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Lesson #1: What is Piping?

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History of Piping
The art of designing piping systems have been known centuries ago in China by
using bamboo for purpose of irrigation. In Egypt, the people had also pipe to drain
the water from the Nile River to irrigate paddy fields. But, among of all, the Roma
deserves special attention due to their skills in terms of the design and construction
of a network of Piping Systems, in particular for the purposes of drinking water,
construction fountains in the middle of the city and a few other things such as for
personal use. During that time, the types of pipes used were wooden pipes.
Nowadays, piping systems are everywhere. We can find a piping system
transporting water from sources to the residential and industrial complex. Similarly,
pipelines can be used also to carry crude oil from the Oil Wells into the processing
facilities for further process. In a petrochemical plant, in LNG Plant, in Gas Plant, in
Food Processing Plant and any other industrial facilities, piping systems are utilized
to carry liquids, gases, chemicals from one place to another.

It clears that piping system are crucial and essential as well as an integral part of a
modern world of civilization similar to arteries and vein in our body. All of above,
require an understanding of fundamental of piping material, design considerations,
fabrication, installation, testing, and inspection requirements as well as national
and international regulation.

What is Piping?
Piping, like arteries and veins in our body which it’s job to carry and transport blood
to every part of our body, is to transport water or liquid or gas from the wells to
point of distribution and eventually to us, as a customer.

Piping includes pipe, fittings, flanges, gaskets, bolting, valves and other piping
components, as well as piping support system.

So, a pipe is only one element of piping. Only when pipes joining together with
other parts such as fittings (elbow, reducers etc), flanges, valves, and other
mechanical equipment, and then properly supported with pipe supports, then we
can call as piping.

De nition of Pipe and Tube

According to Piping Handbook, 7th Edition, by Mohinder L. Nayyar, the definition of
tube and pipe is as below:

Tube: A hollow product of round or any other cross-section having a

continuous periphery. Round tube size may be specified with respect to any
two, but not all three, of the following: outside diameter, inside diameter, and
 wall thickness. Dimensions and permissible variations (tolerances) are
specified in the appropriate ASTM or ASME specifications.

Pipe: A tube with a round cross-section conforming to the dimensional

requirements for nominal pipe size as tabulated in ASME B36.10M and ASME
B36.19M. For special pipe having a diameter not listed in the above-mentioned
standards, the nominal diameter corresponds to the outside diameter.

Pipe conforming to the dimensional requirements of the following standard:

ASME B36.10M: Welded and Seamless Wrought Steel Pipe

ASME B36.19M: Stainless Steel Pipe

Types of Piping?
Currently, there is two major type of piping systems:

Process Plant Piping System: The main purpose of Process Plant Piping is to
convey the liquid or fluids which are the product of its plant. In this type, the
piping system is part the plant itself and not as a supporting facility only. For
instance; the piping system at Petrochemical Plant, Gas Plant, or at Oil Refinery
Plant.

Non-Process Plant Piping System: For this type of piping system, it only
serves of purpose as a supporting to the bigger system on that plant, such as
HVAC (Heating Ventilating Air Conditioning) system at high storey building,
where the piping systems are only for cooling or heating purpose.
In addition, there are other things that differentiate between Process Plant Piping
and Non-Process Plant Piping such as:

Temperature

Pressure

Type of material

On process plant piping, there are requirements that the pipes should be able to
have a safe operation at maximum temperature up to 800 C, and while for some
other application should also be able to operate normally at a very low
temperature, such as -160 C. Meanwhile, for non-process plant piping system, such
as at HVAC for instance, the fluids would not be having such a big range of
temperature. Meaning the material selection would also not that critical.

Apart from both of piping system stated above, there is one more category called
as Utility Piping System, which the main purpose is to support the main facility of
the plant. Below is the piping system which categorized as utility system:

Utility Systems

Steam systems
Utility Water systems
Compressed air Systems
Wastewater system
Condensate Systems
Fuel Gas Systems
Cooling Water Systems
Nitrogen Systems

Those utility systems can be found at the following Plant:

 Ammonia and Urea Plant
Aromatic Plant
Oil Refinery Plant
Food Processing Plant
Helium Plant
Nuclear Power Plant
LNG Plant
Geothermal Power Plants
Hydrocrackers
Ethylene Steam Cracking
Gasoline Blending Plants

A sample of Process Plant Piping System

Piping Codes and Standards

Codes and Standards are the two words we should be familiar with as a piping
engineer.
 CODES usually set the requirements for design, materials, fabrication,
erection, test, and inspection of piping systems. The use of specific codes for
the design and construction of piping mandated by statute or regulations
imposed by regulatory and enforcement agencies to ensure the safety of the
workers and the general public. Each Code has limits on its jurisdiction, which
are defined clearly in the code. Therefore it is imperative to be familiar with a
limit of application of a code or standard before using it in design and
construction of a piping system.

