What does Commisioning an oil fired boiler involve.

I am aware that this involves specialist equipment (flue gas analyser?) what this actually involves and what it achieves.

Lawrence

usenet at lklyne dt co dt uk

Reply to
Lawrence
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The installation manual includes instructions for commissioning but heres a breakdown of what a commissioning engineer should do (not neccessarily in that order)

1 check the boiler is full of water and leak free.

2 check the electrics are wired correctly including earth bonding to the oil pipe and other pipework, 5A protective fuse with double break isolator in the supply to the controls (switchspur) and heat resistant wiring where in contact with hot surfaces.

3 check the controls and plumbing meet current requirements including operation of thermostats and motorised valves or twin pumpset to give independant control of heating and hot water temperatures

4 check the oil supply tank complies with current environmental protection requirements viz: it should have secondary containment if anything other than for a domestic property (such as a village shop, village hall, church, pub etc etc etc. For a domestic property this is excepted provided the tank meets all the following list less than 2500 litres capacity, serving only one dwelling or flat, not on hard ground where leakage could reach a waterway drain or stream, not within 10 metres of controlled water, not within 50 metres of a borehole or spring. tank must be visible from the tanker drivers point of operation (by the tanker). If any of these are not met then again a secondary containment is required. secondary containment can be by either a bund around the tank or a double skin tank.

5 check the tank location not within 750mm of a boundary fence or hedge, not within 1800mm of an opening into a building unless a non combustible fire radiation barrier is provided

6 check the oil pipe is purged and full of oil all the way from tank to burner and the firestop valve is of an approved pattern remote sensing type with the actual valve outside and the sensor in the (usually provided above the burner) clip in the boiler casing. Operation can be tested by immersing the bulb in hot water at about 85 to 90 degrees C

7 check the combustion air ventilation and if in a compartment the cooling ventilation is correct for the appliance.

8 check the boiler baffles (retarders) are correctly located on their supports within the combustion chamber and the thermostat phials are correctly located in their pockets. If the boiler is piped into a sealed system check the pressure relief valve is piped to a safe place to discharge potentially scalding water in the event it operates due to a fault.

9 undo and remove the burner and check the airways are clear of packaging etc., check the burner nozzle is the correct size and spray angle etc (this info is required for the certificate)

10 reassemble the unit and fit a temporary oil pressure gauge for use during the commissioning run. Recheck for leaks etc, set the controls to call for heat and fire up the unit. The burner control may need resetting from lockout condition which most of them seem to come shipped in. If you have primed the pipework and pump correctly the burner may go first time but you may need to vent the air from the oil pump before combustion will establish cleanly. Do not keep resetting a dry pump as it is amazingly easy to destroy even a new pump in this way.

11 when the burner is firing cleanly allow it to run for a few minutes to warm up per the booklet and take combustion analysis readings using either electronic analyser or Fyrite chemical set. Smoke to be sampled with a Bacharac pump and filter paper or by electronic analyser if the model you use is capable of smoke testing. Check oil pressure and airslide to spec sheet then adjust/tweak oil pressure to spec and air if neccessary to achieve parameters to match specification with boiler/burner sheets Complete details on commissioning record sheet

12 check flow of heat to hot water primary coil and radiators. Balance rad flows as per faq. Check again for weeps on pipes/joints especially with kerosine as it is a very searching fluid.

HTH Ive done it from memory if I find a bit of spare time I'll get my books out and go over them for omissions

-- Please note antispam measures - do not hit reply Horse sense is what horses have that makes them not bet on people - W.C. Fields

Regards, John

Reply to
John

He didn't do that, but I had.

Ditto.

Ditto.

Ditto.

Ditto.

Ditto.

Dunno. He may have.

He did look at the baffles, good point.

He did take the burner out and put it back in.

No oil pressure gauge was in evidence.

Yup, did that.

Bwahaha...no, he didn't pay any attention to the wet side. But I'd installed it, so it was all purrfect.

Certainly interesting, thanks. But when you said "he should" do this, how and where is that defined?

Reply to
Grunff

Lawrence

usenet at lklyne dt co dt uk

Reply to
Lawrence

SNIP commissioning procedure for oil boiler

Most of the actual boiler mechanical bits etc are provided in the installation manual with the boiler. The remainder is from OFTEC publications which are the basis for most of the documentation and standards for the "new" building control requirements. Take a look at

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Reply to
John

Thinking about the current thread about oil boiler not working it seems potentially useful to remind everyone of some historical threads.

Reply to
johnjessop46

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