Piping Concepts

Site Plan
Considerations

All aspects of safety, operability, maintenance, constructability and economics.

Layout and spacing of the roads, process plants, tanks and piperacks.
Equipment location & spacing, associated piping, controls & maintenance & constructability
Good accessibility to valves and instruments, avoiding hazardous obstructions like misplaced manifolds, valve stems &
support columns.
Constructability to ensure no obstruction to transportation, lifting & erection of equipment due to adjacent plant, structures or
equipment and compliance to sequenced construction plan.
Potential late delivery of large equipment items to avoid serious impact on construction schedule.
One overall site plan for the entire complex, interconnecting piperacks and their relative locations to be made.
Process units and offplot facilities, to be constructed to common schedule to be grouped and located to ensure minimum
impact from and to the operating plant during construction for later phases.
Prevailing wind direction to be considered for special cases.
For e.g., Flares for the refinery to be located upwind of the process units.
Layout of the tankage area to suit the flow of products and feed stocks with the pumps stations located outside of the bunded
area.
Roads to be provided around the tanks for access to all areas for maintenance & fire fighting.

Unit Plot Plan

One unit plot plan for each process unit.

Equipment layout & spacing to allow for maintenance & constructability
Air coolers to be on top of a pipe rack. No equipment is to be located above or below coolers to facilitate
access to place the air coolers and remove the tube bundle for maintenance.
Furnaces and boilers to be located at plot boundaries for ease of access. Adequate dropout and swinging
space for tube pulling by mobile crane.
Fired heaters to be located upwind of process units. In congested process areas, heater locations to provide
the lowest risk of fire or explosion.
Exchangers to be with channel end away from piperacks to facilitate tube bundle removal
Pumps handling flammable materials not to be located below piperacks but to be placed with centreline of
discharge at min. 1.5 m from the centre line of pipework column.
Compressors to be located adjacent to roadway and downwind from heaters & to be in shelters to provide
protection for equipment & personnel. Bridge or gantry crane for removal of compressor components.
Vertical vessels to be placed on a common centreline parallel to the main piperack USO.
Horizontal vessels to be located to minimise piping runs & to be lined up with their tangents on a common
locating line.
Reactors to be located for ease of access during catalyst unloading and loading operations. Space to be
provided for cranes and storage of spent and new catalyst.

Pipe Stress Analysis

Purpose

To ensure that piping is routed and supported so that no damage occurs to either the pipe or associated equipment due
to the effects of thermal expansion or contraction, or loads resulting from weight, pressure, wind earthquake,
pulsation, shock, foundation settlement, etc.

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Procedure

Ensuring compliance to all Code, Client and Inspection Authority requirements pertaining to Piping Stress Analysis.
Establishing all operating functions including start-up,
shutdown, steam-out, various combinations of equipment working and idle, bypasses in and out of use, de-coking, etc.,
for lines to be analyzed.
Stress Critical Line List Review.
Nozzle loads calculations.
Check for flange leakage where bending moments are large, including flanged connections at equipment.
Anchor loads on structures and/or foundations.
Finalising the location of spring supports with required loads and movements on the Stress sketch.
Analysing requirement of reinforcement at branch connections, (other than for internal/external pressure
considerations covered by the Piping Material Specification), or at concentrated loading points.
Considering expansion joints in stress analysis
Checking position of fixed and sliding supports of heat exchangers, horizontal drums, etc.
Review of vendor drawings for equipment nozzle loadings.

Piping Layout (GA)

Purpose

For piping installation within a construction area.

Information for construction planning.
Information for testing and pre-commissioning.

Information for Plant Operators

Methodology

Piping arrangement drawings produced in two stages:

Planning drawing (study sketches / 2D CAD )
To solve major design problems, transmit information & co-ordinate activities of the different design
departments.
Preliminary piping arrangement for inter-discipline review & comment.
Final drawings (3D CAD model or Non-CAD manual drawing)
For 2" and larger lines with dimensions and labelling

GA Using 3D CAD Model

G.A. drawings to be extracted from 3D CAD model.

All verification, geometric & clash checks to be completed (including equipment checks to vendor data) before
IFC GA extraction.

Non-CAD GAs

Additional Pipe support GAs issued for construction to reflect pipe support requirements only.

Design Data

High point of grade.

Column and vessel orientation design sketches including:
nozzles and manways
column and vessel piping
platform and ladder size
instrument orientation and location
height of tower and vessel skirts
Orientation of major equipment nozzles, i.e. pumps, exchangers, compressors, etc.

Top of grout for all equipment foundations & pads.

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Pipe rack widths, bent spacing and top of support elevation of main pipe racks.
Allocation of space for electrical, instrument racks, analyser houses, switchgear, and utility hose stations.
Location of all main structural columns.
Elevations of structural levels and extent of platforms, ladders and stairs required.

