So, we are in the early stage of the EPC Gas Plant for a client. The piping designer has completed the piping layout of one piping from exit nozzle of heat exchanger connecting to the pressure vessel located at the other side of the Plant. The preliminary pipe support has been identified, sitting on the pipe rack, while remaining overhung until reaching the nozzle. It is now the job of piping stress engineer to make sure that the piping system has adequate and sufficient flexibility while the forces imposed to the nozzle will be kept minimal to meet the Allowable Load from the manufacturer.

It is also to check whether the piping materials commensurate with the intended service, temperatures, pressures, and anticipated loadings and most importantly that the loads imposed will not cause harm and nor causing damage to the nozzle equipment. The relationship between piping stress analysis with piping design group and the pipe support are highly interrelated and therefore very close. The piping layout can be iterated until a satisfactory balance between stresses and layout efficiency is achieved, the pipe support location has been properly identified and analyzed to satisfy all of stress requirement and the piping allowable loads at nozzle equipment are met. Once it’s done, then proper pipe supports for identified location are then designed based on the selection locations, types, and the applied loads.

This Course discusses the basic theory of piping stress analysis for piping system in Oil and Gas facilities such as Refinery Plant, Gas Plant, Petrochemical Plant, Geothermal Plant. Although we all aware that most of the stress analysis for critical lines will be done using computer program, but it is crucial to have a better understanding about the basic theory of piping stress analysis which will make the job much easier and proper knowledge when evaluating the output of the calculation as well as providing the solution to the problems we light have such as overstress or overload at the nozzle of equipment.