Piping Design
The ultimate goal of any piping design projects is to open the way for the construction team to
materialize the plans of creating an engineering piping system by developing construction
drawings. Construction drawings are presented in the form of 2D drawings like pipe isometric
drawings, civil structural drawings, plot-plans, equipment layouts and pipe support fabrication
drawings.
Before computer-aided design took the center stage in engineering construction, engineers and
draftsman manually draft construction drawing. The introduction of computer-aided design
systems made the engineering stage of a project faster and less prone to errors.
The most common of these computer-aided design tools is the AutoCAD by
Autodesk. AutoCAD dominated the computer-aided drafting software industry but was not
necessarily the most convenient and useful system for every project.
In the plant design engineering industry, PDMS and SP3D are the two highly recognized tools in
the overall design of power and industrial plants. These software or systems were specially
created for the design engineering team to produce construction documents. Computer-aided
design software like AutoCAD, SP3D & PDMS offers many techniques and method to make the
design execution faster and with fewer errors.
Piping Design is not restricted to pipeline system only. Piping Design or Piping Engineering
involves multiple activities such as,
Equipment Layout - The arrangement of process and utility equipment based on process
requirements, cost reduction of piping systems, personnel safety concerns and many other
engineering considerations for a given geographical area.
Civil Structure Loading Data - Structural systems that support both piping and equipment. The
piping group is sometimes responsible for the design of these structures in the form of loading
data that will be given to the civil group for the development of civil construction drawings.
Electrical & Instrumentation Layout - The electrical and instrumentation trays are also a critical
consideration in designing piping systems along with the accessibility of control panels.
3D modeling plays an essential part in the design. One key role of 3D modeling is for model
review purposes. During model reviews, a possible clash is corrected before the final revision of
any documents involved are issued.
Other activities such as P&ID development are performed during the basic design stage,
although revisions are done even during the detail design stage of the project. Majority of the
topics under this course are focused on the detail design stage, but basic knowledge of
engineering principles and materials will also be included in the topics ahead.
Typical piping engineering project may run from 4 to 24 months depending on its size or
capacity. Usually, a group of 3 to 30 engineers is involved in the engineering stage. In later
chapters, I will outline the hierarchy of a detail engineering group and its manpower
development.
Although piping engineering projects are challenging, the existing systems and leadership
practices make it easier for the project manager to execute the task. With the help of computer-
aided design tools, the engineering team can now create construction drawings fast and with
fewer mistakes.
Engineering Stages (BED, FEED & Detail Engineering)
Before construction, a project undergoes three major engineering stages. These are,
1. Basic Engineering Design (BED)
2. Front End Engineering Design (FEED)
3. Detail Engineering
Basic Engineering Design (BED)
This is where the P&ID which is the most important document in plant engineering is being
conceptualized. During this stage, conceptual process studies is being conducted (energy &
material balance, process flow sheets, pressure & temperature ratings). All the data that are
required for the specification of a system equipment are studied in BED.
Front End Engineering Design (FEED)
This is where the P&ID is being developed before giving it to the detail engineering group.
Process and utility system are now visible to the P&ID. Plot plan & equipment layout is also
being fixed during this stage. Major equipment like process equipment is now being fixed for the
detail engineering to start the 3D model. All the necessary studies and decisions are being made
here before ordering the equipment.
Detail Engineering
This is where important documents are being developed for the construction team. Using 3D
models, the engineering team performs model reviews and extracts 2D drawings for construction
purposes. Vendor drawings are being finalized to suit project requirements and policies. Before
the detail engineering stage, documents like Piping Material Specification and Piping Standard
drawings should be fixed to achieve uniformity throughout the project. The P&ID, which is the
most important document for the detail engineering team should be around 90 to 95% fix. Any
major revisions in the P&ID should be avoided during this stage of the project.
In the later chapters, you will able to determine what documents are being created during the
detail engineering stage and how it was developed. Majority of the discussion of this course will
focus on Piping Design, 3D design techniques and methods in order to create a construction
drawing the construction group will understand to avoid trouble during the construction. I will
also include engineering rule of thumbs and best practices in the design of the piping system.
Chapter Summary:
Common Piping Design Tools
AutoCAD
PDMS
SP3D
Piping Design Activities
Equipment Layout
Civil Structure Loading Data
Electrical & Instrumentation Layout
Piping Design modeling
Engineering Stages
Basic Engineering Design (BED)
Front End Engineering Design (FEED)
Detail Engineering
