Boiler Device Commissioning
Typically boiler commissioning involves setting up brand new
boiler control devices. These devices will control air flow, gas flow, feed water flow, draft pressure, fan speed and many more components that are required in order for a boiler to run. A field service engineer's capabilities of understanding the exact needs for properly controlling a boiler are clearly shown in how the boiler runs when the job is completed.
It is hard to believe but something as simple as choosing a square root or linear cam for an actuator can make all the difference in the world. Quite frequently we find new customers that have told us that the boiler is supposed to or has always ran that way. We fix the problem and they see why experience is so important. Actuator opening rate, actuator span, improper zero, incorrect wiring, actuator opening direction, minimum stop and many more issues are what a commissioning technician is faced with. When a commissioning job is complete, a commissioning technician should have provided detailed paperwork to assist with service.
Just because a company has had its boilers running reliably for some time doesn’t mean that they should ignore documenting the state that the boiler is in while given the chance.
A controlling device such as the main gas flow control valve Positioner/Actuator or a forced draft fan Inlet damper Positioner/Actuator can fail.
It is not only important to know how to diagnose whether it is simply low instrument air pressure, loss of a 4-20mA signal, conversion from 4-20ma to 3-15psig for the actuator or the actual mechanical device that’s being controlled. It is equally important to have the settings documented so if there is a failure, downtime is minimized.
All too often companies will have unqualified personnel jump in to fix the problem. With good intentions the personnel will remove and replace what they think is the failed part. Further, the part replacement is performed without
documenting the
calibration settings from the original device and to make matters even worse, there is no information from when the boiler was originally placed into operation.
There are a few mishaps that usually occur and that will end up costing the company more money than it would have needed to spend in comparison to have had an experienced boiler field service engineer do the job.
-First, parts can be expensive and there is always the chance that the part that was replaced did not need to be replaced.
-Second, the repair could be a simple adjustment and completed in a few hours. But now that the original part has been replaced quite possibly without having the settings transferred, there will almost always need to be extra work done to reconfigure and bring the boiler back to its original state of tune.
This work is usually unrelated to the part replacement.
Collins Combustion recommends having annual service from a qualified boiler field service engineer. The annual service should NOT be just a walk around and fake tune. Instead it should be a complete audit consisting of interlock and permissive calibrations, Positioner / Actuator zero and span adjustments transmitter calibrations and a
thorough combustion tune. All of this should include a complete set of related paperwork and reports.
Our reports meet state and local inspection requirements providing as found and as left calibration data. Further, we understand that it is important to provide detailed documentation for troubleshooting. Here are some
samples of the paperwork we provide:
Burner Management Interlock Calibration Report
Combustion Control Transmitter Calibration Report
Boiler Tuning Data Report
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