Certificate Course on PIPING ENGINEERING December 2 -18, 1998 Introduction A. S. Moharir CAD Centre, IIT Bombay mi MI Organized by Piping Cell Computer Aided Design Centre Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay Powai, Mumbai - 400 07620 INTRODUCTION About two decades ago, in India, the design procedure for piping systems for Refineries, Petrochemicals and Fertilizer Plants, in magnitude, depth and complexities were not fully evolved. Only in the recent past, we were exposed in detail to this field. Now we are self- the field of piping technology Piping systems in a chemical plant are comparable to the vanes and arteries through which fluids, vapors, slurries, ids, ete. flow under various design of the plant. Piping network is subjected to almost all the severest conditions of the plant such as high temperature, pressure, flow and combination of these. In addition to the above, corrosion, erosion, toxic conditions and radioactivity add to more problems and difficulties in piping design. With the process conditions becoming more and more severe by the advancement in process development, a continuous effort is required to be carried on simultaneously to cope up with the demands of process. This makes the job of a piping engineer more complex and responsible. Piping, because of its nature, requires a number of day to day decisions on matters of detail, which, in some ways are often more difficult to solve than major issues connected with the project. It is this same detail which can cause expensive delays in design and construction and consequently in commissioning All too often in the past, piping has been regarded as an unimportant job in the overall project engineering instead of being treated as a function requiring as wide a knowledge, experience and variety skills as any other branch of engineering In almost all chemical industries, the installed capital cost of piping is a major factor in plant investment, Figs. 1 and 2 show a chart based on oil refineries, chemical and petrochemical complexes. Fig. 1 shows that, excluding major equipment costs, piping is the largest plant cost component. It exceeds the next largest component by a factor of two. It is also observed from Fig. 3 that piping exceeds all other field costs by a substantial amount. Fig. 2 indicates that design engineering utilizes approximately 45% of engineering man- hours and 50% of these hours are used in piping design. In addition to the above, the lost time in piping has an effect which goes well beyond its direct cost; as it involves financial loss in some proportion to the total plant investment. The delay in and during start up means idle capital and losses in plant earning capacity. In the recent years, the trend is to develop better techniques so as to save time in piping activities. Computer is being used extensively to obtain rapid solutions to the more complex problems of plant design and, in so for as piping is concerned, to the solving, of problems of pipe stressing. More recently, it is being employed for production of piping detail drawings, piping isometrics, bill of materials, cost estimation and control. Piping engineer has therefore a further responsibility in understanding and application of continually growing techniques of this nature.WHAT A PIPING ENGINEER SHOULD KNOW ABOUT Piping engineer requires not only wide engineering knowledge - not necessarily in depth, but certainly in understanding ~ but he must also have an understanding of engineering economics and costs, of metallurgy, of methods of pipe fabrication and erection. He must have some knowledge of industrial chemistry and chemical engineering in addition to a sufficient knowledge of mechanical, civil, electrical and instrament engineering so as to discuss requirements and problems with specialists in these fields, This will be more clear with the data piping department requires from other disciplines as given in Annexure A. He should be co-operative, able to communicate effectively, lead or take part in team work, be alive to the application of new methods, materials and designs. He must be aware of standards, codes and practices. There are several aspects of engineering technology which the piping engineer must know something about - at least PIPING DESIGN FUNCTION ORGANIZATION The size and scale of a company or design office do not change either the basic piping design requirements or the underlying design principles and practices. As the volume of piping design work and the number of projects executed increases, so also does the degree of specialization increase. Functions such as __ piping layout, piping specifications, detail drafting and material listing begin to emerge as 11. e117.) sufficiently to discuss rationally, any particular subject with specialists concerned. More importantly, he must have sufficient broad knowledge to know that certain conditions can arise at the early stages of plant design, where lack of awareness can cause difficulties and even disasters A fairly good knowledge of structural engineering is a must. Piping in operation is always in movement and subjected to pressure and forces with consequent reactions on mechanisms such as pumps, compressors and equipment in general, and on structures and related piping. Lack of knowledge can cause errors sufficient to cause machine or equipment break-down or to overstress and even cause collapse of structures ‘A good knowledge of safety codes and practices is alse essential Above all, a piping engineer should be very well conversant with drafting procedures and practices. RGE separate departments within the design office. There is little apparent similarity between piping design organization in a small office of say, ten men, and a large company with hundreds of piping men, as indicated in Figs. 4 and 5, but the job performed in both cases is identical and has the same degree of relative importance to the whole project design organization.The real difference lies in rate of projects passing through the design office. In the small office, the flow of projects is such that each project. is substantially completed before the succeeding project commences. This demands flexible organization of a small group, who have responsibility for all aspects of design, In the large company, however, projects are much more frequent. Thus the greater A® volume of work handled by a large group makes a high degree of specialization necessary for economic and administrative reasons In both cases, piping design is the most lengthy and complex part of the whole design procedure and almost always on the