14-ApGreid - Line Sizing Rev.2

Program Objectives
To provide guidelines for determining the line size for piping that is part of an
upstream Oil & Gas Facility.
Agenda
General
Design Criteria - Liquids
Design Criteria - Vapour
Design Criteria Vapour/Liquids
Design Criteria Relief and Depressuring Lines
Calculation Methods
Design Margins
Further Reading / References
General
Use the most onerous criteria from either the velocity or the P/100
m
Account for P affecting flow (i.e. vapour and multiphase lines)
Pipelines (i.e. greater in length than about 1km) shall be subject to
other discussions
Use only Standard Line Sizes (taken from B36.10M). Do not use
1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 9, 22 etc
The minimum in plant line size is 2 or 50mmNB.
FEED and Conceptual Line Estimation
Single Phase Liquid Lines
Non-boiling liquids have a temperature that is 15C (27F) below their bubble point.
Need a minimum velocity of 1 m/s (3 fps) if sand is considered to be present.
NPSH available shall be calculated at the rated pump capacity with a margin of 1m.
Single Phase Liquid Lines (contd)
For pumps handling boiling fluids the inlet pressure loss shall be such that
the frictional loss is less than 0.6m (2ft).
For potable water, fresh water and glycol/water mix use Table 2.1.
Avoid vapour breakout upstream of meters and control valves by allowing
positive pressure above the fluid vapour pressure at the device inlet in
excess of the allowed meter loss! Check with your Friendly Instrument
Engineer.
Recommended Values
Single Phase Liquid Lines Flowing under Gravity Only
Slope always 1:100 (this implies that the line is not pocketed).
0.03 bar/100 m (0.07 psi/100 ft) this can be exceeded if the liquid is sub-
cooled.
Piping less than 200mmNB (8) shall be designed for 50% full.
Piping greater than 200mmNB (8) shall be designed for 75% full.
Vertical flow Froude number shall be less than 0.3. For fully flooded vertical
down flow Froude number shall be less than and equal to 0.6. A good
reference is P D Hills, Designing piping for gravity flows, Chem. Eng. , Sept.
5, 1983. pages 111-114.
Siphon effects can be avoided in gravity by:
Installing a siphon breaker at the high point.
Size the line for self-venting.
Size the line such that the frictional losses offset gravitational
forces.
Single Phase Liquid Lines Static Accumulation
Maximum velocity discharging into a tank (that is not blanketed)

is 1 m/s (3 fps) for the first 10m (30 ft) into the tank.
Single Phase Liquid Lines Seawater / Firewater

Constant duty systems shall have a maximum velocity of 3 m/s (10
fps).
Intermittent duty systems shall have a maximum velocity of 7.5 m/s (25
fps).
Single Phase Liquid Lines Gravity Drains
This shall be further reviewed in the Drain System Lecture
Main headers shall be a minimum of 100mmNB (4) and the sub-

headers shall be a minimum of 80mmNB (3).
Single Phase Liquid Lines Tank Overflows
For an overflow through an internal pipe use the Francis weir

formula:
Q = 6.575 10 4 D H 1.5
D = Pipe internal diameter (mm)
H = liquid height above the top of the overflow pipe (mm)
Q = flowrate (m/hr)
For side outlets refer to the Bath Tub curves for side outlets.
Single Phase Vapour Lines
Pressure loss may be calculated using incompressible equations if the

pressure drop does not exceed 10% of the absolute inlet pressure.
Noise criteria is related to a noise level of 85 dB at 1 m (the equivalent of
being 10m from a major highway)
VMAX = 198.5 0.506
Vmax = maximum velocity (m/s)

