Pipe Rack and Rack Piping Considerations with Online

Course (With PDF)

whatispiping.com/rack-piping/

Anup Kumar Dey

A pipe rack is the main artery of a processing unit. It

connects all equipment with lines that cannot run
through adjacent areas. Because it is located in the
middle of most plants, the pipe rack must be erected
first, before it becomes obstructed by rows of
equipment. Pipe racks carry process, utility piping,
and also include instrument and electrical cable trays,
as well as equipment mounted over all of these. Fig. 1, shows a typical pipe rack.

This is a small presentation on Pipe Rack and Rack Piping. It will be very helpful for
beginners in the piping industry. This article will cover the following points in brief:

Data required for Pipe Rack Development

Pipe Rack design criteria
Shapes
Future Space
Width of Pipe Rack
Clearance
Pipe Rack Loading
Rack Piping
Positions of Lines (Process & Utilities)
Hot Lines & Cold Lines
Bigger Size Lines
Pipe Spacing
Anchor Bay
Unit Battery Limit
Expansion Loops
Pipe Route
Trays

Data Required for Pipe Rack Development

The primary data required for the detailed development of a pipe rack:-

Plot Plan
P&ID’s
Client Specification
Construction Materials
Fireproofing requirements
Statutory requirements

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 Fig. 1: Typical pipe rack

Pipe Rack Design Criteria

Shapes of Pipe Rack

There are various shapes of pipe racks like L/T/U/H/Z. These shapes shall be considered
based on the area available.

Future Space Requirement in Pipe Rack

The total width of the pipe rack shall include 25% extra space for future
expansion/modification in the unit for rack width up to 16 m and 10% for rack width above
16 m. The future space %age is normally based on client requirements.

Width of the Pipe rack

The width of the rack shall be 6 m, 8 m, or 10 m for single bay and 12 m, 16 m, or 20 m
for double bay having 4 tiers maximum. The spacing between pipe rack portals shall be
taken as 6m in general. However, it can be increased to 8m depending on the size of the
pumps to be housed below the pipe rack.

Clearance criteria in Pipe rack

For units, clearance beneath pipe rack shall be 4 m minimum both in longitudinal and
transverse directions.

For Offsite, clearance beneath pipe rack shall be 2.2 m minimum both in longitudinal and
transverse directions.

Road clearance shall be 7 m for the main road and 5 m for the secondary road.

Rack Width Selection Criteria

Refer to Fig. 2 for details

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 Fig. 2: Rack width selection criteria

Pipe Rack Loading

Pipe rack loads shall be given by stress group to Civil & structural discipline for pipe rack
design.

Sustain Load (Dead Load): Weight of piping, valve, and load insulation
Thermal Load: Load by thermal expansion of piping & Reaction force by the
internal pressure of expansion bellows
Dynamic Load
Occasional Loads by the vibration of piping & by wind and earthquake
Sustained Load (Live Load): Liquid load for the hydrostatic pressure test

Guidelines for Rack Piping

Position of Lines in a Pipe Rack:

Predominantly process lines are to be kept at a lower tier and, utility & hot process lines
on the upper tier.

Hot Lines & Cold Lines in a Pipe Rack:

Generally, hotlines & cold lines are to keep at different tiers or at different groups on a tier.

Pipe Spacing inside Pipe rack:

Minimum spacing between adjacent lines shall be decided based on O.D. of bigger size
flange (minimum rating 300# to be considered), O.D. of the smaller pipe, individual
insulation thickness, and additional 25mm clearance. Even if the flange is not appearing
the min. spacing shall be based on the above basis only. Actual line spacing, especially at
‘L’ bend and loop locations, shall take care of thermal expansion/thermal contraction/non-
expansion of adjacent lines. Non-expansion/thermal contraction may stop the free
expansion of the adjacent line at the ‘L’ bend location.

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Bigger Size Lines:
Large size lines (14” and larger) shall be arranged close to the column in order to
decrease the bending moment of the beam. Water lines more than 30” shall not be routed
over a pipe rack, these shall be routed underground.

Anchor Bay in a Pipe rack

Anchors on the racks are to be provided on the anchor bay if the concept of anchor bay is
adopted. Otherwise, the anchor shall be distributed over two to three consecutive bays.

Anchors shall be provided within the unit on all hotlines leaving the unit.

Pipe Route:
Racks shall be designed to give the piping the shortest possible run and to provide clear
head rooms over main walkways, secondary walkways, and platforms.

Trays:
Generally, the top tier is to be kept for Electrical cable trays (if not provided in the
underground trench) and Instrument cable ducts/trays. Cable tray laying to take care of
necessary clearances for the fireproofing of the structure.

Battery Limit (ISBL):

Process lines crossing units (within units or from the unit to the main pipe way) are
normally provided with a block valve, spectacle blind, and drain valve. Block valves are to
be grouped and locations of block valves in the vertical run of pipe are preferred. If the
block valves have to be located in an overhead pipe-way, staircase access to a platform
above the lines shall be provided.

Expansion loops in a Pipe Rack

Refer to Fig 3.

Fig. 3: Examples of Expansion Loops

The expansion loop is provided on the high-temperature lines. This information shall be
given by the stress group. All the loops shall be located around one column only.

Make lines into a group and install a large size piping and high-temperature piping to the
edge of the pipe rack.

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When necessary to install an expansion loop on the condensate line, do it horizontally to
prevent water hammering. But do as above if the horizontal loop is impossible.

To learn the piping stress concepts of pipe rack design visit the following article: Rack
Piping for a Piping Stress Engineer

Online Course on PipeRack Piping Layout and Stress Analysis

The above presentation gives only some glimpses of the complete pipe rack piping
consideration. If you wish to learn more and upgrade yourself to have an edge over your
peers then the following course by a highly-experienced piping engineer will be ideal for
you. n the course, the instructors explain all the basic philosophies of pipe rack piping
layout consideration and stress analysis methodology in Caesar II. Click here to access
the online course and enjoy the learning to upgrade yourself.

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