Air Blowing Procedure

CUSTOMER
JOB UNIT
ENGRO CHEMICAL PAKISTAN LTD.
213425 00
PLANT LOCATION
DAHARKI – PAKISTAN SPC. N. 00-HA
NEW AMMONIA/UREA PLANTS Rev.

Sh. 1 of 5
DAHARKI SITE EXPANSION 0
PRECOMMISSIONING PROCEDURE
AIR BLOWING
0 First Issue
Rev. Description Prepared Checked Approved Date
Data file: 441001077.doc

This document is the property of Snamprogetti and Engro chemical Pakistan limited who will safeguard its rights according to the civil and penal provisions of the law
CUSTOMER
JOB UNIT
213425 00
PLANT LOCATION

Sh. 2 of 5
1. INTRODUCTION
2. REFERENCES
3. SCOPE OF APPLICATION
4. PURPOSE
5. METHOD
6. DETAILS FOR IMPLEMENTATION

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JOB UNIT
213425 00
PLANT LOCATION

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1. Introduction
This procedure describes general requirements for carrying out air blowing applied to pipes of
the Plant. Detailed procedures for implementation of air blowing shall be prepared based on are
general procedure.
2. References
Reference documents are General Commissioning Procedure for lines / equipment
cleaning.
SP. ------------------- Air Blowing Report
SP. ------------------- Work Permit Systems
3. Scope of Application
Air blowing shall be basically applied to the following pipes.
1. Chemical Lines
2. Inst./Plant Air Lines
3. Nitrogen Lines
4. Fuel Gas, Natural Gas and Process Gas Lines
5. Hydrocarbon Lines
6. Combustion Air Lines
7. Cold Service Lines.
Air blowing however may not be limited to only the above but may be applied to other service
lines for which other cleaning method was originally scheduled.
The Commissioning Group reserves the right to change or modify the proposed method for a
system, depending on the current situation at site. Of course the final cleaning purpose will be
still achieved in such case.
3. Purpose
Air blowing is carried out to remove debris, loose scale, welding chips and rust from air or
process lines suitable for process or air service operation.
The effectiveness depends on the general theory of particle dynamics and the concept of
drag force (air velocity and turbulence) and the number of blows.
4. Method
Air is usually supplied from temporary high-pressure large-capacity air compressors or by

the permanent instrument air or service air compressors (if of sufficient capacity).
If temporary air compressors are used it should be supplied with after-coolers and
coalesces to remove oil from the compressed air system.
An air reservoir shall be made available during the blowing process to increase capacity
especially for large size pipes (if available).
If required for some pipes thermal shocking can be achieved by running the compressor
without the after-coolers in operation. However it should be taken into consideration that
this is insufficient to obtain any significant thermal cycling.

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An indication of the air flow necessary for the cleaning process can be determined by
calculating the Cleaning Disturbance Factor (CDF)
F12 d0
CDF = ----------
F0 2 d1
- Where
- F1 = Flow rate during blowing
- F0 = Flow rate during operation
- d1 = density of cleaning medium
- d0 = density of operating medium
Experience has shown that with CDF greater than 1-1.5 the line is well cleaned and the polished
metal target (if required) shows little or no evidence of pitting after the air blow.
6. Details of Implementation
Before any Pre-Commissioning activity began Work Permit Procedure (reference HSE Manual,
procedure SP. --------------------------) shall be in place and all concerned personnel shall be
familiar with it.
Description of activities Yes No NA
Preparation
1. Air blowing should not commence until all related piping and process equipment are
fully installed. The system has been checked for conformance with the P&ID
diagrams and the piping systems have been hydro-tested.
2. Follow P&IDs attached to prepare the circuit for air blowing. Procedure shall clearly
indicate the air blowing operating pressure and temperature and shall be in
agreement with piping and equipment design operating condition.
3. Note that the circuit to be blown should be of adequate size (number of piping
involved) according to the air flow and buffer storage availability.
4. It is allowed to pass through equipment only when the inlet line has been accurately
flushed.
5. If blowing is done passing through equipment the internals should be installed after
blowing completion.
6. Air blowing should never involve machines. To blow or flush suction and discharge
line an arrangement should be made using by pass or reverse flow.
7. Temporary piping for depressurising to atmosphere should be installed and properly
anchored.
8. All restrictions (instrumentation and safety device) in the piping such as orifice
plates, flow measurements, thermo-wells, Safety valves, rupture disc and analysers
shall be removed prior to air blowing. Welded flow measurements should not be
installed during erection.
9. Control valves should be removed and spool piece to be installed or remove control
valve and blow both side by using by pass line. In case control valve cannot be
removed, then internals shall be removed. Clean properly valve seat after blowing.
10. Check valves should be removed and spool piece installed or internals removed
(flapper) with proper internal seat protection.
11. All filters installed in the system shall be removed.
12. Air should be blown from a clean system to unclean system.
13. The valve used for the blows should be located well upstream of the piping to be
cleaned.
14. Air blowing piping discharging point should be properly anchored.
Air Blowing
15. Before to perform Air Blowing, verify Design Pressure of Systems.
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JOB UNIT
213425 00
PLANT LOCATION

Sh. 5 of 5
Description of activities Yes No NA

16. The air blowing is performed:
a. by pressurising up to 7 bar maximum the piping system and then opening a
temporary quick acting valve (if available) to allow depressurisation to
atmosphere directly or via a silencer
b. by installing at the system end a temporary rupture disc (breaking pressure 3-4
bar) discharging to atmosphere directly or via silencer.
c. Using air from Process Air compressor of Ammonia plant using temporary line.
17. In case air blowing is carried out using rupture disc technique then special care
should be taken for the safety of piping and personnel.
18. To increase the effectiveness of air blowing clean water could be injected into the
piping under air blowing to remove sand. In this case the effectiveness is increased
due to the increased cleaning medium density. Water quality shall be chosen
according to the material of construction and process operating condition (chloride
content less than 50 ppm). In case the dissolved salts are poisonous for catalyst or
process condition then demineralised water shall be used.
19. During air blowing activities the safety procedure should already been in place and
blowing area evacuated.
20. Circuit should finally be blown with dry air to remove water (if required).
21. Instrument air system should be blown with dry air to remove water from each
instrument air manifold. Air sample should be taken and dew point determined.
Instrument air system is acceptable only when a dew point of –20°C is recorded
minimum at three different points in the system.


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CUSTOMER

NEW AMMONIA/UREA PLANTS Rev.

Data file: 441001077.doc

NEW AMMONIA/UREA PLANTS Rev.

6. DETAILS FOR IMPLEMENTATION

Data file: 441001077.doc

NEW AMMONIA/UREA PLANTS Rev.

Air is usually supplied from temporary high-pressure large-capacity air compressors or by

Data file: 441001077.doc

NEW AMMONIA/UREA PLANTS Rev.

NEW AMMONIA/UREA PLANTS Rev.

Description of activities Yes No NA

Data file: 441001077.doc

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