Introduction: The chemical process industry is involved in many operations, for

different types of fluids, with different applications. Though in principle, various

guidelines and formulae are available for pipeline sizing for different services.
Hence it becomes critical at times conceptualization is necessary before deciding
design parameters.
When fluids are to be carried from one place to another in household piping to
cross country pipeline, piping and fitting constitutes a high cost. The size of piping
plays an important role in the pumping cost. Hence the selection of the line size
becomes important. Though in principle, various formulae are available for sizing
for different services, conceptualiation is necessary before deciding parameters.

Pipeline Sizing: In any chemical process industry, various types of fluids are being
used in different forms like liquid, gaseous, slurry, etc. Raw material, intermediate
product or finished product produced through various unit operations require
connectivity of all the units with pipelines and fittings due to the following reasons:

 Ease of operation
 Safe handling of materials
 Avoiding loss of material
 Hygienic conditions of the plant

For example, liquid feed is transported from its bulk storage area to day-storage
using pump connecting bulk storage tank, pump and day storage tank with the
necessary pipelines. It is very difficult to imagine a chemical process industry
complex without any pipeline work. Rather one can see huge piping network
within the complex. The design of any piping network involves various activities
like the selection of piping material, specification with respect to thickness, pipe
size, its routing, etc. the discussion deals with conceptual basis of pipeline sizing.
Though various formulae and thumb rules are available in literature and can be
used directly for sizing of pipelines, criticality with respect to experience in the
fluid handling of related chemical process industry cannot be avoided. Over or
under sizing of pipelines may even become a bottleneck for plant operations. For
slurry applications, a larger size pipeline not only increases the plant cost but also
creates operational problems. Likewise, the smaller pipe size may consume more
energy for fluid movement. One should bear in mind that the larger pipeline size
than necessary increases plant cost due to pipelines along with the connected
valves, fittings, supporting structures, etc.
Many factors should be kept in mind before sizing any pipeline. The basic
principle of pipeline size is based on the available pressure drop between its two
ends. Normally to maintain certain fluid velocity (may be from the available thumb
rules), e.g. considering 1.5 meter / second for clear water at pump discharge for the
maximum possible fluid flow rate through that pipeline, cross-sectional area (or
diameter) of pipeline is calculated. Based on this, the nearest commercially
available pipeline size (of inside diameter closely matching with the calculated
value) is selected for application. With these preliminary calculations of pipeline
sizing and pipe routing, pressure drop between start and end point, incorporating
all fittings, is calculated. Decision of the selection of higher or lower pipeline size
is made according to the available pressure drop versus calculated pressure drop.
Normally pipelines are sized after optimizing between the costs of material versus
operating cost (incurred due to line pressure drop). Higher the pipeline diameter
(i.e., higher initial investment), lower will be the pressure drop (thus less operating
cost) and vice versa. Velocity norms are fixed for different applications, based on
the optimum design conditions and pipeline sizes are only calculated using these
norms. In some typical applications discussed here, these guidelines are not valid
and one needs to understand the typical application and size the pipelines
accordingly.
Liquid Flow under Gravity: Liquid flows under gravity due to the elevation
difference between the start point (always at higher elevation) and the end point (at
lower elevation), i.e. difference in potential energy. The elevation difference
mainly governs the pipeline sizing. Additional effects of pressure conditions for
start/end point matter in pipeline sizing. If the available elevation difference is
higher, a high liquid velocity (i.e. with high allowable pressure drop) can be
considered for pipeline sizing. Thus, a lower pipeline size can be selected for such
a condition.
In case, the end point is connected to a pressurized system, e.g. distillation column,
the equivalent pressure shall be deducted from the available elevation difference
and the effective available differential pressure is reduced. Thus even with the
higher available elevation difference, for the end point of the pipeline connected to
the pressurized system, the pipeline size will be of a lower size. Similarly if the
start point of the pipeline is under vacuum, i.e. in barometric condensers, pipelines
of high diameters are selected to reduce pipeline friction losses and thus increase
the available differential pressure.
Such applications are work-based on the available pressure drop. These cannot be
sized only as per the economic pipeline size guidelines only, i.e. optimizing
material cost versus operating cost.
Hot Liquid Flow: Various problems are commonly observed in the process plants
handling hot boiling liquids. These are mainly due to vaporization of flowing hot
liquid, i.e. the phase change of liquid to vapor, inside the pipeline or equipment.
This phenomenon is also called the flashing of liquid. A typical example is
centrifugal pump cavitation, which is due to low available NPSH (Net Positive
Suction Head).
The higher pipeline size is preferred to lower down pressure drop and thus to
achieve higher available NPSH at pump suction port. Similarly in other pipelines,
the pressure drop due to sudden change in the flow direction or the reduction of the
line size, hot liquid vaporization takes place which generates vapor bubbles inside
the pipeline. Due to this more space is occupied by the mixture of generated vapors
and flowing liquid and subsequently fluid flow is obstructed. Similar type of
phenomena are observed in case of liquids carrying dissolved gases, which expand
at higher temperatures. For these types of applications normally higher pipeline
sizes are recommended.
Bypass Line for Equipment/Instrument: Equipment/instruments especially
which create a high-pressure drop and are provided with a bypass line (to have the
facility for maintaining process continuity even during maintenance work). i.e.
plate heat exchangers, control valves, etc. are provided with a bypass arrangement,
which normally has two isolation valves in line of the unit and a flow regulation
valve in parallel to this unit.
In normal operations, as fluid passes through the main units either the plate heat
exchanger or control valve, it exerts an additional pressure drop. Accordingly the
supply pressure for the fluid stream is estimated, which the connecting unit like the
centrifugal pump creates. The centrifugal pump is selected based on this created
pressure drop by the unit. During bypassing of the connected unit, this additional
pressure is eliminated, while running pump discharges the high flow rate as per the
typical pump characteristics. To avoid this situation, it is always recommended to
use a lower size bypass line with a regulation valve to create pressure equivalent to
the main connecting unit.
Sample Line: Normally a small fluid quantity is collected for analysis to
determine its composition. It is applicable for any stage of processing like for raw
material, intermediate product, finished product or it may be even utility or
effluent. Even for small quantity of sample collection, line size mainly depends
upon the type of fluid being handled and the location of the sample point in the
process.
For example, for gases under pressurized conditions, small lines with valves (e.g. 6
mm) are sufficient for withdrawing the representative sample quantity. Providing a
high sample line size will not only be difficult to control but higher wastage of
gases during sample collection cannot be avoided. On the other hand, small sample
line will create trouble for slurries where solid particles may choke the sample line
quite frequently. Thus, irrespective of material losses and the cost of the pipeline
and valve, the sample line size is dependent upon the solid particle size and the
characteristics of the slurry. Similar are the experiences for viscous liquids.
Even for clear liquids, the sample line size depends upon its location like at the
atmospheric tank, pump suction/or discharge, etc. Though it is very difficult to
define proper guidelines for sample line sizing, the following points should be kept
in mind while sizing:

