Piping Fundamentals:

M.N.Raghu

Piping Fundamentals Agenda:

Definition of Pipe and Piping
Concept Layout Development

Piping Components

Orientation of various tapings, components, etc.

Piping Drains & Vents

Material & Sizing

PIPE:
It is a Tubular item made of metal, plastic, glass etc. meant for
conveying Liquid, Gas or any thing that flows.
It is a very important component for any industrial plant. And its
engineering plays a major part in overall engineering of a Plant.
PIPING:
The term Piping means not only pipe but also includes
components like fittings, flanges, valves, bolts, gaskets, bellows
etc.

In any plant various fluids flow through pipes

from one end to other.
Now let us start with a plant where we see
Three tanks: Tank-1, Tank-2 and Tank-3
We have to transfer the content of Tank no. 1
to the other two tanks.
We will need to connect pipes to transfer the
fluids from Tank-1 to Tank-2 and Tank-3
LET US PLACE THE PIPES.

We have just brought the pipes, now we need

to solve some more problems.
Pipes are all straight pieces.

sa
e
pip es!
e
om t siz
s
en feren
v
E dif
of

We need some bend

connections
We need some
branch
connections

To solve these problems we need

the pipe components, which are
called PIPE FITTINGS

re

These are the pipe fittings,

There are various types of fittings for various
purposes, some common types are Elbows/Bends, Tees/Branches,
Reducers/Expanders, Couplings, Olets, etc.

Anyway, the pipes and

fittings are in place, but the
ends are yet to be joined with
the Tank nozzles.

We now have to complete the

end connections.
These, in piping term, we call

TERMINAL CONNECTIONS.

So far this is a nice arrangement.

But there is no control over the flow from Tank-1
to other tanks.
We need some arrangement to stop the
flow if needed

These are flanged joints

This is a welded joint

To control the flow in a pipe line we

need to fit a special component.
That is called - VALVE

There are many types of valves, categorized

based on their construction and functionality,
Those are - Gate, Globe, Check, Butterfly, etc.

Other than valves another important

line component of pipe line is a filter,
which cleans out derbies from the
flowing fluid. This is called a

STRAINER

Here we see a more or less functional piping

system, with valves and strainer installed.
Let us now investigate some aspects of pipe
flexibility.

This tank nozzle

expands, when
the tank is hot.
In such case we need to fit
a flexible pipe component
at that location, which is
called an EXPANSION

JOINT

When some fluid is

flowing in a pipe we may
also like know the
parameters like, pressure,
temperature, flow rate etc.
of the fluid.
To know these information we need to
install INSTRUMENTS in the pipeline.

There are various types instruments to measure

various parameters. Also there are specific criteria
for installation of various pipe line instruments.

Next we shall look into how to SUPPORT

the pipe/and its components.

Here are some of the pipe supporting arrangements.

There can be numerous variants. All depend on piping
designers preference and judgement.

Let us see some OTHER types of supports

While development of piping layout we have to consider the following:

Material to withstand the high pressure and high temperature.
Piping from source to destination should be as short as possible with
minimum change in direction.

Not
Preferable
Preferable

Should not hinder any normal passage way. Also should not encroach any
equipment maintenance space.
Valves, strainers, instruments on the pipe should be easily accessible.

 If needed separate ACCESS PLATFORMS to be provided to facilitate piping

operation.
Desired location and orientation of valves / instruments and other pipe
components are to be checked and maintained, like some valves or strainers
can only be installed in HORIZONTAL position.
Specific requirements of STRAIGHT LENGTH of pipe for some components
to be maintained, like for flow orifice we need to provide 15 D straight pipe
length at upstream of orifice and 5 D straight at down stream of orifice.

Example of Straight length requirement for Flow Orifice

 To ensure that there is no air-trap in the pipeline, a VENT connection with Valve
is provided at the top most point of the pipeline.
A DRAIN connection with Valve is provided at the lowest point of the pipeline
for liquid drain from pipeline.
Pipes are also slopped towards low points.
Let us look
into typical
Vent and
Drain
arrangement
in a pipeline

 Provision to be made to absorb thermal expansion in pipes during high

temperature applications.
Avoid Piping load transfer to applications- with suitable supports and
anchors.
Underground / Embedded piping issues.
Insulation / Freeze protection issues
There are many recognized international codes which lay down guide
lines and mandatory requirements for design of piping.
Most followed standards are:
ASME ANSI B31.1- Power Piping Code &
IBR - Indian Boiler Regulation (in INDIA)

Pipe Material Selection - to select appropriate pipe material based on flowing fluid property.
Find out type
of Fluid
flowing

Find out
Fluid Temp.
& Pressure

Check Pipe
life
Expectancy

Select suitable
Material per
practice (Note-1)

Check Mat.
Listed in
Design Code

YES

Pipe
Material
OK

NO

Note-1 : Material is selected per past experience with cost in mind

and per material listed in design code. If material is not listed
in code we may select next suitable material listed.

See Note-1

Pipe Sizing Calculation - to select required pipe diameter based on velocity and pressure drop.
Find out
Flow volume
per second

Check Velocity
Allowable per
second

Calc. flow area

required and
Pipe size

Calc. Press.
Drop for that
Pipe size

Check Press. YES

Drop meets
Press. Budget

Pipe
Size
OK

NO
Increase
Pipe Size
Pipe Thickness Selection - to select appropriate pipe thickness based on flowing fluid property
Select Mat.
& Diameter
as above

Find out
Fluid Temp.
& Pressure

Decide on
Corrosion
allowance

Calc. Pipe
Thickness per
Code

We have just completed a pipe line design. How Piping design is done in
practice?
Determine the Flow scheme:
1) What,
2) From what point,

3) To which point

Selection of Pipe material, Pipe sizes and Pipe wall thickness are selected.
Selection of suitable Valves and fittings wrt functions required
Instrumentation required

All of the above are represented in a drawing which is called Piping and
Instrumentation Drawing, in short P&ID. This drawing contains all the
information about a pipe like, Pipe size, Flowing Fluid, etc.

Sample P and I diagram

After the P&ID is ready, the layout work, pipe routing / layout is generally
done in a Virtual 3D environment using a customised software. This is called
as Piping modeling or Physical design.
3D drawing of a Typical piping system

Piping Example

Observe: Bending of pipes is better

than bend fittings to avoid leakage
and pressure drop issues.

Piping Example

Piping Example

Any Questions?

Thanks,
M.N.Raghu
www.bflhydro.com