BN-DG-C13 Conducting 3D PDS Piping Model Reviews Page 1 of 4

BN-DG-C13 Conducting 3D PDS Piping Model Reviews

Table of Contents

1. Purpose of Model Reviews

2. Types of Model Reviews
3. By Stage of Model Completion
4. Reviewers
5. Subjects
6. References

1. Purpose of Model Reviews

Often 3D model reviews are limited to checking for interferences and consistency with key project documents such as P and
ID’s.
While these types of reviews are obviously required and important, limiting the reviews to “design checks” does not take
advantage of all the opportunities available for optimization.
The important thing to remember is that the 3D model represents the plant that is to be built; the total end product in three
dimensions. Therefore, to fully utilize this tool, all those personnel who may have an impact, and/or who will be affected by, or
involved with the plant under design should and can contribute to the optimization of the design. The 3D model is a
convenient tool for this purpose.
Who are the people, other than the design team, who can contribute ?
They include :

Construction personnel

Operators

Maintenance personnel

Safety and environmental personnel

Technical specialists

The construction personnel can provide input that can potentially reduce construction costs and/or improve the construction
schedule.
The operating personnel must live with the plant once it is built.
Their timely input can result in a design that is most logical for operator utilization by identifying operating concepts so that
control rooms and key control stations are located on the same level, placing instruments and associated manual controls in
logical proximity, allowing space for working storage, etc.
Often the operating personnel are presently, or have recently, operated similar types of plants and can, therefore, contribute
based on practical experiences.
Incorporating operator preferences, if they do not add to costs, can also improve startup and “commitment” by these key
personnel. Conducting careful reviews with operating personnel can result in considerable savings during startup and
mechanical completion, by minimizing the usual field modifications to valving, installing bypasses and changing instrument
locations.
Meaningful reviews by maintenance personnel have a much more subtle and longer range impact. Maintenance costs, and
often more importantly shutdown time for turnarounds, can be minimized if proper access, drop-out areas and monorails can
be incorporated into the design. The method of handling equipment for maintenance can best be defined by the plant
maintenance personnel based on their experience, proposed philosophy and available or planned mobile and rigging
equipment.
Safety and environmental considerations are always important. The necessity of meeting ever increasing numbers of
regulations must also be checked. The 3D model allows for checking of simple safety considerations such as identifying
which pipelines should be provided with personnel protection, locating and directing the discharge of relief devices away

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occupied areas, as well as determining patterns of egress.

The role of the technical specialist is based on his experiences, feedback from similar installations and often the owner’s
specific requirements. Again this input may have a greater impact over the life of the project with fewer operating problems
and longer service. The 3D model review can also serve as a catalyst for an open exchange of ideas. In the preliminary
stages, free wheeling discussions and sharp questioning of presumptions can lead to significant design optimizing with
associated cost and/or operating savings.
The 3D model facilitates this sort of conceptual visualization and exchange of ideas. A sort of visual-verbal value analysis can
be performed by “why” questioning with the 3D model during the conceptual design stage.
Finally the 3D model as a focal point of various design inputs (structural steel, piping, nozzle orientation on vessels, etc.) is a
visual measure of design progress not unlike gauging construction progress by walking the site and seeing what has been
erected.

2. Types of Model Reviews

The various types of 3D model reviews can be segregated into three primary categories. These categories can be classified
by stage of 3D model completion, by the types of people reviewing or by the subject being reviewed. Within each of these
categories of reviews there are several different types, which are described below.

3. By Stage of Model Completion

As the 3D model progresses through its various stages towards completion, periodic reviews are held.
3.1 Preliminary Reviews
Preliminary reviews take place once the plant arrangement and equipment arrangement have been established. Various
alternates may be shown as part of the review process. In this type of review, particular attention is paid to the plant layout
with regard to access to equipment, bay spacing, flow of materials and personnel, open versus enclosed structures and other
macro-considerations to establish construction and operating philosophy.
Agreement must be reached at this review prior to starting any detailed design. One of the most costly errors in an
engineering construction project is to begin detailed design in an area where the equipment arrangement philosophy has not
been adequately reviewed and agreed upon and is therefore subject to later changes. Preliminary reviews should be held as
early as possible during the project but adequate time should be allowed for evaluating numerous alternates.
3.2 Intermediate Reviews
Intermediate reviews take place when the final structural steel, final equipment and the majority of the major piping runs,
duct-work, instrument and electrical trays have been MODELLED. The primary purpose of these reviews is to review the
routings to insure that process integrity has not been compromised, that the pipe, duct-work and tray runs are in accordance
with the minimum cost criteria established for the project and to observe any potential interferences in the operability or
maintainability, created by the routing of these items.
3.3 Final Reviews
Final reviews are held when the 3D model has basically been completed. This occurs when all equipment, piping, valves,
instruments, electrical, structural and other items have been MODELLED IN THE PDS ENVIRONMENT. In this review, the
items to be reviewed will include such things as the location and orientation of valve hand wheels for operability, the location
of local instruments for maintainability.
Agreement on the location of all these critical items should precede the start of piping isometrics EXTRACTION or the
preparation of instrument location plan drawings, if required.

