Pipe Ways in Industrial Piping
Pipe Ways in Industrial Piping
Overview
The pipe ways conveys all the main process lines connecting distant pieces of equipment, relief and blowdown headers, all lines leaving and entering the plant, and utility lines supplying steam, air, cooling water, and inert gas to the plant.
Electrical and instrument cable trays are usually routed in the pipe way.
Factors to be Considered for Pipe Ways
Pipe ways are classified by their relative elevation to grade. Pipe way design is a complex activity, and it requires a great deal of information
to be completed successfully.
- Battery limits, valve location, and the isolation philosophy using spade and spacers.
- Catwalk, platform, and ladder access to valves and relief valves in the pipe rack.
- Minimum headroom and clearances below overhead piping or supporting steel within areas.
- Pipe ways and secondary access ways.
- Main access roads.
- Railroads.
- Standards for the minimum spacing of lines in pipe racks.
- Handling and headroom requirements for equipment positioned under pipe racks.
- Operating and safety requirements affecting pipe rack and structure design.
- Location of cooling water lines underground or aboveground.
Different Types of Pipe Ways
The types of pipe ways are pipe racks, pipe tracks, trenched piping, and underground piping.
Pipe Racks
Pipe racks are used for routing overhead piping, which is supported on steel or concrete bents.
Pipe Tracks
- A pipe track is used for aboveground piping supported on concrete sleepers at grade level.
- Pipe tracks are used mostly for off-site areas where equipment is well spaced out.
Trenched Piping
- Trenched piping is below-ground piping laid in a network of interconnected trenches.
- The design of the trenches is usually the responsibility of the civil engineers.
- Trenching pipework is costly and usually undesirable, unless trenches are wide, shallow, and well-vented; heavy gases may settle and create a fire hazard through the length of the trench.
- For these reasons, only pump-out lines, chemical sewers, or chemical drain collection systems are sometimes placed in trenches and routed to a pit or underground collection tank.
Underground Piping
- Underground piping is piping directly buried below ground level.
- The groundwork for the underground piping is also the responsibility of the Civil Engineering Department.
- Due to costly maintenance and the usually corrosive nature of soil, this method of routing is generally reserved for sewers, fire water mains, and drain lines.
- In some plants, especially in cold climates, cooling water lines are buried below the frost line to avoid freezing.
- This option should be determined at the beginning of a job and is generally a customer requirement.