Piping importance

Hall,

Importance of Piping:
I will try to answer your question this way. It is a commonly accepted fact that the number one and most common machine device used by humans today is the electric motor. If the electric motor is the number one machine, then the electrical system is the number one most important “system” created by humankind. The machine that comes in second is the pump. Every pump will have piping connected to the suction or the discharge or both. Most pumps will have piping attached to both the suction and the discharge. So if this is true then we can say that piping plays a very important role in the life of mankind. Piping may be considered the second most important “system” created by humans behind the vast electrical distribution system. However, piping is much older than the electrical system.
Without piping we would not have complex systems that collects, purifies and supplies the much needed water to the homes in most of the world. We would not have the sanitary collection, processing and disposal systems that allow us to have the more pleasant quality of life we enjoy. Without piping we would not have the gas heat that the homes in many countries have.
Without piping we would not have the automobile, the airplane, the modern rail systems or the vast international shipping industry. We, mankind, would have never have gone to the moon and back. We would not have the life saving medicines or a lot of the food products that we depend on. To meet the needs and the demands from all of this we (mankind) have developed very complex process plants. Yes, these process plants include buildings, structures, equipment (such as vessels, tanks, exchangers, heaters, filters, reactors and others), electrical systems, and complex instrumentation control systems. These plants also include very complex piping systems, piping systems that tie all the equipment together.
Take a look at all the different piping uses that currently exist today. There are refineries, chemical plants, pulp &paper mills, water purification and waste treatment plants. There are power plants, pharmaceutical plants and food processing plants. There are ships and planes and trains. If you were to take away all that long round stuff with the hole through the middle known as pipe from all of these users we humans would be at a stand still. In short we would be stuck in a sort of backwards dark ages.

Cost of Piping:
The cost of piping in a process plant is a relative thing. Some plant projects may have piping costs that range as high as 30% of the total cost, while others may be as low as 10%. I can tell you piping material is very expensive. However the pure cost of the material is not the total cost. You also need to include the cost of fabrication, the cost of delivery, the cost of installation. Then there is the cost for testing and inspection. Some plants also have systems that require special and costly pre-start-up cleaning and pacification. Other systems may require the added cost for heat tracing and insulation which add even more costs.

Maintenance of Piping:
The maintenance of the piping systems in a process plant is, or should be an important and ongoing part of the plant operation. This would be considered preventative maintenance. Preventative maintenance is doing everything prudent to insure that the plant succeeds in reaching its design life. Any carbon steel pipe that is not insulated needs to be painted on some sort of a scheduled interval. Valve packing will need to be replaced. The valve seats need to be replaced. Insulation will be damaged and need to be repaired. Remember this is the second most important “system” in the plant. You need to take care of it or the plant will not last as long as it should or perform as it should.

Time to bring this forward again.