 Characteristics of sample fluid

 Less fluid losses
 Safety during sample withdrawal
 Ease of operation
 Location of sample point, etc.

Cooling Water Circulation: Higher velocities are preferred for cooling water
circulation pipelines. This is mainly due to the following two reasons:
Cooling water, in the cooling tower, is exposed to sunlight that helps in the
development of algae formation. This generated algae material goes to the
circulating cooling water. At a lower liquid velocity in the pipelines, algae starts
growing within the pipeline and after some time, they start blocking cooling water
circulation or it passes to the connected heat exchanger unit. Thus, a higher liquid
velocity (e.g. 1.8 -2.5 meter/second) for circulation line is recommended to avoid
algae development within the pipeline.
Normally higher cooling water circulation flow rates are encountered in the
chemical process industries that require large size pipelines with longer lengths to
cover various heat exchanging units. Thus, to reduce the cost of pipe material even
with high power consumption (due to increased pressure drop) will be an
appropriate choice.
Tank Overflow: Overflow lines in the tanks are provided for the following
reasons:

 To avoid liquid losses (overflowed liquid is recovered in another tank)

 To avoid unwanted spillage of liquid around plant building
 To maintain liquid levels in the overhead tanks

In all the above-mentioned cases, overflow line is sized for the maximum possible
input liquid flow rate to the tank irrespective of the outlet liquid flow rate. Other
design guidelines are similar to the pipeline sizing for gravity liquid flow, i.e. as
per the availability of vertical available height between the highest and end points
(where it comes in contact with the atmosphere) of the overflow pipeline.
Here the highest point which is also the start point of the liquid flow line is located
almost at the top of the tank (overflow nozzle of the tank), while the endpoint may
be somewhere near the drain gutter (close to ground). This may not always be true,
as the overflow line may also be terminated at the higher elevation floor. In that
case the available differential head will be lower. Hence as per the pipeline
location, the overflow line shall be sized, based on the gravity flow principle.
Slurry Flow: Slurries, mixtures of suspended solids in liquids, are kept in agitated
conditions to maintain homogeneity, other wise, depending upon the solid's
characteristics, lighter or heavier than liquid, particles float or settle down
respectively. Agitated conditions are maintained in equipment, like tanks by the
use of agitators or gases sparing. While in the pipelines it is achieved by
maintaining turbulent fluid flow conditions.
At a lower fluid velocity in the pipeline, solids have a tendency to separate out
from the liquid phase. Thus sufficiently high fluid velocity shall be maintained
in the pipelines, irrespective of encountering a high-pressure drop in the
pipelines for slurries (beyond the guidelines for optimum pipeline sizing for
clear liquids).
On the other hand, for very small pipeline size for slurries, its choking is quite
frequently observed in plants. Thus, a small pipeline size is also not
recommended for these applications. Apart from this, some slurry containing
abrasive solid particles may cause pipeline erosion at very high fluid
velocities. Hence, high fluid velocities are not recommended. Various slurries
behave in different fashions at different fluid velocities, hence pipeline size is
more critical. Along with the basic design guidelines, past experience to
understand slurry behaviour shall also be used during pipeline sizing.
Apart from above discussion, many other applications can be seen in any chemical
process industry. i.e. very low fluid velocities are considered for designing
pipelines carrying highly viscous liquids, storage tank vent lines (depending upon
the tank design pressure), tank drain lines (related with the vent line size as well as
the time required for the draining out tank), etc.