7 Modules of Piping Codes & Standards

Codes and standards have been developed by industry experts to standardize the work flows and designs. Majorly the Codes and standards are defined as following:

Codes:

A group of rules or systematic procedures for design, fabrication, installation , examination & inspection; prepared in such a manner that it can be adopted by legal jurisdiction and made into law.

Standards:

Documents prepared by a recognized professional group or committee which contain mandatory requirements.

What you’ll learn

1. Introduction to Codes & Standards: This the first section where introduction to Codes & standards is given. Commonly used codes & standards have been listed out. Moreover, Design/Dimensional/Material standards have been listed out and explained along with few practical examples.
2. Major differences b/w ASME B31.1 & ASME B31.3: Both the codes are base foundation of any process & power project. At the same time there are some basic differences based on application, allowable stress and many reasons. There is detailed comparison w.r.t. allowable stress which helps to understand the differences related to life spam, factor of safety, wall thickness. Along with that major differences because of post weld heat treatment and testing requirements have also been captured and presented in an organized manner.
3. ASME Standards (American Society of Mechanical Engineers): ASME standards are integral part of plant design and layouts. Understanding of ASME standards is mandatory requirement for every piping engineer. In this section various important clauses related to pipe dimensions (ASME B36.10) & flange design are captured and explained. Difference between ASME 16.5 & ASME 16.47 are also explained. Series A & Series B flanges are also differentiated in this section.
4. Pipe Wall thickness Calculation:  Pipe thickness calculations are required in every piping project. There are so many clauses in piping code to determine the same. Before that concepts related to PT rating (Pressure-Temperature rating) & allowable stresses are explained in detailed manner. Each and every factor is explained along with the actual calculation considering few examples.
5.  Impact testing: In this section various important definitions related to MDMT & impact testing are captured and presented. The reason behind desired exemptions for impact testing are also explained. All the important clauses mentioned in ASME codes to get the exemptions from impact testing have been captured and presented with an example of Titanic.
6.  API (American Petroleum Institute) Standards: There are many API standards which need to be referred while designing any process plant. Out of these API 600, 6D & 598 are selected and all the major clauses have been explained. Once we go through the API 600 & API 6D clauses then we can understand any valve design API standard, also once API 598 which is used for valve testing and inspection is understood then we can understand any standard related to valve inspection and examination.
7. ASTM (American Society of Testing Materials) Standards: Materials are very important part of any piping system. Also forging & casting materials are important. In this section various ASTM standards related to carbon steels, high & low temperature steel & alloy steel are discussed. More than 20 grades of 8 ASTM standards falling under various categories have been compared and differences have been presented in such a manner that any ASTM standard can be understood. 

All the 7 Sections are practically important for any piping engineer, even if somebody with working experience in piping should go through the course to refresh the fundamentals.