Careers in Commissioning

1300 MW Repowering Project Claus C - A Way for Cleaner and Increasing Power Production Using Existing Assets Simone Turina, Roger Fehr, Terry Robinson, Richard P. Graham, Matthias Hiddemann and Mathieu Bloch Paper presented at the PowerGen Europe 2009

Careers in Commissioning Assuring quality, safety and performance for power plants around the world
There are many reasons why Alstom is a leading provider of power solutions for customers around the world. One of them is our ability to provide our customers with advanced engineering that meets the highest quality and performance levels possible. As a member of the commissioning team, it is your job to guarantee these standards.

What is commissioning?
A power plant is a highly complex piece of engineering. The process of turning a source of energy into electricity combines the fundamental principles of physics with cutting-edge techniques in electronics, and almost every level in between. Once all these elements are brought together, each must be verified in isolation and in relation to the whole power plant to ensure it functions as intended in terms of quality, safety and performance. This is the role of commissioning. Without it, the power plant can not be handed over to a customer to begin producing electricity.

Existing Conventional ST Power Plant GT Power Plant

G
Gas Turbine

Main Boiler Feedwater Heating

G
Steam Turbine Condenser

HRSG

Water Storage

Condenser Preheating

The process of commissioning

A power plant is commissioned in two stages. All components are checked once in a cold state before starting the turbines for the first time and then again in a hot state, while the plant is functioning under controlled conditions. Both hot and cold commissioning follow a similar bottom up procedure. This means verifying individual components first, then the interoperability of the components within a given system, and finally the functioning of the different systems together.

Project execution month

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Example (1xKA26-1 ss)

10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22

! NTP (Notice to Proceed)

Engineering & Procurement & Transportation Site Management Construction Civil Construction M&E Cold commissioning

!1

st

ignition

Hot commissioning (Preliminary Acceptance Certificate) PAC !

The four disciplines of commissioning

The commissioning of a power plant demands expertise in many different fields of mechanical and electrical engineering. Within Alstom, there are four main disciplines that work on different projects around the world.

Commissioning Department

Mechanical Commissioning, Gas Turbines

Mechanical Commissioning, Steam Turbines, Water Steam Cycles and Balance of Plant

Electrical Commissioning

Instrumentation and Controls Commissioning

Mechanical Commissioning of Gas Turbines

Cheng Eng-Cong, BEng in Mechanical Engineering 27 years old, 4 years with Alstom, currently at Modugno site, Italy. I liken a gas turbine to an aircraft engine, except its five times bigger. My job is firstly to perform a series of checks and tests on the systems and instrumentation, then fix any problems and optimize the performance. These checks form part of our contractual commitment to the client. No two plants are identical, and the problems are never exactly the same, and thats whats so good about my job. Im constantly challenged to find new solutions to the problems in front of me.

Electrical Commissioning
Jrg Schneebeli, BSc in Electrical Engineering 33 years old, 2 years with Alstom, currently at KW Emsland site, Germany. The tasks of an electrical commissioning engineer are many and varied and require specialist knowledge in several fields. The main part of my work involves the commissioning of the generator including the excitation, synchronization and protection systems and low and medium voltage switching stations together with their auxiliary systems. I have to be certified on everything I commission to ensure the warranty is valid when we handover to the client. Theres a certain satisfaction that comes from being my own boss and knowing that the project relies on my expertise.

Mechanical Commissioning of Steam Turbines, Water Steam Cycles and Balance of Plant
Samuel Eng, BEng in Mechanical Engineering 27 years old, 3 years with Alstom, currently at Langage site, United Kingdom. I wanted to work with heavy machinery and it doesnt get much heavier than a steam turbine! The scale and complexity of what Im doing makes it a very rewarding job. Im a trouble-shooter. Every day theres a new problem to solve and something new to learn. Theres a lot of responsibility, but for me thats another rewarding aspect. Being part of the team responsible for the plant achieving maximum performance is very motivational.

Instrumentation and Controls Commissioning

Manikantan Palanisamy, BEng in Electronics and Instrumentation Engineering 29 years old, 3 years with Alstom, currently at Tallawarra site, Australia. Verifying and testing every connection, every cable, and every signal requires method and expertise. Even in a small power plant there are up to 3000 signals. In systems such as these, isolating and fixing the cause of any problem can be immensely challenging but equally rewarding. With components and systems often coming from third parties, there is a lot to learn and a lot of interaction with different experts.

Clear career opportunities

To join Alstom is to join a world of opportunity. We foster personal and professional development, provide and encourage training, and have a policy of mobility, both geographically and functionally. Within commissioning, a typical career path might be as follows. 0-5 years: Commissioning Engineer Undergo initial training, gain experience on a number of projects and with several different products and types of equipment within your chosen commissioning discipline. After training in leadership and management skills, you will take responsibility of a team of engineers within a given discipline. Having gained several years experience and gained a good understanding of the other commissioning disciplines, your task is to coordinate all the individual commissioning jobs on a project and to mediate with the customer.

5-7 years: Commissioning Lead Engineer 7+ years: Commissioning Manager

After working in commissioning, there are many other options open to you within Alstom. Technical support Project management I Customer services I Plant planning I Development
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Sales Construction site manager I Construction site project manager I Operation & maintenance (O&M) I Foreign representation
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Is commissioning for you?

You have an engineering-related degree and youre eager to get to grips with the latest technology in power plant construction. You also need to have a sense of responsibility and a capacity to work independently, be flexible and adaptable, be able to cope with pressure, be a good logical thinker, enjoy practical work on project sites, have good communication skills, and be ready to travel and work abroad (up to 90% per year).

Advantages
Varied and challenging work with large degrees of responsibility and independence I Often working with cutting-edge technology I Opportunity of gaining experience abroad, improving language skills and enjoying foreign cultures I Gaining practical experience in many specialist fields I Getting to know yourself and your limits I Making something run: see the immediate end result of your work I Many, many opportunities for career progression in a world-leading company
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Challenges
Frequent absence affects private and social life Irregular and sometimes long working hours I Frequent change: adjusting to changing climates, accommodation, food and culture I Difficulty in planning holidays

The inside view

David Marguier, Water Steam Cycle Commissioning Engineer, currently at CyCoFos site, France Commissioning comes with a lot of responsibility. As a graduate recruit, I was immediately trusted with this responsibility which is both rewarding and motivational. The support I get from Alstom colleagues is fantastic and theres always a great atmosphere on site. I know theres a lot of time spent away from home but right now Im focused on learning as much as I can, improving at what I do, and really enjoying experiencing new countries and cultures. There are so many opportunities to explore within Alstom.