= vapour density (kg/m)
For further information refer to J. G. Seebold, Smooth piping reduces noise
fact or fiction, Hydrocarbon Processing, September, 1973. Pages 189-
191. Also refer to the NASA Glenn Research Center Reduced-Noise Gas
Flow Design Guide.
Gas/Liquid Multiphase Lines
Non-Critical Flow
Non-critical flow occurs in most applications where the P/100 m is
in the order of 0.85 1.70 bar/100m (2-4 psi/100ft). This should be
considered the criteria for sizing multiphase lines. The only other
additional criteria is that the Slug flow regime shall be avoided at
every opportunity.
In addition the erosional velocity should be reviewed in accordance

with the formula from API 14E for the applicable material and
circumstance.
For vertical and horizontal sections within plant the Beggs and Brill
correlation shall be used within the PIPE module of HYSYS. A
design margin of 1.4 with respect to the pressure loss within new
plants shall be applied and a margin of 1.3 in existing plants.
Gas/Liquid Multiphase Lines
Critical Flow
This usually occurs in high velocity systems such as flares, sections of
refrigeration systems and other areas of high pressure reduction
where liquid is present.
The only manner to determine whether critical flow occurs is to

calculate the critical mass flow and compare it to the actual flow
required. It should be noted that small amount of liquid drastically
reduce the critical multiphase flow ( refe to L L Simpson Estimate two-
phase flow in safety devices, Chem. Eng., August, 1991. Pages 98-
102.
With respect to pressure loss this can be calculated using either of the
following:
Equation 6-143 from Perrys Chemical Engineers Handbook Seventh Edition
R L Landis, Solve flashing-fluid critical flow problems, Chem. Eng., March
8, 1982. Pages 79-82.
Flares/Relief/Depressuring
Relief valves and the flare line criteria will be assessed during the relief
valve/flare lecture session.
The inlet to blowdown valves/orifice plates shall be sized for a maximum
velocity of 60 m/s (195 fps).
Blowdown valves/orifice outlets shall be sized for a Mach no. of less than
0.75. (Shell currently allow Mach nos. of 1.0 in this circumstance).
Flare headers & sub-headers 0.5-0.75 Mach.
With respect to High Pressure vents follow API RP 521 (5th Edition, 2007)
Section 6.3 and consult with the Safety Group.
Tank Vents. The guide only applicable for non-refrigerated tank vents.
These are sized upon:
Thermal Breathing
Maximum Fluid Contents Volume Change
Fire Case
Calculation Methods
Single Phase
In House Validated Spreadsheets
ESI
HYSYS
Multiphase
In House Validated Spreadsheets
ESI
HYSYS
Pipesim
Firewater
HYENA
Pipenet
Any Software Approved by the Underwriting Authority for the facility.
Flare Systems - Flarenet
Design Margins
For Multiphase flows the margins have already been specified. On Critical
flows use no margin.
For Single phase flows use 20% on the pressure loss figure as calculated.
Exceptions occur due to various client requirements e.g. BP require a 10
times the roughness factor for flare systems due to corrosion, debris, etc.
Always check the Process Design Guide for the system or line sizing or
the Process Design Philosophy
Fitting Losses
Equivalent Length Method (in lengths) use GPSA
Equivalent Length Method (in diameters) use GPSA
Further Readings
GPSA, Imperial Units, 11th Edition.

Perrys Chemical Engineers Handbook, 7th Edition, Sections 6 and 10.
Crane Flow of Fluids Through Valves and Fittings Metric Edition SI Units
Technical Publication 410M.
Chemical Engineerings Practical Piping Design
A K Coker, Understand two-phase flow in process piping, Chem. Eng.
Progress, Nov, 1990. Pages 60-65.
B V Shah, Solving fluid flow problems with spreadsheets, Hydrocarbon
Processing, Sept, 1989. Pages 85-90.
F C Yu, Line sizing for gravity flow piping, Hydrocarbon Processing, Nov,
1997. Pages 99-102.
D Cindric S L Gandhi & R A Williams, Designing piping systems for two-
phase flow, Chem. Eng. Progress, Mar, 1987. Pages 51-55.

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Program Objectives

Maximum velocity discharging into a tank (that is not blanketed)

Single Phase Liquid Lines Seawater / Firewater

This shall be further reviewed in the Drain System Lecture

Main headers shall be a minimum of 100mmNB (4) and the sub-

For an overflow through an internal pipe use the Francis weir

Pressure loss may be calculated using incompressible equations if the

VMAX = 198.5 0.506

Vmax = maximum velocity (m/s)

In addition the erosional velocity should be reviewed in accordance

The only manner to determine whether critical flow occurs is to

GPSA, Imperial Units, 11th Edition.

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