The University of Mindanao

Matina, Davao City

UNIT OPERATIONS CONTROL:

Piping and Instrumentation Diagrams

Submitted to:
Engr. Ramiro Emerson Amon
Instructor

Submitted by:
Mary Regine M. Calamba
BS ChE-IV

July 2018
Unit Operations Control
Unit operations deal generally with the transfer and change of energy and of materials
primarily by physical means but also by physical-chemical means. Examples of these are
distillation, absorption, evaporation, and more (Geankoplis, 1993). Moreover, unit operations
control is an engineering process control discipline that deals with architectures, mechanisms
of unit operations involve in a chemical processing plant that maintains the output of the
process within a desired range.

Piping and Instrumentation Diagrams (P&IDs)

Piping and instrumentation diagrams (P&IDs), also known as Mechanical Flow
Diagrams (MFD), are used to guide detailed design and construction of process plants. The
engineering activities of all the design discipline – piping, electrical, instrumentation, etc. –
must conform to the P&IDs. They are also a principal form of communication between those
who are designing the plant and those who are going to own and operate it. To ensure success
and satisfaction, it is important that P&IDs be complete and clear (McKetta, 1992). If
something does go wrong in the process, reviewing the P&ID is usually a good place to start.
P&IDs are important documents to keep on hand, whether they’re used to reorganize an
existing process, replace a piece of equipment, or guide the design and implementation of a
new facility. With the record they provide, changes can be planned safely and effectively.
According to McKetta (1992), P&IDs are normally an elevation (side) view. There
are separate P&IDs for different systems, and the plant may be broken up into sections since
a single drawing cannot typically describe an entire plant. Designs are likely to change as the
project moves ahead, so the P&IDs go through several revisions, or issues, by the time the
plant is actually built.
There are standard symbols for the most items in a P&ID; this allows for the compact
presentation without sacrificing readability. Relative sizes of equipment may be reflected by
the sizes of the symbols. The layout of a P&ID conforms roughly to the actual physical
layout.
In the diagram, all piping should be marked with line designations: symbols showing
service, pipe size, and pipe specification; identification number; and some indication of
insulation or tracing. An accompanying legend (usually on a cover sheet) should explain the
line designation as well as symbols for valves and other elements in the pipeline.
In laying out P&IDs, it is important to allow room for adding details. Consider, too,
the complexity of the installation and the number of lines, vessels, and instruments. For
instance: One reactor, with its instruments and auxiliary equipment, is typically enough for
one drawing.

Types of P&IDs
According to McKetta (1992), these are the types of P&IDs:
I. Systems P&IDs show the production, utility, and pollution-control processes; this
category includes:
 Process P&IDs – these drawings are for the actual manufacturing process: reaction,
purification, materials handling, separations and other unit operations from the
process flow diagram. They show all the process equipment, piping, controls; the
main process flow is left to right.
 Utility-generation P&IDs – these drawings show utility systems such as boilers,
cooling towers, heat-transfer fluid heaters, refrigeration/brine coolers, and air
compressors, but they do not typically show how these utilities are distributed through
the plant.
 Environmental P&IDs – these are for pollution-control processes such as scrubbing,
incineration, and wastewater treatment follow the same format as process P&IDs.
Vest and discharge-collection systems should follow the format of distribution
P&IDs.

II. Distribution P&IDs show how utilities, chemicals, and other non-process streams
are distributed through the plant. These drawings include all headers and sub-
headers, laid out to approximate their actual arrangement. Vents and relied
systems are also in this category:
 Utility-distribution P&IDs – these show how stream, cooling water, and other
utilities are distributed. Root valves at braches should be included, but controls and
check valves on equipment lines will be shown on the process P&IDs.
 Safety-system P&IDs – these define the depressing and safety-relief systems, and
include the piping networks that run from relieving devices through blow-down
drums or gas holders to vents, stacks, and other destinations.
 Chemicals-distribution P&IDs – distribution is shown for utilities.
 III. Auxiliary-system P&IDs show compressor lubrication and cooling systems,
hydraulic systems, pump seals, and other auxiliaries related to major equipment.

All these types are developed through several stages, or issues, during the conception,
design, and construction processes. These issues were:
1. Approval Issue – These are the ones the client checks, and revises if necessary,
before giving approval to proceed with engineering. It is often designated as Revision
0.
2. Engineering Issue – This incorporates the client’s changes and so is often called
Revision 1. It is a formal document used to start design engineering and procurement.
It normally includes everything shown on the approval issue plus instrument numbers;
line numbers; full descriptions of equipment, including motor horsepowers; piping-
specialty numbers; tie-ins; sizes of control valves and nonline-size valves; and sizes of
safety-system lines and valves.
3. Construction Issue – The first construction issue is used for final checking of designs
and drawings. Frequently, the client staff will review this issue line by line. These
completed P&IDs include all the information on the engineering issue plus details of
all packaged equipment, details for vendor drawings, and up-to-date input from
detailed design. The first construction issue is typically accompanied by several
documents including updated line-designation tables; updated (if required) specialty
items summary, instrument data sheets, and tie-in index; and preliminary steam-trap
summary. There may also be a list of revisions made since the previous issue;
alternatively, the revisions may be indicated on the drawings.

What should We Include and Not Include in P&ID?

