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Pipeline Vs Piping Comparison

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Introduction

This article is intended to throw light on the differences between pipeline engineering and piping engineering, which are important
organs of any engineering firm active in oil and gas sector. Pipeline and piping engineering do not only sound similar but share a lot
of common activities. Both the engineering department belong to mechanical disciplines and deals primarily with pipes. Various
codes have defined the battery limits for pipeline and piping activities, however, there has always been a contest between Pipeline
and piping disciplines regarding the division of scope in various types of projects. Therefore we have tried to highlight the
differences between both the engineering disciplines for onshore systems and offshore systems separately.

Note:We do not claim that all companies follow the exact division of activities between pipeline and piping disciplines. However, we are trying to
broadly differentiate between the two.

Onshore System

SL. Onshore PIPELINE Onshore PIPING

NO.

1 Design Codes

ASME B31.4 : Pipeline Transportation ASME B31.3 : Process Piping

Systems for Liquids and Slurries
ASME B31.8 : Gas Transmission and
Distribution Piping Systems

2 Scope

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Outside plant boundary Within plant boundary

Cross-country (i.e. villages, fields, river, canal, (upto all nozzles/ equipment terminal points)
railway, highway, cities, deserts, forests, hills,
ghats etc.)

3 Type of pipe

Line pipes as per following code: Assorted pipes as per following code:
API Spec 5L: Specification for Line Pipes ASTMs
BS
API 5L

4 Valves

Valves are procured as per following code: Valves are procured as per following code:
BS
API 6D: Specification for Pipeline and API Standard
Piping Valves
Full bore (FB) and Reduced bore (RB) both types of valves are used
as per respective valve standards. There is no requirement for
Full Bore (FB) Ball Valves are used for smooth pigging.
passage of pigs.

5 Welding

Welding code: Welding code:

API Std. 1104: Welding of Pipelines and ASME Sec. IX: Standard for Welding and Brazing Procedures,
Related Facilities Welders, Brazers and Welding and Brazing Operators
Type of welding:
Type of welding: Manual (mostly)
Automatic / Semi-Automatic/ Manual

6 Weld joint inspection (NDT requirements)

100% by Automatic UT or RT (by using X- 5% to 100% (mostly by using gamma ray source)
Ray)

7 Analyses

- Wall Thickness Analysis - Piping wall thickness calculation [as input to Piping Material
(../ASMEB31/ASMEB31.aspx) Specification (PMS)]
- Elastic Bend Radius Analysis - Piping Stress Analysis (by Caesar II). Following analyses are
- Stability Analysis for Water Bodies/ Marshy performed on CAESAR II
Areas Static Analysis
- Horizontal directional drilling design analysis Dynamic Analysis
(../HDD_Calculation/HDD_Input.aspx) Wind Analysis
- Railroad/ Highway Crossing Analysis Flange Leakage Analysis
- Casing Pipe Analysis for Crossings Seismic Analysis
- Seismic Analysis

8 Installation

Buried (mostly) Above ground/ On rack/ slippers/ T-postal etc.

9 Special Installations

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Across rivers Special fabrication methods:

Horizontal Directional Drilling (HDD) Modular installations
(../HDD_Calculation/HDDArticle.aspx) Finning
method Studding
Micro-tunneling method Jacketing
Spooling inside warehouse
Across road/ rail/ highway
U/G piping for cooling water
Auger boring/ jacking boring method
Shallow HDD
Ghats/ Hills Special equipments used

10 Special Equipments

Sectionalizing Valves (Remote operated) Expansion Joints

Insulating Joints Motor Operator Valves (MOV)
Scraper Launcher/ Receiver Cryogenic Valves
Stem Extended Valves (for buried valves) Springs
Flow Tee
Long Radius bends (R=6D)
Cold field bends (R = 30D or 40D)

11 Survey

Topographical Survey (all along the Wind profile from meteorology

pipeline route) Seismic study of plot
Geotechnical investigation (all along the
pipeline route)
Soil resistivity survey (all along the
pipeline route)
Hydrological Survey for water bodies (for
scour depth calculation)
Cadastral Survey (for RoU acquisition)

12 Corrosion Protection Coating

Three Layer Polyethylene (3LPE) coating Painting

Three Layer Polypropylene (3LPP)
coating
Fusion bonded epoxy (FBE) coating
Coal tar enamel (CTE) Coating
(Coating.aspx)

13 Cathodic Protection System

Impressed Current Cathodic Protection Not applicable

(ICCP) system
Sacrificial Anode (limited locations)

14 Hydrostatic testing

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Gauge Plate run of 95% of ID of highest No gauge plate run is done. Generally card-board blasting is done to
thickness of pipes clean the piping.

