Professional Documents
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Piperack Width 6. Piperack Elevation 7. Line Location in Piperacks 8. Piping Economy in Piperack and its Influence on Plant Layout 9. Piperack General Arrangement Checklist 10. Pipetracks 11. Trenched Piping (Civil Department) 12. Underground Piping (by Civil Department)
1. General
The pipeway conveys all main process lines connecting distant pieces of equipment, relief and blowdown headers, all lines leaving and entering the plant, utility lines supplying steam, air, cooling water and inert gas to the plant. Electrical and instrument cable trays are usually routed in the pipeway. Pipeways are classified by their relative elevation to grade.
1.1 Piperack
Overhead piping supported on steel or concrete bents.
1.2 Pipetrack
Above ground piping supported on concrete sleepers at grade level. (Off site areas where equipment is well spaced out)
2. Information Required
2.1 Job Specification
Job specification SP....C100 contains design criteria, agreed between Company and Client, affecting piperack design:
Battery limit, valving and spade requirements. Catwalk, platform and ladder access to valves and relief valves in piperack. Minimum headroom and clearances under overhead piping or supporting steel within areas Pipeways and secondary access ways Main access roads Rail roads Standard to be used for minimum spacing of lines in paperacks Handling and headroom requirements for equipment positioned under piperacks Operating and safety requirements affecting piperack and structure design Location of cooling water lines underground or above ground Trenched piping, if any.
Pipe sizes. Pipe classes, and line number. Valving. Manifolding. All instrumentation. Equipment and lines requiring services, i.e. water steam, air, nitrogen etc.
And any additional services peculiar to the plant being worked on, e.g.:
Caustic Acid
3. Evaluation of Information
3.1 Initial Evaluation
Use plot plan and process flow diagrams to make a preliminary assessment of which portion of process lines will be located in piperack and which lines will interconnect directly to nozzles on adjacent items of equipment. Draw lines to be located on piperacks on print of plot plan. Some idea of utility piping required must be established and included coordinate with Instrument and Electrical Section to assess what additional rack space may be required to accommodate cable trays. This action provides a preliminary visual idea of the piperack space required.
3.2 Development
With the receipt of engineering flow diagrams and utility flow diagrams, a more complete and accurate assessment of rack space is possible. Utility headers generally run the whole length of the piperack, so should be taken into account when estimating additional space required. To assist Process Department in sizing utility headers in the pipeway a line routing on a repro of the plot plan, showing order of take-offs is required.
4. Line Identification
Certain types of piping require special consideration:
Products lines which run from vessels, exchangers or pump to battery / unit limits Crude or other charge lines entering the unit which run along piperack before connecting to process equipment, furnaces, exchangers, holding drums or booster pumps.
Individual relief lines, blowdown lines and flare lines should be self draining from all relief valve outlets to knock-out drum, flare stack or to a point at the plant limit. To achieve this, lines will connect into the top of the header and at 45 degrees in direction of flow. To eliminate pockets, and obtain required slope to knock-out drum some relief headers must be placed above the main piperack.
5. Piperack Width
The width of piperack is influenced by :
The number of lines Electrical/instrument cable trays. Space for future lines.
The width of a piperack may be calculated using the following method : First estimate number of lines as described. Add up the number of lines up to 18 diameter in the most dense section of the piperack. The total width in meters (W) will be : W = ( f x N x S ) + A meters Where f, safety factor = 1.5, if the lines have been laid out as described in initial evaluation. Where f, safety factor = 1.2, if the lines have been laid out as described under development. N = number of lines below 18 diameter S = average estimated spacing between lines in millimeters. Usually - S = 300 mm Usually - S = 230 mm ( if lines in piperack are smaller than 10 )
Lines larger than 18. Future lines. Instrument and electrical cable trays. Any slot for pump discharge lines 500 mm - 1 meter.
The total width is thus obtained. If W is bigger than 9M usually two piperack levels will be required. Note : At the beginning of a job, `W` should usually include 30 - 40% of clear space for future lines. The width of the piperack may be increased or determined by the space requirement, and/or access to equipment arranged under the piperack. Below figure shows typical piperacks bents with tabulated dimensions. Total available piperack width of each type of support is included. This table can be used for selection. The most commonly used piperack supports are types 2, 3, 4 and 5.
Smaller lines which must be supported more frequently ( see Company design specification recommended span between pipe supports ) Liquid filled lines requiring shorter span than gas filled lines Hot lines which span shorter distances than cold lines of the same size and wall thickness Insulated lines; small bore, cold - insulated lines due to weight of insulation must be supported at relatively short intervals Space requirements of equipment at grade can sometimes influence piperack bent spacing.
6. Piperack Elevation
Piperack elevation is determined by the highest requirement of the following :
Headroom over main road Headroom for access to equipment under the piperack
Headroom under lines interconnecting the piperack and equipment located outside.
The size of steel or concrete beam supporting overhead piping must be taken into consideration. Headroom requirements for each job are detailed in Company specification no. C100 and coordination procedure.
