Plant-specific Operating Procedures (OPs) are developed for plant personnel to provide clear and concise, step-by-step procedures for the safe operation of plant equipment and systems. Similar to our approach for Training Manuals (System Descriptions), these procedures are developed in a standardized format.
In general, an Operating Procedure is developed for each plant system, such as: Condensate, Compressed Air, Plant Wastewater. The individual Operating Procedures are developed using a consistent format, which contains similar sections for uniformity and ease of locating information.
In addition to the OPs developed for each system, an Integrated Operating Procedure is typically developed for the plant as a whole. This procedure addresses bringing the plant from a cold condition to full load, as well as other transient conditions such as warm/hot start, partial load, etc.
OPs can be developed in any level of detail from checklist style to detailed narrative formats that are useful for training.
Operating Procedures do not have to take away flexibility of the Operator, however they can provide consistency of operation between shifts.
