Piping

Pipe & pipe fittings

Tubing & tube fittings
Nomenclature:
 Piping– refers to any assembly of pipes, tubes,
valves, and fittings that forms all or part of a system
for the conveyance of fluids
 Pipe– refers to non-flexible fluid conductors
designated by diameter and wall thickness
(strength or schedule)
 Tubing– can be, and usually is, bent at
installation, is more flexible than pipe, and is
designated by nominal outside diameter and wall
thickness
 Fittings– are devices employed to join sections
of pipe, tubing (or hose) in a piping system.
Pipe sizes
 Nominal Pipe Size (NPS) is approximate inside
diameter of Standard Pipe (Schedule 40)
 Example:
3” STD pipe
 OD= 3.5”; ID= 3.068”
(wall thickness is
0.216”)
 3” XS (sched 80)
 OD= 3.5”; ID= 2.90”
(wall thickness is ≈3.0” 3.5”
0.300”)
 3” Schedule 160
 OD= 3.5”; ID= 2.624”
(wall thickness is
0.438”)
Pipe sizes
 Nominal Pipe Size (NPS) for pipes with
O.D. ≥ 14” is the outside diameter
 Example:
16” STD (sched 30)
 OD= 16”; ID= 15.25”
(wall thickness is
0.375”)
 16” XS (sched 40)
 OD= 16”; ID= 15.0”
(wall thickness is 15.25” 16”
0.500”)
 16” Schedule 160
 OD= 16”; ID= 12.88”
(wall thickness is
1.594”)
Tube sizes
 Outside diameter– in inches or sixteenths
(#12 tube has an outside diameter of ¾ in., #16 has
an outside diameter of 1 inch, etc.)
 Wall thickness– as a decimal (.065 “) or
Birmiongham Wire Gauge (BWG) number (16 BWG
= .065’, 18 BWG is thinner-walled and 14 BWG is
thicker-walled)
 Copper Tubing– is often designated by slightly
different parameters
 Nominal size– 0.125 inches less than the actual
outside diameter (1” copper tubing has an O.D. of 1.125”)
 Wall thickness- designated by “type” K, L, or M (with
type K the most robust)
Pipe connections
 Welded
 Butt weld V-groove
 Backing ring removed or ground away
after weld Backing Ring

Fillet weld
 Pipe connections
 Welded
 Threaded
 American National taper pipe thread (NPT) is NOT the same as
machine threads on nuts & bolts
External threads are
cut with a DIE

Internal threads are

cut with a TAP

Pipe die set

Pipe connections
 Welded
 Threaded
 Flanged
 Flanges may be threaded, welded, or cast integral
to pipe section
Pipe connections
 Welded Nut Bolt
 Threaded
 Flanged

GASKET (LP)
Rubber, paper, flexible graphite, synthetics, etc.
Stud
GASKET (HP)
Metallic,
Flexitallic™
Tube connections
 Tube installations– are never straight runs; deliberate
bends allow for a reduction in length which can occur as
the tube is pressurized
Tube connections
 Braised (sweated)–
 At start, brazing alloy in annular slot in fitting and flux,
applied to tube in clearance area
Brazing Flux
Material

 Tube is heated and expands, flux forced out of clearance

area & braze alloy contacts tube
 Fitting is heated and clearance area opens; flux & alloy
flow out
 Both tube & fitting are heated; as alloy flows out in
penetrates & bonds surfaces
Tube connections
 Braised (sweated) Nut
 Flare fittings
Body or
connector

Flared tube
Flaring Tool
Pipe fittings
 Welded, brazed, flanged or threaded connections
Threaded connections shown
Internally
Externally threaded CAP
threaded PLUG
Pipe fittings
 Connecting equally sized pipe sections…
Externally threaded
NIPPLE

Internally threaded
COUPLING
Pipe fittings
 Connecting equally sized pipe sections…
 The three-piece UNION
2
 Run of piping can be opened
without removing large sections

3
1
Pipe fittings
 Connecting un-equally sized pipe sections…
Externally threaded (larger) &
Internally threded (smaller)
reducing BUSHING

Internally threaded
BELL REDUCER
coupling
Pipe fittings
 Connecting multiple pipe sections…

TEE REDUCING TEE SIDE-OUTLET TEE

Y-BEND SIDE-OUTLET ELBOW

CROSS
(Y-Branch)
Pipe fittings
 Changing flow direction …
 ALSO
 45o and 30o

Elbows
 Reducing Elbow
 Reducing Street-

EL U-BEND
ELBOW  Reducing Side- (Return Bend)
outlet Elbow

STREET ELBOW
(street-EL)

RETURN BEND with

BACK-OUTLET
Tube fittings
 Same variety as for pipe, outfitted for
either flare or brazing connection