Piping Fundamentals

Piping System - What is that?

Concept Layout Development
Piping Components & their access requirement.
Straight length requirements.
Orientation of various tapings, components, etc.
Piping Drains & Vents
Insulation.
Material & Sizing
Critical piping system consideration.
Pipe Stress Analysis.
Pipe Supports

Piping Fundamentals
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.

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 BRING THE PIPES.

To solve these
problems we need the
pipe components,
which are called

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

PIPE FITTINGS

We need some
branch
connections

We need some bend

connections

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.

If 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.

Next we shall look

into how to
SUPPORT the
pipe/and its
components.

There are various types instruments to measure various

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

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 carrying out pipe routing we also need to consider the following
Valves, strainers, instruments on the pipe should be easily accessible.
If needed separate ACCESS PLATFORMS to be provided to facilitate these.
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 for instrument installation to be checked, like
temperature gauge can not be installed in pipe which is less than 4 inch in size.
Specific requirements of STRAIGHT LENGTH of pipe for some components to
be maintained, like for flow orifice we need to provide 15 times diameter
straight pipe length at upstream of orifice and 5 times diameter straight at down
stream of orifice.

Example of Straight length requirement for Flow Orifice

 For Pipeline which shall carry liquid, we have to make sure that all air is
allowed to vent out of the line when the line is filled with liquid.
To achieve this a VENT connection with Valve is provided at the top most point
of the pipeline.
Also arrangement is kept in the
pipeline so that liquid can be
drained out if required.
To achieve this a DRAIN connection
with Valve is provided at the lowest
point of the pipeline
Pipes are also slopped towards low
points.
Let us look
into typical
Vent and
Drain
arrangement
in a pipeline

INSULATION - When hot fluid flows through pipe then generally pipe is
insulated.
There are two primary reasons for insulating the pipe carrying hot fluid.
Containing the heat inside the pipe. Insulation preserves the heat of the fluid. It
is called Hot Insulation
Personnel safety, so that people do not get burn injury by touching hot surface
ofpipes
pipe. are
It isalso
called
Personnel Protection Insulation
Cold
insulated
Cold or chilled fluid carrying pipes are insulated to prevent heating of cold fluid
from outside. It is called Cold Insulation.
Some times cold pipes are insulated to prevent condensation of atmospheric
water vapor on pipe surface. It is called Anti-Sweat Insulation.
Other types of Insulation
When gas flows through pipes at high velocity, it creates noise. In such cases
pipes are insulated to reduce noise. It is called Acoustic Insulation.
Some times pipe and its content are heated from outside, by heat tracing
element. In that case pipe along with heat tracing element are insulated to
conserve the heat of the tracer. It is called Heat Tracing Insulation.

INSULATION MATERIAL - The insulating material should be bad conductor of heat.

There are two basic categories
1) Fibrous Material, which has large voids full of air between fibers - Cork, Glass Wool,
Mineral Wool, Organic Fibers. Note stagnant air is a bad conductor.
2) Cellular Material, which has closed void cells full or air - Calcium Silicate, Cellular
Glass (Foam Glass), Polyurethane Foam (PUF), Polystyrene (Thermocol), etc.
Some times Cast material like Cement Plaster or Plaster of Paris are also used.
INSULATION CLADDING - Insulation materials are generally soft or fragile. So the
outer surface of insulation are protected with Aluminum sheet or GI sheet
cladding.

Have a look at how

pipes are insulated,
and general
components of
insulation

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)

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.

Check Mat.
Listed in
Design Code

YES

Pipe
Material
OK

NO
See Note1

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.
Drop meets
Press. Budget
NO
Increase
Pipe Size

YES

Pipe
Size
OK

PIPE STRESS ANALYSIS

Inputs

Tools we use

Geometric layout of Pipe

PIPSYS - is an integrated pipe stress

analysis module of PLADES 2000

Pipe supporting configuration

Pipe Diameter and Thickness
Pressure inside Pipe

CEASER - Commercial Piping analysis

software

Cold and Hot temperatures of Pipe

There are many other commercial software

available

Weight of Pipe and insulation

Outputs

Weight of carrying Fluid

Stress of the pipe at various loading

conditions

Pipe material Property (Youngs Modulus,

Thermal Expansion Coefficient)

Load at various supports and restrains.

Thrust on pipe due to blowing wind.

Movement of pipe at support locations

Thrust on pipe due to earthquake

Pipe terminal point loading.

Load of Snow on pipe

Codes and Standards

Any transient loading like Steam Hammer

load

In general Power Plant Piping have to

comply stipulations of ASME ANSI B31.1

Any other load on the piping

In India Power cycle Piping to comply IBR

code requirements.

Types of Pipe Supports

Constant Load Spring

There are three general types

Rigid type (no flexibility in
the direction of restrain)
Spring type (Allows pipe
movement in direction of
loading)

Variable Spring

Variable load type, here

support load changes as the
pipe moves.
Constant load support, the
load remains constant within
some range of movement.

Rigid Support

There are two types of spring

support

Rigid Hanger

Dynamic Support (Degree of

restrain depends on
acceleration of load)

Dynamic Support,
Snubber
Rigid Support