Start up the solvent recovery column after the pump repair

What is going on

The solvent recovery column has been shut down and under nitrogen since the reflux pump seal failure on 2 September. Permit PW-26-0781 is closed, but the blind list still shows two blinds fitted on the reflux line and the pre-start-up checklist has not been started. The emergency shutdown system was function tested in July. Cooling water is available but the steam header is at the low end of its normal pressure because the boiler is on one burner. Wayne Djakovic will authorise each stage and Tahlia Brennan is the outside operator. The laboratory can turn around an overhead sample in 40 minutes. Bruce Kalinowski expects the column on specification by the end of the shift with every step in the shift log.

Your brief

Bring the column on line safely under the start-up procedure: complete the pre-start-up checks and blind reconciliation, inert and leak test, establish feed and heat to the ramp table, bring product to specification and record every stage, holding and escalating if any variable approaches a safe operating limit.

Work through it

You do not need to do it all. Doing a few of these will show you what the work is like. Your ticks and notes stay on this device.

• Read the solvent recovery column start-up and shutdown procedure, the safe operating limits sheet and the alarm response manual for the unit, and review the permit and isolation register for PW-26-0781 and the blind list.
• Complete the pre-start-up checklist with Tahlia Brennan in the field: permits closed, isolations removed, blinds reconciled and removed, relief devices in service, instruments in service and the shutdown system healthy.
• Resolve the blind list discrepancy through the permit issuer before proceeding and record the resolution in the shift log.
• Purge the column with nitrogen to the oxygen limit and complete the nitrogen leak test for 30 minutes, recording the readings and any leak repaired under permit.
• Introduce feed at minimum rate, establish base level and reflux, and raise steam in the ramp table steps, holding at each step until the profile is stable and checking with the field for leaks.
• Route product to the off-specification tank, take the overhead sample when the profile is stable and switch to the finished tank only after the laboratory confirms specification, recording the time.
• Record every stage, every hold and every authorisation by Wayne Djakovic in the shift log and complete the shift handover report with the column state for the night shift.

What someone in this role would produce

• Signed pre-start-up checklist with blind reconciliation
• Inerting and leak test record
• Shift log entries for every stage of the start-up
• Shift handover report