Importance Of Piping Design Codes And Standards


Oil & Gas, Manufacturing Unit, Water Management, Petrochemical & Refinery, and other power companies use the piping system to transfer fluids (liquids and gases) from one equipment to others. The reliability of the piping systems depends on the considerations, codes, and standards used in the design, construction, and preservation of the system.

Codes and Standards play an essential role in the design of piping systems. They provide the direction in the right selection of specific material required in the design and construction of the piping system. Many Engineers and Piping Designers often interpret Codes and Standards in the same terms. However, they are not quite the same.
Let’s summarize the difference between Piping Codes and Piping Standards:

Piping Codes

They are a set of rules and regulations that define design requirements used for the construction, installation, fabrication, tests, and inspection of piping and piping systems. Each code has limited legal jurisdiction defined by the scope of the law. Each code intends to maintain personnel and industrial safety in a particular task or equipment.

Piping Standards

Piping Standards are generally defined by the professional group or committee and trade organizations. It comprises of individual piping components such as fittings, elbows, flanges, valves, tees, and more as application design & construction rules and mandatory requirements. Standards apply to both the performance and dimension of piping system components.

Now, after understanding Piping Codes and Standard, the question may arise, why comply with or adopt Piping Codes and Standards for engineering projects? It is because "code" in itself is a law with statutory force. It is mandated to follow standard codes or get penalized for non-compliance.

List of Different Piping Codes and Standards

There are different standard piping codes developed by the leading organization in the world - the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME).

ASME B31.3

It is the code used for process piping. And, it provides requirements for piping usually found in the paper, textile, chemical, petroleum refineries, pharmaceutical, semiconductor, cryogenic plants, and other similar processing plants. It is the utmost necessary code for process ping professionals.

ASME B31.1

This code is used for power piping and encompasses requirements for piping systems. It is concerned with an electric power generating solutions, geothermal heating systems, industrial, institutional plants, and heating & cooling systems. So, it is mainly essential for Power piping professionals.

ASME B31.4

B31.4 prescribes requirements for piping transportation of liquids such as crude oil, liquefied petroleum products, natural gas liquids, refineries, and more. It deals with transports fluid between production facility, natural gas plants, pumping, and other reception & delivery points.

ASME B31.5

This code is used in the refrigeration piping and heat transfer components. It covers information about requirements for heat transfer components, refrigerant, secondary coolants for temperatures as low as -320°F (-196°C). B31.5 prescribes complete solutions for fabrication, assembly, materials, design, erection, inspection, and testing.

ASME B31.8

B31.8 code contains information for gas transmission and distribution in piping systems. It includes gas transmission and distribution in gas pipelines, compressor stations, gas mains, gas metering, and more. Moreover, it is intended for the maintenance of piping used for the transportation of hydrocarbon gases.

ASME B31.12

B31.12 applies to piping in liquid and gaseous hydrogen service as well as to pipelines in gaseous hydrogen service. It provides input on the fabrication, erection, assembly, installation, design, testing, inspection, and safety measures of operation.

Piping Component Standards

Let’s look at some of the frequently used piping standards;
  • B36.10M deals with the standardized dimensions of welded and seamless wrought steel pipe for different temperatures – high, medium, or low.
  • ASME B36.19M covers the standardized dimensions of welded and seamless wrought steel pipe for different temperatures – high, medium, or low.
  • ASME B36.19M comprises of dimension standardization of welded and seamless wrought stainless steel pipe for high or low temperatures and pressures.
  • ASME B16.5 standard is limited to Pipe Flanges and Flanged Fittings
To conclude, the list mentioned above of piping codes and standards helps to reduce high cost by providing optimum piping design. So, if you’re looking for piping design engineering services for your engineering project, consider outsourcing a team having an in-depth understanding of new piping design industry codes and standards.