Contents of Piping Layout

Equipment co-ordinates.
Elevations (Piping, Equipment, Platforms, etc.).
Line No. Identification and Flow Arrow.
Instrument Identification
Match lines.
Drawing Continuation References.
Key Plan Identification.
Complete "Holds" List.
Reference Drawings.

Structural Column Identification

Piping Layout - Checkpoints

Conformance with P&ID's for

Line number, size, classification, direction of flow.
Instrument connections and numbers (long form).
Piping material classification changes.
Drawing "Holds" list.
Drawing title block & Drawing key plan.
Compliance with standard drawings and plot plan.
Adjacent drawings & key plans for correct co-ordinates & drawing references.
Fire & Safety requirements & location of fire fighting equipment.
Location of Drain hubs, Utility stations, safety showers, eyewashes, drinking fountains & ladders.
No fouling of piping with structures, equipment and other lines.
Requirements for operating aisles, headway and roadway clearances and other mandatory dimensional clearances

Piping Isometrics

Purpose

Adequate information to fabricate shop pipework.

Adequate information to field run small bore piping.
Adequate information to erect the pre-fabricated pipe spools.
Adequate means of identifying materials for above mentioned isometrics.
Adequate information for locating & identifying pipe supports welded to shop fabricated pipework.

Methodology

Shop and field isometrics to be extracted/drawn & self-contained within a model base, plant or unit as defined at start of job.
Shop isometrics to be adequately dimensioned to enable spooling and/or shop fabrication.
Field isometrics to be extracted/drawn with overall dimensions only for material purposes & to assist field erection.

Isometrics using 3D CAD Model

Isometrics to be extracted from 3D CAD model.

Isometrics need not be fully checked dimensionally.
P & ID check of the isometric and yellow off to be done.
Material to be downloaded from model.
Isometric to be downloaded for piping spool drawings.

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Non-CAD Isometrics

Manually prepared on Isometric Sheet.

Both dimensional and P&ID checks to be done.
Material to be manually entered.

Contents of Piping Isometrics

Line Number & Size
Pipe Classification
Direction of Flow
Equipment Reference & Nozzle Identification
Structural Number Identification
Isometric Drawing Continuation References
All Valving (except vent and drain valves)
Strainers, Traps & Flexible Hoses
Break with Shop and Field
Field Welds (but not shop welds)
Vents (as V) & Drains (as D)
Orifice Assemblies
Spectacle Blinds and Spacers
Instrument Numbers, such as PI, TIs, TWs, etc.
Instrument Connections
Out of Specification Items
Sample Points
Special Shop Attachment of Pipe Support
Dummy Legs
Cold Pull
Special Line Features, such as Fall, Reinforcing Pads, Weep Holes, Welded Lugs, etc.
Spool Identification (suffix letter only)
Insulation (include limit)

Piping Material
Scope

Material take-off
Updating & control of material quantities with design
Monitoring of material requisitions.

Method

Automated Material Control

MTO download from 3D CAD Model

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Manual Material Entry (for non-modelled items).

Link to Procurement Tracking System

Piping Stock Code

Project Stock Code Index generated by Piping Material Classes to be issued as a project specification.

Responsibility

Lead Piping Engineer to schedule and co-ordinate all piping material take-off activities and material requisitioning.
Civil Group to give take-off of underground carbon steel non-pressure piping using the appropriate piping class.
Instrument Group to give take-off of all instrument piping beyond the primary (root) block valve (except at level
instruments).
Electrical Group to give take-off of all electrical cable duct piping.
Piping Materials Engineer to transmit a summary of all tubing and tubing fittings requirements to Instrument Group
for requisitioning.

Material Control

Initial material take off from :

Completed preliminary line routings in the CAD model

Manual take off from P&IDs

Total forecast material requirements including working surplus and contingency form the basis of the Bulk Material
Requisitions.
Frequency & timing of material extractions from CAD model & manual MTO ensure that bulk material status is
concurrent with design.
Field material control is possible as the data within the piping material control programme is downloaded to
Procurement Tracking System.
Material requisitions issued to procurement for enquiry/ purchase.
MR quantities issued for purchase (initial & at each revision) are downloaded to Procurement Tracking System.

Statutory Requirements
Applicable Codes

International piping codes and standards accepted in India

ASME/ANSI B31.1, Power Piping

ASME/ANSI B31.3, Chemical Plant and Petroleum Refinery Piping

Oil Industry Safety Directorate,Standard 118.
Layout & spacing of roads,buildings,storage tanks and all equipment

Authority Approval

Indian Boiler Regulations (IBR)

Materials and fabrication associated with steam and boiler feed systems.
Chief Controller of Explosives. (CCOE)
All Plot Plans for approval together with safety radii from various sources. (Hazardous Area Drawings).
Tariff Advisory Committee (TAC)

Fire protection system & material selection

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