CLEANINGTHE FUTURE OFPre-Commissioning

For many years, new and expansion projects put the onus on the EPC contractor to plan for pre-commissioning cleaning. With the construction of the plant and all the major coor-dination events beginning to build rapidly, the pre-commissioning was usually left until the cleaning was needed. This left little room for substantial project cost and schedule savings.

LET THE CHAOS BEGINThis is exactly how the process became a dreaded part of the project. Improper planning,poor coordination, and a lack of materials readily available to build temporary spools and/or gather replacement parts for components that had to be removed to facilitate cleaning all left the contractor in a quandary. For many years, it had been just that. Although not all projects ended up that way, the majority of the high profile, complex projects felt the sting of cost overruns and lost schedule days that could never be recovered.

The number of projects B&W Energy Services worked on that had any real pre-planning became quite noticeable to the keen eye of the concerned pre-commissioning cleaning provider. There were many shifts where nothing would happen, causing unnecessary project delays. The blame for this cost overrun was usually pushed off on the pre-commis-sioning cleaning contractor for not being ready to support the project. So, unfortunately, when the pre-commissioning cleaning provider showed up on-site, they almost always faced blame for an ill-planned process.

PRE-COMMISSIONING:

THE FUTURE OF CLEANINGBy Dennis Miller

B&W ENERGY SERVICES STEPS UPB&W started out as a designer and pre-engi-neering provider of pre-commissioning clean-ing services. For the first few years, our clients relied on our services heavily for their pre-plan-ning. Our experience level and the number of projects we successfully guided continued to grow. We became a welcome sight to our cli-ents. The client trusted that we were there to help; we would not just stand by and watch things flounder. Once we were recognized for our excellence in designing and planning, the customer did not want to see us leave. Rather, they would actually ask us to stay and perform the cleaning services ourselves. Our engineer-ing group stepped up again, designing cleaning skids in house, starting a viable training curricu-lum and identifying effective cleaning methods.

THE FUTURE IS HEREToday, as we move into the future of pre-com-missioning cleaning, B&W has made a great commitment to staff our engineering depart-ment so that we can maintain this premiere level of trusted project support. Our ISO 9000 certification has helped us create a rigorous equipment maintenance program which, in turn, allows us to present ourselves as the premier provider and prove we are ready to support the largest, most complex projects with unmatched equipment and world-class personnel not seen from any other companies in the industry.

MANY EPC COMPANIES HAVE TRIED…Many contractors have tried to provide staff members to meet pre-planning needs for pre-commissioning. This was a great effort to try to help control costs in-house. The only problem with that approach was that, as on-site

“We became a welcome

sight to our clients.”

project manpower needs grew for other project requirements, staff members were shifted into other capacities, thus leaving the cleaning program to run an unidentifiable course. This made it basically impossible to manage effectively.

B&W’S EFFORTS HAVE NOT GONE UNNOTICEDOur persistence and dedication to this cause has caused many of the world’s leading EPC contractors to take notice. Our partnerships are talked about and shared the world over. Our outstanding growth is a testament to our vision of creating this invaluable resource. We saw the need for pre-planning by watching those projects that were not properlyplanned end in shared frustration. B&W Energy Services is taking pre-commissioning cleaning into to the future through strong alliances built on trust, safety and knowledge. We are already operating on three continents. We would welcome an opportunity to be a part of your developing partnerships, as well as the opportunity to help support your project in such a way that you can leverage the competitive advantage of our services. You may even find that calling on B&W for all of your future projects needs becomes the obvious choice.

For more information or to learn more, contact Chris Oakley at B&W Energy Services by calling281.534.9300, e-mail sales@bwenergyservices.comor visit www.bwenergyservices.com.