Pipeline Vs Piping Comparison

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

Outside plant boundary Within plant boundary

Cross-country (i.e. villages, fields, river, canal, railway, (upto all nozzles/ equipment terminal points)
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 Piping  API Standard
Valves
Full bore (FB) and Reduced bore (RB) both types of valves are
used as per respective valve standards. There is no requirement
Full Bore (FB) Ball Valves are used for smooth for 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
Related Facilities Procedures, Welders, Brazers and Welding and Brazing
Operators

Type of welding: Type of welding:

Automatic / Semi-Automatic/ Manual Manual (mostly)

6 Weld joint inspection (NDT requirements)

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

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

8 Installation

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

9 Special Installations

Across rivers Special fabrication methods:

 Horizontal Directional Drilling (HDD) method  Modular installations

 Micro-tunneling method  Finning
 Studding
Across road/ rail/ highway  Jacketing
 Spooling inside warehouse
 Auger boring/ jacking boring method  U/G piping for cooling water
 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   Wind profile from meteorology

the pipeline route)  Seismic study of plot
 Geotechnical investigation (all along
the pipelineroute)
 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

 Painting

 Three Layer Polyethylene (3LPE) coating

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

13 Cathodic Protection System

 Impressed Current Cathodic Protection   Not applicable

(ICCP) system
 Sacrificial Anode (limited locations)

14 Hydrostatic testing

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

Test Pressure Test Pressure

Minimum: Minimum:

 1.25 times of Design Pressure (for  1.5 × Design Pressure × Temperature Factor
liquid pipelines)
 1.25 to 1.5 times of Design Pressure (for Maximum:
gas pipelines)

Maximum:  based on line schedule

Hold period: 2 - 6 hours

 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 inhibited Not applicable

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

 DNVGL-ST-F101 : Submarine pipeline systems   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)

 Geophysical survey/ Bathymetric Survey by using side scan sonar,  Applicable

Not
sub-bottom profiler and echo-sounder
 Met-Ocean data collection
 Geo-technical data of the pipeline route

4 Pipes

Line pipes are utilized as per following specs: 

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

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   Deck piping stress analysis using

 On-bottom Stability CAESAR II
 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)

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
Welding and Brazing Procedures,
Mostly automatic welding on pipelay barge. Welders, Brazers and Welding and
Brazing Operators

Manual welding at fabrication yard.

11 Weld joint inspection (NDT requirements)

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

12 Special Equipments

 Subsea Isolation Valve (SSIV)  Applicable

Not
 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.  gauging is done.
No
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