CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION TO PIPING
Piping System in an Industrial Plant is similar to the Arteries & Veins of Human Body.
Piping is used for marine, transportation, civil engineering and for commercial purposes.
Process piping is used to transport fluids between storage tanks and processing units.
Service piping is used to convey steam, air, water etc for processing. Liquids, Vapors,
Slurries, Solids etc. flow through a Piping System under Various Conditions (Pressure,
Temperature etc.) depending on the Industry/ Service. The piping System are an essential
and integral part of our modern civilization as arteries and veins are essential to the
human body.
1.1 TYPICAL APPLICATION OF PIPING SYSTEM
• To convey oil, gas and other thuds in refineries, petrochemical plant, oil
producing offshore platforms etc.
• To carry liquids, chemicals, gases, vapors etc from one location to another in
chemical plants, paper mills food processing plants and other similar industrial
establishments.
• To convey high pressure high temperature steam in a thermal power plant.
• To transport water from sources of water supply to points of distributor
TYPICAL SERVICE CONDITIONS
Piping Network is subjected to various server conditions such as:-
High Temperature
Cryogenic (Sub- Zero) Temperature
High pressure
Low pressure (Vacuum)
High Flow velocity
Erosion
Corrosion
Hazardous Toxic Substances
Combination of Above Conditions
Depending on the Criticality of the Service Conditions, Piping System has to be designed
to with stand the process conditions.
DIFFRENCE BETWEEN PIPING & PIPLINES
Piping System
It carries Fluids from & to various equipment within a plant boundary.
• Fluids like oil, gas etc flows between various equipments
within a refinery
• Piping Network within a chemical plant, Petrochemical
plant, power plant etc.
Pipelines
Transport Fluids from one Facility to another facility
• Crude oil from an offshore platform is Transported to an onshore refinery
through a Sub-Sea pipelines
• By products from a refinery is transported to a petrochemical plant through
Pipeline
• Crude oil from one country or state can be transported to another country or
State through Pipeline
WHAT A PIPING ENGINEER SHOULD KNOW ABOUT?
Piping Engineer needs a wide Engineering knowledge, not necessarily in depth but
certainly in understanding
He must also have an understanding of
Engineering Economic + Cost
Metallurgy
Methods of Pipe fabrication & Erection
Sufficient knowledge of Structural Engineering Since the Piping Systems
has to be properly designed & supported so as to avoid any overstresses,
forces and movements On the connected equipment like pumps,
compressors, vessels etc on the supporting Structures or on the Piping
System itself.
Good knowledge of safety codes & Practices
Conversant with Drafting procedures & practices
1.2 IMPACT OF PIPING ON PLANT INVESTMENT
(TYPICAL FOR REFINERY, PETROCHEMICALS,
AND CHEMICAL PLANT ETC.)
MATERIAL COST
It can be seen that excluding the major equipment cost, piping is the largest plant cost
component
DESIGN OFFICE MAN HOURS
Typically, 45% of the total design office man hours will be for Engineering design and
50% of the engineering man hours will be consumed by piping department.
FIELD LABOUR COST
It can be seen that 47% of the field Labor cost (Fabrication & Erection) is attributed to
Piping.
1.3 RESPONSIBILITY OF A PIPING ENGINEER
Piping Engineer is responsible for substantial part of total project cost.
Completion of Piping activities on time is critical to completion of the project in
time.
A piping Engineer should pay specific attention to the following aspects.
ADEQUACY
Piping design must be adequate to meet the process specification & Physical conditions
in which the plant is to operate.
ECONOMY:-
Adequate design must be achieved at an Economic cost with in the project budget.
Design Should be optimized to minimize the overall project cost as well as operations &
Maintenance costs of the facility
CLARITY & ACCURACY
Piping Engineer has to Interact with various other departments like process, Mechanical,
civil Structural, instrumentation, electrical .Piping Engineer will require data from many
or all of the above departments to carry out his design similarly Piping design data will be
used by various departments to finalize their design. Hence clarity &accuracy of piping
design works is very important to avoid mistakes and rectifications at a later stage which
many prove to be very costly and can delay the project completion