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How to Read Piping and

Instrumentation Diagram
5-6 minutos

P&ID drawings, also known as Process and Instrumentation

Diagrams, or Process and Control Diagrams, are essential to many
industrial operations. This page is a basic guide on how to read and
understand Piping and Instrumentation Drawings (P&IDs).

In this article, we will explore the interpretation of Piping and

Instrumentation Diagrams, or P&IDs. Being able to read Piping and
Instrumentation Diagrams can benefit the process and
management of a project a lot. Regardless of your experience in
this field, follow the instruction of this article and you will find it
rather easy to read a Piping and Instrumentation Diagram without
taking a lot of time.

What is Piping and Instrumentation Diagram?

Piping and instrumentation diagram, also called P&ID, is a diagram

used to show a graphical display of a complete system. It includes
all piping, instruments, valves and equipment that the system
consist of. Through a P&ID, you can get the following information:

The mechanical and electrical details of a given system or process,

Piping information such as sizes and material specifications,

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Continuation flags leading to the connecting P&ID’s,

Flow arrows, DCS alarm types

The connection types from the controllers to the field devices.

How to Read Piping and Instrumentation Diagrams

Here are a few aspects that you should pay attention to while
reading a Piping and Instrumentation Diagram. Being able to
understand Piping and Instrumentation diagrams means being able
to understand instrumentation symbols appearing on diagrams,
and also being able to understand how each symbol is
constructed using graphical elements and connecting lines. If you
manage to do this, it wouldn't be difficult for you to read a Piping
and Instrumentation Diagram at all.

1. Read Standard Equipment -Instruments

The first step to read a Piping and Instrumentation Diagram is to

know how to read its symbols and shapes in the drawing. Edraw

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provides all kinds of symbols required in piping and instrumentation

diagrams.

According to ISA S5.1, there are mainly 4 four graphical

elements: —, shared control/display, computer function, and
programmable logic controller This shapes represent both the
physical or the software devices. In either case , it implies all the
shapes needed in a Piping and Instrumentation Diagram. You will
see these shapes anytime a system is shown on the P&ID.

Discrete instruments:

Shared control/display

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Computer function

Programmable logic controller

Discrete instruments are indicated by circular elements. Shared

control/display elements are circles surrounded by a square.
Computer functions are indicted by a hexagon and programmable
logic controller (PLC) functions are shown as a triangle inside a
square.

2. Read Graphical Elements Between Connecting Lines

The connections between elements is a way for engineers to

identify a particular pipe in a standardized way. And different color
indicates different pipes to avoide confusion. Adding a single
horizontal bar across any of the four graphical elements indicates
the function resides in the primary location category. A double line
indicates an auxiliary location, devices located behind a panel-
board in some other inaccessible location are shown with a dashed
horizontal line.

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3. Read the Letter and Number Combinations of a Piping and

Instrumentation Diagram

Letter and number combinations appear inside each graphical

element and letter combinations are defined by the ISA standard.
Numbers are user assigned. The first letter defines the measured
or initiating variables such as Analysis (A), Flow (F), Temperature
(T), etc. with succeeding letters defining readout, passive, or output
functions such as Indicator (I), Record (R), Transmit (T), and so
forth.

Piping and Instrumentation Diagram Example

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A Piping and Instrumentation template is ready to use in vector

format for your own designs. Click on the template for free
download and get started with your own design.

Click Here to Free Download Electrical Drawing Software

Click How to Create Piping and Instrumentation Diagram to view
detailed tutorial for creating P&ID.

Related Articles

How to Use P&ID Symbols

Edraw - Easy Piping Design Software

P&ID Symbols Legend

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