Piping Stress Engineer’s Checklist
As industries push the limits of materials and design, the role of a piping stress engineer becomes more critical than ever. Uncover the essential checklist that these professionals follow to navigate the challenges and ensure the seamless operation of piping systems.
A Piping Stress Engineer’s checklist consist of 2 categories;
1- Checklist before the analysis
2- Checklist after the analysis completed
1- Checklist before the analysis
A- Review the Piping Design
Before the start, you have to review the initial piping design from the 3D model. This will give you a rough idea of how to start your analysis, but more importantly, you can see the problems of the preliminary piping design.
B- Consult with Piping Designer
After the model review, it will be important to consult with the responsible piping designer of the project and get feedback about the project requirements. You can share your comments and ask for them fixed or corrected before you start.
C-Consult with Process Engineer
The most important thing to do before the stress analysis is to talk with the process engineer. Most of the piping stress engineers make this mistake by not consulting or not asking the required questions with the responsible process engineer. Reviewing the PIDs and looking at the line list may not give you all the operational details of the plant.
This is because you should have a small meeting or discussion with the process engineer and ask your questions about the process details of the lines.
The below list consists of the questions that you should direct to the process engineer.
What is the purpose of the line?
This question is to understand if the line is a permanent line that will be used continuously or it will be used for maintenance or it will be used in an emergency condition only.
What is the operational requirement of the line?
This question is to understand under which conditions the control valves (if any) are working or under which conditions the operating valves are in the “open” or “close” position.
If the piping system consists of spare equipment, what is the operation condition of the system?
By asking this, you will understand the temperature and pressure difference of the piping system that is separated by valves. In general, these are for rotary-type equipment like pumps or compressors. So you will set the correct thermal cases in your calculation.
What is the maintenance requirement of the connected equipment?
Some pressure vessel equipment may be exposed to steam for cleaning or some parts need to be removed for maintenance. Process engineers may not provide every detail in the PID. The provided information may affect your nozzle connection’s displacement and so, affect your thermal case. Also, any possible equipment part’s maintenance removal may require additional support.
Is there any “Slug Flow” or “Slope” requirement?
This type of information is generally available in the PIDs. But it will be better to ask questions if you are working on a process or flare lines. Especially the line with slug flow deserves additional restraints.
Standard restraints may not be sufficient for the slug flow lines, special support design may required.
2- Checklist after the analysis
First of all, any route change on the line should be shared with the piping designer, and their comments must be discussed and considered. This can be even done during the analysis.
After that, your checklist must include the below items as a minimum;
Operation and Design Input, The software must be checked and corrected against any mistyping or mistake according to the information of the PID and Line List. These are temperature, pressure, ambient temperature, corrosion allowance, and fluid density.
Material Input, Insulation and pipe thickness, rigid weights (flange, valve, or any inline instrument), pipe diameter, material type or grade, and rigid item’s dimensions.
Re-calculate the nozzle displacement and check the input of the software you are using.
Check the support device selection and cross-check with the Material Requisition Form that you prepared.
Cross-check the nozzle loads with the allowable loads of the equipment and ensure they are within the limits.
Check the support location if they are suitable with the dimension of the 3D model or piping layout.
Check the support load if they are within design limits.
Ensure that you considered all the scenarios included in your load cases of the software.
Re-calculate the wind and seismic loads or rates and ensure the correct input.