According to Lucid Software Inc. (2017), there are no exact standards for the way
P&IDs should be drawn, but there have been standards suggested by the Process Industry
Practice (PIP), a consortium of process industry owners and engineering construction
contractors who serve the industry. Below are the details of what a P&ID should contain:
 Mechanical equipment with names and numbers
 All valves and their identifications
 Process piping, sizes and identification
  Miscellaneous – vents, drains, special fittings, sampling lines, reducers, increasers,
and swagers
 Permanent start-up and flush lines
 Flow directions
 Interconnections reference
 Control inputs and outputs, interlock
 Seismic category
 Interfaces for class changes
 Quality level
 Annunciation inputs
 Computer control system input
 Vendor and contractor interfaces
 Identification of components and subsystems delivered by others
 Intended physical sequence of the equipment
 Equipment rating capacity

A P&ID should be clear, and for that reason, the following should not be included in the
diagram:
 Instrument root valves
 Control relays
 Primary instrument tubing and valves
 Pressure temperature and flow data
 Elbow, trees and similar standard fitting
 Extensive explanatory notes

Interpreting Instrumentation Symbols

The key to understand P&ID is the standardized instrumentation symbols. The
instrumentation symbols appearing on diagrams adhere to the standard of ANSI/ISA’s S5.1-
1984 (R1992). Sticking to the Instrumentation, Systems, and Automation Society (ISA) S5.1
Instrumentation Symbols and Identification standard ensures a consistent, system
independent means of communicating instrumentation, control, and automation intent so
everyone understands. (Lucid Software Inc., 2017).
 ISA S5.1 defines four graphical elements—discrete instruments, shared
control/display, computer function, and programmable logic controller—and groups them
into three location categories (primary location, auxiliary location, and field mounted).
Discrete instruments are
signified by circular elements. It refers
to any physical instrument or device in
the field or on a panel. It doesn't matter
if it is a level transmitter, a flow meter, a
pressure gauge or some other type of
indicator. If it is a physical device that
measures or displays something, it will
be illustrated by the use of a circle on a
P&ID. The circle surrounded by a
square represents the shared control or display elements. These are used to represent a
graphic on a computer screen or control panel that you can see and possibly interface with via
touch panel or a computer mouse. Computer functions are indicated by a hexagon, and a
programmable logic controller (PLC) functions are shown as a diamond inside a square.
These symbols really represent software instructions that engineers write to define the
automated behaviour of the plant.

Location of Devices

A single horizontal bar across any of the four graphical elements means the function
resides in the primary location category. A double line indicates an auxiliary location, and no
line places the device or function in the field. Devices located behind a panel-board in some
other inaccessible location are shown with a dashed horizontal line.

Tag Identification

Letter and number combinations appear inside each graphical element and letter
combinations are defined by the ISA standard. Numbers are user assigned and schemes vary
with some companies’ use of sequential numbering. Some tie the instrument number to the
process line number. Others may choose to adopt unique and sometimes unusual numbering
systems.
 The first letter defines the measured or initiating variables. Examples include Analysis
(A), Flow (F), Temperature (T), etc. with succeeding letters defining readout, passive, or
output functions such as Indicator (I), Record (R), Transmit (T), and so forth.

Miscellaneous

Equipment is comprised of miscellaneous P&ID units that don't fit into the other
categories. This group includes hardware like compressors, conveyors, motors, turbines,
vacuums, and other mechanical devices.
 A pipe is a tube that transports fluid substances. Piping can be made of various
materials, including metal and plastic. The piping group is made up of one-to-many pipes,
multi-line pipes, separators, and other types of piping devices.

A valve regulates, directs, or controls the flow of a fluid by opening, closing, or

partially obstructing passageways in a piping system. This category includes rotameters,
orifices, and other types of valves.
 A vessel is a container that is used to store fluid. It may also alter the characteristics of
the fluid during storage. The vessels category includes tanks, cylinders, columns, bags, and
other vessels.

P&ID Limitations

Since P&IDs are graphic representations of processes, they have some inherent

limitations. Cook (2010) cited couple things P&IDs don’t do well:

1. Not to Scale - P&IDs can't be relied on as a scale guide for where pipes, equipment or

other items are in proximity to equipment in the real world.

2. Not Geometrically Accurate - P&IDs don't illustrate geometry. The level of detail

that goes into symbols for equipment will vary, but is almost never geometrically

correct.

3. Color Blind - P&IDs are not good at using color to convey meaning.

4. Not Definitive - P&IDs do not include complete specs for all the equipment in the

process. They are, after all drawings, not documents.

5. Not Drawn Consistently - Sadly, P&IDs seldom look consistent between companies.

That's because there is a lot of flexibility in how one can go about drawing a P&ID.
References

Cook, R. (2010). Interpreting Piping and Instrumentation Diagrams. Retrieved July 2018,
from https://www.aiche.org/chenected/2010/09/interpreting-piping-and-
instrumentation-diagrams-symbology

Geankoplis, C. J. (1993). Classification of Unit Operations and Transport Processes. In C. J.

Geankoplis, Transport Processes and Unit Operations (p. 2). United Sates of
America: PTR Prentice-Hall, Inc.

Lucid Software, Inc. (2017). What are Piping & Instrumentation Diagrams. Retrieved July
2018, from Lucidchart: https://www.lucidchart.com/pages/p-and-id

McKetta, J. J. (1992). Piping and Instrumentation Diagrams. In J. J. McKetta, Piping Design

Handbook (pp. 505-???). Texas: Marcel Dekker, Inc.