Piping Specialty Items and Their Review (PDF)

whatispiping.com/piping-specialty-items/

Saurabh Shetty October 28, 2022

Piping Specialty items are basically a range of non-fitting items and components required
to serve various functions in the piping and plumbing system. The scope of this article is
to take you through a brief introduction to the Piping specialty items and their review.

Types of Pipes | Classification of ...

Types of Pipes | Classification of Pipes (PDF)
When an item cannot be managed as a bulk item due to certain Process Licensor
requirements, it must be procured as a special item (as these special parameters need to
be informed to the vendor which cannot be done through bulk purchasing.) The first step
towards this direction is marking it with a special tag on PID for easier identification on
site. These special items are depicted with a symbol on the PID. Hence the process of
assigning the Special item tag is important and there should be no duplication. These
special items usually have a longer lead time as compared to bulk items and being
special, they are also expensive.

It is also important to have the correct data as per the P&ID so that the sizes, ratings, or
materials are not wrongly purchased.

Once the special tags are assigned and the list is prepared, the purchase specification is
then prepared for each special item, including the scope, the material, design, end
connection, packing, preservation, and painting requirements as such. The process
datasheets involving the different process inputs for the individual special item are further
attached to this purchase specification.

The Material requisition (which consists of the purchase specification, the process
datasheets, the painting, preservation, inspection, and test plan) is then floated in the
market for vendor offers. After receiving the vendor offers, the technical bid evaluation is
done (which involves to and fro technical queries, which are resolved between the
contractor and the vendor). Once the technical bid evaluation is finalized, it is then
forwarded to the Procurement department after which the purchase order is finally placed.
Then we receive the general arrangement drawings for each special item which needs to
be reviewed and further approved across subsequent revisions. After which they are
ready for production and further dispatched to the site once ready.

Some of the special items involved are steam traps, strainers, angle piston valves, flame
arrestors, special check valves, flexible hoses and quick couplings, and sight glass.

We will just go through a quick and brief introduction for every special item mentioned
above.

Steam Traps

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During the heat transfer process for example in a heat exchanger, both air and
condensate can form and get trapped in the system, making it less effective. Hence
steam traps are basically used to separate out these condensate and non-condensate
gases (like air) from a pressurized steam system. Therefore, steam traps are used to trap
steam and discharge the condensate. The heating efficiency in the system would be
affected if the condensate is not removed, and quickly.

There are different parameters such as pressure drop, sizing, condensate load, density,
flow rate, viscosity, design pressure, temperature, etc. to be considered in a trap
datasheet.

There are many types of steam traps used depending on the application such as

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Thermodynamic steam trap (works on the principle of pressure differential).
Thermotactic steam trap (works on the principle of temperature differential).
Mechanical traps such as ball float type and inverted bucket type.

The vendor or the process engineering department shall select the right type of trap
depending on the application, the differential pressure, and the condensate and sizing
load.

Most of these steam traps are equipped with integral strainers for filtering purposes.

Generally, from the above, thermodynamic traps are widely used. They are also used as
utility traps commonly referred to as bulk traps. They are cheaper as compared to other
traps. To know more about steam traps click here. Below are the pictures of the steam
traps.

Fig. 1: Types of Steam Traps

Strainers
The strainers are used in process plants to protect equipment such as valves, and steam
traps from dirt, etc. The mesh size, pressure drop, opening area ratio, design
temperature, and pressure are different parameters to be considered in the datasheet for
strainers.

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The different types of strainers are Y-type strainers, T-type strainers, Basket type
strainers, and Conical type Temporary strainers.  Below are the pictures of the strainers
as mentioned above. More details of strainers can be found here.

Fig. 2: Types of Strainers

Angle Piston Valves

These are one of the most critical piping specialty items, they are mostly used at the
bottom of equipment such as reactors. They have a long lead time and are also
expensive.

The alpha angle of the drain connection with respect to the flow, the special service and
finishing requirements, design temperature and pressure, and layout considerations, if
any shall be taken into account whilst preparing the datasheet for angle piston valves.

Flame Arrestors
While transporting flammable liquids or gases, there is a possibility of flame or explosion
to occur should an ignition take place.

The explosion group, the type of service, the zone classification, design pressure,
temperature, and layout considerations shall be considered whilst preparing the
datasheet. The vendor shall select the type of flame arrestor depending on the above
parameters. There are two types of flame arrestors:

Detonation:
Inline detonation flame arrestors are specifically designed for pipelines that have a
significant distance between the ignition source and the flame arrestor. In other words,
they can be installed at any distance from the ignition source. They offer ultimate
protection from a worst-case scenario i.e of an explosion. They have a series of mesh as
shown in the figure below and based on all the above reasons they are expensive when
compared to the deflagration type.

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Deflagration:
End-of-line deflagration is designed to protect against atmospheric deflagration where the
ignition source originates outside the system.

Inline deflagration is designed to prevent the possibility of propagation of flames in the

piping systems by locating the flame arrestor in close proximity to the potential source of
ignition.

Fig. 3: Various Types of Piping Specialty Items

Special Check Valves

Special check valves are similar to normal check valves except that they would have
some special process requirements individually such as pressure drop, density, design
temperature, and pressure, etc. which cannot be managed through bulk and would
require a different special item tag. These special process parameters shall be taken into
consideration whilst preparing the datasheet.

Flexible Hoses and Quick couplings

Flexible hoses along with quick couplings are used for process and utility services (Plant
air, Cooling water, Nitrogen, and Steam). The end connections, the design pressure, and
temperature, the length of the hose required are certain parameters that require to be
included in the datasheet.

Different ends connection for the hose such as Camlock type, wing nut type, and
Swagelok type are used depending upon the services.

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Sight Glass
Sight glasses as piping specialty items are pieces of equipment with industrial glass used
to observe the levels of liquids in a plant. They allow the plant personnel to monitor the
pressure changes. The different process parameters here are given by process. The
design conditions such as pressure and temperature, fluid service, and the type of glass
required are certain parameters to be included in the datasheet.

List of Piping Specialty Items

Some of the most common piping specialty items are already introduced in the above
section. Some other piping specialty items are listed below:

Static Mixer
Special Equal Tee
Grit trap
Sand Trap
Liquid Trap
Air release vacuum breaker
Bug Screen
Chemical Injection
Insulation Joints, Insulation Flanges, Insulation Kits
Bursting Discs
Sample cooler
Valve interlock
Quick release Coupling
Oblique Connection
Corrosion Coupon
Pipe Expansion Joint
Corrosion probe
Fabricated and Special forged items and nozzles according to customer drawings
Test Plugs
Ball Joints
Flexible Connectors
Fire Hydrant

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