4. Reviewers

3D model reviews will vary in their approach and level of detail depending upon the function of the reviewer. Different
reviewers will be looking for items that impact their areas of responsibility and, as such, will look at the 3D model in different
ways.
4.1 Construction Personnel
Members of the construction organization are primarily interested in the constructability of what is being designed. They must

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impact upon both the labor and material cost aspects of installing a particular design. They must contribute to the design
sufficiently to insure that the plant will be efficiently and safely constructed.
In particular, construction personnel will be concerned with items such as available space for setting equipment into the
structures, access to pipe racks with mobile equipment or the use of cable trays for wire as opposed to individual conduits.
4.2 Plant Operations and Maintenance Personnel
The plant people are primarily concerned with how easily the plant is to operate and maintain. Operations personnel will be
looking for designs which minimize operator attention, which provide compact areas for their operators to concentrate efforts
on and ease of access to equipment.
The maintenance staff has a view point more closely aligned with the construction people. Since they will have to remove
equipment set in place by construction, they will be looking for access aisles, space for movement of portable equipment,
uncomplicated piping and instrument installations, platforms and the like. Maintenance personnel will also be concerned with
how the design affects the reliability of the installations.
4.3 Specialists Groups
Various specialists groups will review the 3D model for impact on their area of responsibility. Groups concerned
environmental, process safety and industrial hygiene aspects of the plant should impact on the design. Environmental
personnel will be concerned about curbing and trenching to contain spills. Process safety personnel will review such things as
the proximity of combustible materials to spark generating devices.
4.4 Engineering and Operating Management
Representatives from both engineering and operating management generally will review the 3D model from a separate and
distinct view point. Rather than involve themselves in the minute details of the design as shown on the 3D model, these
people will take an overview.
They will look at the 3D model as a whole to insure that the design meets the general criteria established by their respective
groups. Management will also review the 3D model to insure that each group under their area of responsibility has
contributed to the critique of the design.
4.5 System Technical and Design Engineers
This group maintains the primary responsibility for impacting on the design through 3D model reviews. In addition to
reviewing the 3D model from the standpoint of process integrity, the system technical or design engineer must also consider
all of the items covered by specialty groups discussed above. While it is not possible for this person to penetrate at the same
level as the specialty group, it is important that he participate in all reviews and understand and coordinate required 3D model
revisions.

5. Subjects

3D model reviews are held based on the subject matter to be covered.

Specific examples of these types of reviews are shown below:
5.1 Process Integrity
A review for process integrity will focus on those items which affect the process performance and reliability.
Up around the plant in general and key equipment in particular.
Minimizing flat, horizontal surfaces, reducing the required number of equipment support legs, pouring of tapered concrete into
the bottom of building columns, designing with enclosed, tubular supports rather than with angle iron are typical items that will
be explored during a clean design review. While clean design is critical in food and pharmaceutical type plants it is significant
in virtually all installations where dirt buildup will effect equipment operation and eventually process performance.
5.2 Cost Effectiveness
Cost effectiveness 3D model reviews are held to insure that minimum cost practices are being carried out to the maximum
extent within the constraints of the project. Examples of this are: reviewing the 3D model to minimize the number of bends or
changes in elevation made by piping, reviewing equipment layout to reduce the size of the building and reviewing cable tray
runs to optimize routing.
Obviously, there are constraints to the minimum cost approach which may preclude cost is a constraint. However, these
constraints should only be considered when deciding to make a change and should not be taken into account while trying to
generate potential ideas for change.

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5.3 Environmental
Environmental review will focus on the effects of the plant design on the environmental. The 3D model makes it easy to
visualize the enclosed areas which must be vented and the areas around potential spills. These are the types of items that
should be covered and resolved during an environmental review. This type of review should also cover the design of
environmental protection equipment installations.
5.4 Safety
THIS SECTION IS QUESTIONABLE FOR A 3D MODEL REVIEW
Safety reviews are extremely important and should be carried out in extreme detail. Review of mobile equipment traffic
patterns, proximity of combustible materials to potential spark generators, proximity of toxic materials to personnel, ladder
and platform installations and "head knockers" are typical areas that should be examined during a safety review.
5.5 Constructability
The ease of constructing a facility is the prime concern during a constructability review. The ease of bringing large process
equipment into structures, the erection sequence of structural steel, the advantages of running wires in trays as opposed to
individual conduits are typical of those items covered in a constructability review. Of course, process integrity, cost and other
factors are considered as part of the constructability critique.
5.6 Detailed Checklist
A detailed checklist ref. 6.1 exist which gives guidelines of subjects to be covered during the 3D model review.

6. References

Document Number Title Level

BN-DG-C12 Checking of Piping Design Model and Definition 5
of Percentage Completion
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