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Making steam.

In general, start-up begins with the first light of a boiler. The first light exercises all components on the fire side of a solution, including fuel systems and controls, and air-handling systems, including the forced-draft fan and dampers. A chemical boilout prepares the water side of drums and tubes by cleaning lubricants and mill scale from metal surfaces. After that, a boiler is flushed and cooled, and an inspection of all system components is performed. The system now is ready to be loaded and performance across the full range of operating conditions tested. That process sets controls curves, verifies integration with plantwide control systems, and confirms automated operations for positive and negative scenarios. The phase is completed with emissions-control-system checkout and tuning, which often includes a third-party emissions test to verify the solution is compliant with the operating permit.

Start-up and commissioning provides a great opportunity to train operations staff. Involve operators from the beginning, providing both classroom and hands-on training.

Life-Cycle Operations

A well-designed, appropriately installed boiler solution should serve a business for a generation, if not longer. Regular inspection, accompanied by annual combustion tuning and calibration of instrumentation, should keep a boiler running smoothly. However, the very nature of a boiler is that it operates in an extreme, often hostile, environment. Tube leaks can occur, surfaces can foul, and regular maintenance and repairs can be expected. To get full value and optimize the life of your investment, work closely with operators and a qualified boiler-maintenance-and-repair service to establish a proactive inspection and maintenance plan, and be prepared for unplanned incidents.

Jeff Guillot is president and chief operating officer of Halgo Power Inc. (www.halgopower.com), specialist in turnkey solutions for package and field-erected boilers ranging from 30,000 to 500,000 lb of saturated and superheated steam per hour for the refining, petrochemical, pulp-and-paper, and pharmaceutical industries, as well as university and medical-center campuses. A graduate of The University of Texas with a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering and former Fortune 50 executive, he has 23 years of business experience.

Keys to Project Success

Following are tips for successful implementation of a boiler project:

• Start planning early. Allow at least 18 to 24 months from budgetary planning to making steam.

• Understand the business reasons for undertaking a project. Test every decision against those reasons.

• Identify project milestones, and manage work to keep those milestones on schedule.

• Understand interdependencies with other projects, and plan accordingly.

• Order long-lead items, including the boiler, burner, control package, forced-draft fan, and SCR catalyst, within the first few weeks.

• Finalize system piping and instrumentation within the first six to eight weeks. Involve the operations staff.

• Choose an experienced boiler-solutions provider to partner with the engineering vendor.

• Keep all stakeholders informed of progress, and ensure they know when their contributions are needed.