run well clear of
electrical power cables and should also, as far as
possible, avoid noise generating equipment like
motors.
 Testing
&
Pre-Commissioning
• Pre-Installation testing
• Piping and cable testing
• Loop testing (pre-commissioning)
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Pre-Installation Testing
• Testing of each instrument for correct calibration and
operation prior to its being installed in the field.

• Test instrument should have a standard of accuracy

better than the manufacturer’s stated accuracy for
the instruments being tested and should be regularly
classified.

• Instruments should be checked at five points, i.e. 0%,

25%, 50%, 75% and 100% for both rising and falling
signals.
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• After testing, the instruments should be drained of any

testing fluids and blown through with dry, clean air.

• Electronic instruments should be energized for 24-

hour warm-up period prior to calibration test.

• Control valve should be tested in situ after the pipe-

work fabrication has been finished.

• Control valves should be checked for correct stroking at

0%, 50% and 100% open and close.
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Piping & Cable Testing

• All air lines (pneumatic lines) should be blown

through with clean, dry air prior to final
connection to instruments and they should also
be pressure tested for a timed interval to ensure
that they are leak-free.

• The testing should be done in the form of a

continuity test from the field end to its
destination (e.g., the control room)
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• Impulse lines (process piping) should also be

flushed thoroughly and hydrostatically tested
prior to connection of the instruments.

• All isolation valves should be checked for tight

shut-off.

• On completion of the hydrostatic tests, all piping

should be drained and thoroughly dried out
prior to reconnecting to any instruments.
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• All instrument cables should be checked for

continuity and isolation.

• Where cables are installed below ground, testing

should be carried out before the trenches are
back filled.

• As a pre-requisite to cable testing, it should be

ensured that all cables and cables ends are
properly identified.
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Loop Testing
• The purpose of loop testing is to ensure that all
components in a loop are in full operational order when
interconnected and are in a steady state for plant
commissioning

• Alarms and shutdown systems must also be

systematically tested. All systems should be checked for
fail-safe operation

• All ancillary work should be completed, such as setting

zeros, filling liquid seals, and fitting of accessories such as
charts, inks, etc.
Plant Commissioning
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• Commissioning is the bringing on-stream of a

process and the tuning of all instruments and
controls to suit the process operational
requirements

• A plant, or section there of is considered to be

ready for commissioning when all instrument
installations are mechanically complete and all
testing, including loop testing, have been
conducted.
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Considerations
• Air supplies are available and that all power
supplies are fully functional, including any
emergency standby supplies

• Ancillary devices are operational, such as

protective heating systems, air conditioning, etc.

• Control valve lubricators (when fitted) should be

charged with the correct lubricants
Thank You