Test Pressure Test Pressure

Minimum: Minimum:
1.25 times of Design Pressure (for liquid 1.5 Design Pressure Temperature Factor
pipelines)
Maximum:
1.25 to 1.5 times of Design Pressure (for
based on line schedule
gas pipelines)
Hold period: 2 - 6 hours
Maximum:
Pressure equivalent to Hoop stress of
95% of SMYS of pipe material
Hold period: 24 hours (generally)

Selection of hydrostatic test section based on

elevation difference of ground profile

15 Preservation

Preservation of pipeline with corrosion Not applicable

inhibited water or by filling of inert gas (N2)

16 Communication System

Telecom/ SCADA Not applicable

17 Pigging

Intelligent Pigging Not applicable

18 Machines/ Equipments required for installation

Trencher Crane/ Hydra

Backhoe/ Excavator
Side Boom
Cold field bending machine
Holiday Detection Machines
Pneumatic/ Hydraulic Internal Clamps

Offshore System

SL. Offshore PIPELINE Offshore PIPING

NO.

1 Design Codes

DNV-OS-F101 : Submarine Pipeline System ASME B31.3 : Process Piping

API RP 1111 : Design, Construction, Operation and Maintenance of
Offshore Hydrocarbon Pipelines (Limit state design)

2 Installation

Subsea (in water on seabed or buried in seabed) Deck Platform Piping (similar to plant)

3 Survey (Subsea)

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Geophysical survey/ Bathymetric Survey by using side scan sonar, Not Applicable
sub-bottom profiler and echo-sounder
Met-Ocean data collection
Geo-technical data of the pipeline route

4 Pipes

Lines pipes are utilized as per following specs: Assorted Pipes are utilized as per
following specs:
API Spec 5L : Specification for Line Pipes
DNV-OS-F101 : Submarine Pipeline Systems ASTM Standards

5 Valves

Full bore Valves for smooth passage of intelligent pigs are utilized as per Reduced bore valves are utilised (as there
spec: is no requirement for pigging) as per spec:
API 6D SS : Specification on Subsea Pipeline Valves BS/API standards

6 Analyses

Wall thickness Analysis (../DNV-OS-F101 code check/Input_DNV- Deck piping stress analysis using
OS-F101 Code check.aspx) CAESAR II
On-bottom Stability
Span Analysis
Global Buckling Lateral and Upheaval
Pipeline Expansion Analysis
Riser Design (Span , Stress & Flexibility Analysis)
Riser Clamp Design
Pipeline Crossing Design and Analysis
Installation Analyses such as :- Pipelay Analyses in OFFPIPE,
Shore approach installation design & Analyses, Riser/ Expansion
Spool installation analyses, Hoses lifting & installation analyses

7 Environmental Loads (Met-ocean Parameters)

Wave, current and external pressure and buoyancy Wind load

8 Corrosion Protection Coating

Coatings such as: Painting

Coal Tar Enamel Coating (CTE)
Three layer polyethylene coating (3LPE)
Three layer poly-propylene coating (3LPP)
Double layer fusion bonded epoxy coating (DLFBE)
(Coating.aspx)

9 Cathodic Protection System

Sacrificial Anodic Cathodic Protection (SACP) system Not Applicable

10 Welding

Welding is performed as per specification: Welding is performed as per specification:

API Std. 1104 : Welding of Pipelines and Related Facilities ASME Sec. IX : Standard for
(http://www.api.org/publications-standards-and- Welding and Brazing Procedures,
statistics/standards/whatsnew/publication-updates/new-pipeline- Welders, Brazers and Welding and
publications/api_std_1104) Brazing Operators
Mostly automatic welding on pipelay barge. Manual welding at fabrication yard.

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11 Weld joint inspection (NDT requirements)

100% by Automatic UT Mostly by using gamma ray source.

12 Special Equipments

Subsea Isolation Valve (SSIV) Not Applicable

LR Bends
Flow tee
Pipeline End Manifold (PLEM)
Single Point Mooring (SPM) system
Submarine hoses
Floating hoses
Cables and umbilical installation
Piggy-back pipelines

13 Installation Equipment

Pipelay Barge Pre-fabricated deck piping

Derrick Barge
Diving support vessel
Dynamic Positioning (DP) barge (for deepwater)

14 Installation Methods

S-lay Method (for shallow water installation) Along with deck structure
J-Lay Method (for deep water installation)
Shore pull/ barge pull near Land Fall Point (LFP)

15 Hydrostatic testing

Gauge Plate run of 95% of ID of highest thickness of pipeline. No gauging is done.

Test Pressure Test Pressure
Minimum : 1.25 times x Design Pressure Maximum : As per line schedule
Hold period Hold period
24 hours 2 hours

16 NDT requirements

100% weld joints by RT or AUT Varies from 10% to 100% depending

upon service.

17 Intelligent Pigging

Compliant Not applicable

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