critical path of the project plan PIPING WITHIN THE PROJECT PLAN Piping is an important clement of every stage of project design, purchasing and construction. It is intimately linked to the other project work on equipment, electrical, instrument and —_ civil engineering. Work on piping is proceeding at every stage of the project, partly because of the sheer volume of design and erection work, but mainly because of the need to relate other project activities to the piping design, A typical activity network and bar chart for a process plant project are shown in Figs. 6 and 7. The activity network shows clearly the interrelated activities of piping and other branches of project, particularly at design stage. Itillustrates the unifying role played by the piping engineer in acting as a clearing house for data provided from other specialist engineers, It also indicates the last stage of the project, when piping erection is being carried out and when one faces the difficulties of correcting the design errors without delaying project completion. Since the quantum of work involved in piping is very extensive, the design and erection activities of piping appear on the critical path of this network. The critical path planning helps in proper allocation and utilization of man-power for critical activities, thus avoiding uneconomic and wasteful allocation of resources. RESPONSIBILITY OF A PIPING ENGINEER "The efficiency with which the entire systems of any particular projects work depends upon initial phase and is in the hands of piping analytical engineer. Every change the engineer makes from his base design is compounded ten folds down stream as so many other operations depend on his design. The analytical design is the 'BIBLE' and must be correct in the first instance The correctness, thoroughness and efficiency of the design released by the analytical engineer determines the efficiency of the piping design and influences, significantly, the efficiency and quality of overall plant." 3 Piping engineer is responsible for a substantial part of total project cost. Achievement of his program timings is critical to the completion of project in time, In addition to his own function as a specialist design engineer, he must provide a considerable amount of information and design continuity inside the project design organizationHIS PARTICULAR CONCERNS MUST Adequacy % Piping design must be adequate to meet the process specification and physical conditions in which the plant is to operate Economy %S Adequate design must be achieved at an economic cost within the project budget. Design cost must be minimized by maximizing the use of standardized methods of detailing and data presentation. Clarity % Much of the piping data is derived from and used by other engineering departments and must be clear, consistent and reliable. Accuracy % Details of piping and materials must be complete and —_ accurate Rectification of mistakes in these activities at a later stage may prove to be very costly and can delay project completion. The piping engineer has, therefore, considerable responsibility for economic and accurate design. Much development of design methods and organization has taken place over the years. In large design organizations, techniques have emerged, whereby procedures for producing simple symbolic data conveying maximum information at minimum cost canbe employed. The basic elements of these procedures are : > Rapid data retrieval > Standardization of design methods for material selection ete. engineering stressing, Maximum use of standards Symbolic drawing procedures Standardization of document format for issue of piping information. A. responsible piping engineer would try to take the maximum use of such methods and procedures.Painting Insulation Building Stmenie Foundation FIG. 1 Design Engineering 45% ES FIG. 2 Piping 47% ‘Typical Field Labour Cost Instruments cong Electricals, Major Equipment FIG. 3Project Dept.] [Process Designers] [Design Depts fFiow Sheet @]___ fPtant layout & eens Daf tant avout & Piping Details mons. Eqpt. layout | [vtaterial List & Summary Purchase Requisitions Fabrications [Line Diagram] . | pues ae ane tans Pipe System ontracors =a Specification Cost Control [Construction FIG. 4 PIPING DESIGN IN SMALL ORGANIZATION Project Dept] [Process Equip. Piping Design Dept [Design Dept] [Design Dept y wv ¥ ¥ Flow Sheet ] [_ Detaled Plant | [ Prod. | [Material [Process Data) | Equip. Design| Layout] }_Drg_| | Controt [Section] q Section [Utitities Layout | [Piping | [Bill of [Auxillary "| Studies pene: [Material lEquipment| [> Drawing | | Deais | ~~ P [Data >| Key 1 Model = : Ltriaton ¥ [Construction FIG. 5 PIPING DESIGN IN LARGE ORGANIZATIONActivity No. Time Scale Task name i eal) Precons tow Sheet q Pret tayout Final Equpmect Design Ping Layouts Pipe Deas Drawing a nr al an atk. rh or Werking in. Design Final iat. ata ny ee rte , Foe MTO& Orders tain Tenders & Selec Pabrcatars Ma, Oevrion to Faiatoe Pipe Mat, nvr Ste Faticate & Dore Pipes to Ste Deter ret ine O ere Easoment i ares ina Pit aaa rea Part 8 Piping Statue FIG. 6 BAR CHART FOR TYPICAL PROJECT ACTIVITY (Piping Activity Shaded)10 Is 16 7 18 INPUTS TO PIPING Data as per project design basis such as indicative Plot »& IDs, PDS, Process description, Equipment ~ Process. licensor uirements on piperack/pipe sleepers ~ nits/fisites igincering data sheets of equipments like columns, vessels, tanks, etc Engg, data sheets giving overall dimensio process/technological structures ‘Overall foundation layout. Platform drgs. and special pipe structure support structure res. 4 General arrangements drgs. of electrical cable tray/trench ‘Sketches for level instruments (nozzle elevation). Dimensional drawings of all inline instruments, 10. _ Sea eS OUTPUTS FROM PIPING Overall plot plan showing location of various units, tankfarms, offsite. package units, non-plant buildings, roads, culverts, piperacks, sleepers. atc Piping material speci Equipment layo TOG Elevations forall equipment. General arrangement of piperack and equipment supports structures including loads, Piping general arrangement drgs. including platforms, ladders, overhead cranes: cutouts, inserts and sleeves, requi BOM & technical evaluation and technical bidding analysis. Stress analysis Nozzle orientation drgs. including location of ‘Vessel cleats location drgs. for pipe supports, platforms and ladders. Underground piping layout. Isometrics of piping including system ISOs Support drgs. of piping and special support details. Tender for fabrication S.0.Q. Tender for insulation $.0.Q Tender for painting SO.Q