Piping & Fired Heaters

Piping System Analysis

Equity Engineering’s Kraig Shipley is an industry expert in the design, assessment, and Fitness-For-Service (FFS) of piping systems. He currently serves on the ASME B31.3 Process Piping Code Section Committee Task Group B on Design, and previously served on API's Piping Subcommittee.

Equity is experienced in the appraisal of new and existing process and power piping systems and pipelines in the refining, petrochemicals and utilities industries, and oil and gas pipelines.

We specialize in FFS evaluations, remaining life assessment, and rerating using procedures in API 570, API 579-1/ASME FFS-1, and other industry standards. FFS piping and pipeline assessments include local and general corrosion and erosion as well as analyses of creep and fatigue damage out-of-roundness, long seam weld peaking, and other gross distortions and displacements caused by fire, support failure, and extreme load events.

Equity performs flexibility analyses on high temperature piping systems. We can analyze numerous rotating equipment piping systems, and design support modifications to eliminate vibration and/or high nozzle reactions causing equipment alignment and seal problems. We also provide analysis of vibrating piping systems, determine the need for vibration mitigation, perform risk assessments, and where needed, design vibration mitigation system(s). We also perform detailed assessments of buried piping.

We provide analyses of specialty piping components. Using Finite Element Analyses (FEA), we can determine design modifications needed in metallic bellows expansion joints and slide valves, develop designs for leak sealing devices, and evaluate localized creep damage on piping components. E²G’s proprietary software, VCESage™, has many modules for the evaluation of piping components.

Piping and Pipeline Code Calculations and Design

Equity specializes in code compliance calculations and interpretations, and code design of piping systems. Our experience includes the application of the ASME B31.3 Code for Process Piping, the ASME B31.1 Code for Power Piping, the ASME B31.4 Code for Pipeline Transportation Systems for Liquid Hydrocarbons and Other Liquids, and the ASME B31.8 Code for Gas Transmission and Distribution Piping Systems. We are experienced in the use of numerous international design specifications and codes, and many ASME/ANSI, API, MSS, and EJMA piping component standards.

We can provide full-service piping design, from the analyses and specification of materials and components to the layout and detailed design of piping supports and structures.

Development and Review of Piping Specifications

Equity has developed over 100 piping practices for the petrochemical industry, covering everything from the design and installation of new piping systems to the inspection, evaluation and repair of existing piping systems. As part of the piping practices, we offer a live web-based electronic database with over 200 piping classes and 2500 valve data sheets. The component descriptions and code designators in the piping classes are SAP friendly. Our clients have assigned unique SAP numbers to the callouts of the online piping classes. We have also reviewed numerous contractor and project piping specifications as part of an overall project review function and as jurisdictional third-party auditors.

Examples of Equity’s Piping System Analyses:

• Metallic Bellows Expansion Joint Analyses: After performing both EJMA design calculations and Finite Element Analyses of several metallic expansion joints that were components of piping systems or vessels, we determined and designed needed changes in bellows configuration and adjacent piping support modifications.
• Assessment of Turbine Piping: Evaluation of several turbine piping systems determined that inadequate support was causing vibration and very high reaction loads on the turbine nozzles. We recommended and designed support changes in each case and provided details of the required supports.
• Design and Analyses of FCC Piping and Slide Valves: We analyzed numerous FCC piping systems - overhead, flue gas and catalyst lines. Based on flexibility analyses, we designed FCC piping support modifications and details for new expansion joints. We also performed FEA of slide valve internals that showed changes in refractory, guide rails, internal bolting or other modifications were needed. The latter information has been used in design information contained in our slide valve practices.
• Evaluation of Hot Spot on FCC Coldwall Elbow: Analyses of a hot spot on the back side (extrados) of a refractory lined coldwall large diameter elbow in a FCC Unit was performed in Singapore. Based on in-elastic creep FEA, which included the piping reaction loads and the temperature distribution, the FCC Unit was safely operated until the next scheduled turnaround. Recommended operational modifications to the upstream slide valves were implemented to avoid further damage to the refractory
• Evaluation of Vibrating Piping: We evaluated numerous flow-induced piping vibration situations including a NPS 24 crude transfer line, NPS 16 crude surge drum line, NPS 12 diesel hydrotreater heater feed line, and NPS 8 makeup hydrogen manifold. These lines were vibrating significantly as a result of throughput rate increases after a de-bottlenecking effort done by a third party or improper initial design. We analyzed the lines and determined that support changes were required to avoid fatigue failure, and provided details of the support and structural modifications.
• Analysis of Reformer Piping: We debottle-necked several complex reformer piping systems through piping analysis and the modification of supports required for a much needed increase in operating temperature. These analyses considered the effects of the numerous combinations of regeneration and reaction cycles that occur with as many as six reformer vessels.
• Pipeline Vibration Risk Assessment: We developed a statistical-based model of wind-induced vibration stresses for several North Slope crude oil pipelines that were vibrating since their installation. Our analyses provided a ranking of the probability of failure for various segments of the pipelines and were used to provide Alaskan regulators evidence of schedule installation of mitigation devices.
• Third-Party Review of Piping Systems: We reviewed many design specifications and piping analyses. A few of the piping systems reviewed include Steam Pipeline in Argentina, grass roots Indonesian power plant, and many refinery piping systems. The third-party reviews have been required by the foreign governments and contracting companies.