The central piperack portion is reserved for utility lines which may serve both right and left hand areas on the plant. However, utility lines serving one or two pieces of equipment should be on the same side of the piperack as the equipment to which they connect. Process lines which interconnect equipment on both sides of the piperack should be placed close to utility lines, and can be on either side of piperack, depending upon location of equipment they serve. The position of product lines is influenced by their routing after leaving the unit, right, (left) turning lines should be on the right (left) hand side of the piperack. If possible, a centrally placed section of the piperack is reserved for future lines. This section should run the whole length of the piperack. Should this be impracticable, a series of smaller sections, running the whole length of the piperack, are to be provided. (see below figure).
loops as possible should be combined in a loop bay having due regard to stress requirements.
Avoid changes in direction Avoid long overhanging bends without support Use bends where possible (check with job specification) Tees to be avoided as far as possible, flow should enter along run of tee and never in the branch.
Steam (trap any pockets and dead ends) Slurry Blowdown (these lines must be self-draining) Caustic, acid and Phenol (all these services to be self draining) R.V.s both inlet and outlet Vapour to knock-out pots Heavy products, bitumen, wax Pump suctions Lethal and toxic substances
Pump suctions Light ends Vapour/liquid mixes (hot tower bottoms - reflux lines) Crude lines
On hot lines, check shoe requirements and clearances at changes of direction (pipe expansion). Provide vents at high points. Provide drains at low points. Provide steam traps at : low points, up-stream of loops and dead ends, via condensate drip legs. On steam, air and condensate headers, take-offs to be from top of headers. RV headers high or low elevation. Before finalizing elevation of RV header consider elevation of all RV discharges and elevation of knock-out drum at flare. Bends, if used : (check with job specification).
Where lines change elevation bends may be used providing difference in elevation is adequate and specification permits Header take-offs in piperacks, use elbows Special piping: Catalyst lines 5D (minimum). Vibrating piping 5D. Small bore usually below 2 (Client preferred).
Pipe setting: to be avoided in large bore lines. Small bore lines to be set only where absolutely necessary. Pipe Stress Department will advise which piping systems require formal stress analysis. Supports : avoid long unsupported overhangs. Steelwork clearances : check steelwork clearances for addition of fireproofing (lower elevation of piperack), brackets, gussets and thermal expansion of lines. Concrete support clearances: check for local thickening of concrete columns due to method of fabrication adopted (i.e. corbels). Valves: check clearances and accessibility. Make full of extending platforms for operation (i.e. air fin maintenance platforms). Chain wheels: preferably do not use. However, if necessary, check chain clearances. Spading and valving at battery limit : check for accessibility if necessary, provide access platform.
10. Pipetracks
This type of pipeway is generally associated with offsite areas where equipment is well spaced out, and land space is not a premium.
Where small bore lines are few, sleeper spacing may be determined by the pipe span of large bore lines provided small bore lines are supported off the larger lines at adequate intervals. An angle with U bolts is sufficient (check with Pipe Support Section). For recommended pipe support spans, use Company standard. On an average minimum span = 3 meters maximum span = 6 meters depending on line size and substance carried in pipes, (i.e. gas or liquid). All lines must be supported. At changes of direction due to long overhangs, for narrow pipetracks a diagonal corner sleeper is recommended. On wide pipetracks, use alternative method of two short sleepers located near corner. See below figures.
The standard method is to provide culverts under access roads. Elevating piping on a cross-over rack is expensive and introduces unnecessary pockets in the lines thus routed. When determining width and height of culvert, care must be taken to allow sufficient room round the pipework for maintenance, insulation and painting. Where only one or two lines cross a road, crossing may be by means of sleeves set under roadway.
10.8 Valves
Where possible, these should be grouped at the edge of an access platform for ease of operation. Drain valves where possible should be brought to outside of pipetrack for ease of operation. The same applies to steam trap assemblies.
Trenchers must be enough to allow sufficient clearance between trench wall and piping. 150 mm between outside of pipe and inside of wall is the minimum acceptable clearance. This will allow for installation of piping, painting and future maintenance. See below figures. Total width of trench required may be determined by using method detailed above. Piping Department will advise Civil Department of requirements.
Flanged connections should be a minimum of 300 mm above prevalent grade level. It is advantageous to set a common level for all these take offs at the outset of the job. When locating tie-in connections to underground systems, especially from elevated drain points, and adjacent to equipment plinths, ensure adequate clearance. All buried steel pipes should have applied a corrosion resistant coating and wrapping. Deep valve boxes for buried lines should be designed with ample room inside the box for a maintenance man to bend over and use wrenches for tightening flanges of re-packing valves. Consideration should be given to the use of concrete pipe in lieu of square boxes. The criteria for a good underground piping design should be ease of maintenance. Piping should be so spaced as to allow easy digging out and replacement of faulty sections; for this reason, never run underground piping under or through foundations. Figures - Table
PIPERACK WIDTH A
CANTILEVER WIDTH B
NUMBER OF ELEV.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
3000
1500 1500 900 OR 1200 900 OR 1200 900 OR 1500 900 OR 1500
1 1 1 2 2 1.5 1.5
9150 TO 10400 6000 TO 7300 11600 TO 12800 13700 TO 16150 18600 TO 21000 8500 TO 9750 6100 TO 7300 8500 TO 9750 6100 TO 7300 8500 TO 9750
EXPANSION LOOPS
TRENCHED PIPING