STANDARD are containing rules and requirements for design and

construction for individual piping components such as elbows, tees, flanges,
valves and other in-line items. Compliance with the standards is usually
required by the rules of the applicable code. There are two general types of
standards: dimensional and pressure integrity.

Dimensional Standards: configuration control parameters for components.

Pressure-integrity Standards: uniform minimum-performance criteria.

In regard to Piping systems and its components, there are various organizations
publishes the Conde and Standards, such as below. However, it is important to note
here that we are not going to discuss each of Piping Code in detail. The discussion
below is only to provide very brief information about each code. One who needs
more detail information including scopes and what excluded should visit the
relevant Code reference:

American Society of Mechanical Engineer

which has established several committee starting in 1911, such as:

ASME BOILER AND PRESSURE VESSEL CODE

Section 1 Power Boilers

Section II Material Specifications

Section III Rules for Construction of Nuclear Power Plant Components

Division 1 Nuclear Power Plants Components

Division 2 Concrete Reactor Vessel and Containments

Division 3 Containment Systems and Transport Packaging for Spent Nuclear

Fuel and High-Level Radioactive Waste

Section IV Heating Boilers

Section V Nondestructive Examination

Section VI Recommended Rules for Care and Operation of Heating Boilers

Section VII Recommended Rules for Care Power Boilers

Section VIII Pressure Vessel

 Division 1 Pressure vessel

Division 2 Pressure Vessel (Alternative Rules)

Division 3 Alternative Rules for Construction of High-Pressure Vessels

Section IX Welding and Brazing Qualifications

Section X Fiber-Reinforced Plastic Pressure Vessels

Section XI Rules for In-Service Inspection of Nuclear Power Plant Components

Code Cases: Boilers and Pressure Vessels

Code Cases: Nuclear Components

ASME B31: CODE PRESSURE PIPING

The first edition of American Tentative Standard Code for Pressure Piping was
published in 1935. Since December 1978, the American National Standards
Committee B31 was reorganized as the ASME Code Pressure Piping B31 Committee
under procedures developed by ASME and accredited by ANSI.

Followings are the ASME B31 Code for Pressure Piping:

ASME B31.1: Power Piping Code: This is about requirements for the design,
material, fabrication, erection, test, and inspection of power and auxiliary
service piping system for electric generation stations, and others industrial
and institutional plants. In this case, means for the piping used around
boilers.

USAS B31.2: Fuel Gas Piping. This code was issued in 1955 in an attempt to
publish the separate code for Pressure Piping. However, it was withdrawn in
1988. This code covers for fuel gases such as natural gas, manufactured gas,
and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).

ASME B31.3: Process Piping. This codes for piping within the property limits of
facilities engaged in the processing or handling of chemical petroleum or
related products.

ASME B31.4: Liquid Transportation Systems for Hydrocarbons, Liquid

Petroleum Gas, Anhydrous Ammonia, and Alcohol. This for piping
transporting liquid such as crude oil, condensate, natural gasoline, natural
gas liquids, liquefied petroleum gas, liquid alcohol, and liquid anhydrous
ammonia.

ASME B31.5: Refrigeration Piping. This is for refrigerant and secondary

coolant piping for temperature as low as -320 F (-195.5 C).

ASME B31.8: Gas Transmission and Distribution Piping System. This is for a
pipeline or transmission line who transmits gas from a source or sources of
supply to one or more large-volume customers or to a pipe used to
interconnect sources of supply. Some inclusion is a gas pipeline, gas
compressor stations, gas metering, and regulation stations.
 ASME B31.9: Building Services Piping, such as water for heating and cooling,
condensing water, steam or other condensates, steam, vacuum, and
Compressed air and other nontoxic and nonflammable gas.

ASME B31.11: Slurry Transportation Piping System. This is like ASME B31.3, for
piping transporting aqueous slurries of non-hazardous materials, such as oil,
mineral ores, and concentrates, between a slurry processing plant or terminal
and a receiving plant or terminal.

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