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Introduction To Piping Fabrication

Pipe fabrication involves cutting, welding, and assembling piping components according to design documents. It is a critical process that requires precision. There are two main types: shop fabrication, where spools are assembled in a workshop, and field fabrication, where assembly occurs on site. The document then describes the typical steps of pipe fabrication, including marking, cutting, end preparation, welding, inspection, and protection of completed spools. It also lists common tools used and discusses preparation, procedures, quality control, and specifications.

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Syed Ibrahim
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360 views5 pages

Introduction To Piping Fabrication

Pipe fabrication involves cutting, welding, and assembling piping components according to design documents. It is a critical process that requires precision. There are two main types: shop fabrication, where spools are assembled in a workshop, and field fabrication, where assembly occurs on site. The document then describes the typical steps of pipe fabrication, including marking, cutting, end preparation, welding, inspection, and protection of completed spools. It also lists common tools used and discusses preparation, procedures, quality control, and specifications.

Uploaded by

Syed Ibrahim
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Introduction to Piping Fabrication (with PDF)

Written by Anup Kumar Dey in Piping Design Basics


Pipe fabrication can be defined as the process of cutting, bevelling, and
welding piping components such as pipes, tees, elbows, flanges, reducers,
etc., as dictated by the design documents. In the process and power piping
industry, Piping fabrication is a highly critical activity as it involves hundreds
of components and thousands of steps and requires a high degree of
precision. In any construction project wherever piping networks are involved,
piping fabrication needs to be properly planned, scheduled, and executed as
per design requirements. To maintain the system integrity, proper functioning
of each item, and minimize accidents, It is required to ensure maximum quality
of work during pipe fabrication. In this article, we will explore more details about
piping fabrication.

Piping fabrication involves various activities like piping material storage and
handling, cleaning, cutting, bevelling, welding, inspection and testing, painting,
insulation installation, etc.

Types of Piping fabrication


Depending on the location of the pipe fabrication work they are classified in to two
groups.

 Shop Pipe Fabrication and


 Field Pipe Fabrication.
There are various factors that determine whether pipes will be shop fabricated or
field fabricated or both method will be used. In most of the cases, both shop and field
pipe fabrication is used. The major deciding factors are profitability, type and size of
the project, piping material and size, post-fabrication surface treatment,
environmental condition, accessibility of equipment, skilled personnel availability,
time requirement and availability, etc.

In general practice, small bore pipes, threaded and socket welded pipes are field
fabricated whereas butt welded pipes, pipe bending, modular items, etc are shop
fabricated.

In the Shop pipe fabrication process pipe, fittings and components are assembled by
welding into spool assemblies at the fabricator’s facility or a workshop normally
known as a pipe fabrication shop. The spools are then labeled using an identifier and
transported to the construction site for installation. Whereas in the field pipe
fabrication all these assemblies are done at the construction site.

Tools/Equipment used for Pipe Fabrication


During pipe fabrication, various equipment and tools are used that helps in the
fabrication process. The widely used equipment is listed below:
 Pipe Jacks
 Adjustable Pipe Rollers
 Welding Machine
 Pipe Rigging and transport equipment
 Chain Clamps/ C Clamps
 Pipe Fit up Tools
 Pipe Purging Equipment
 Pipe Cutting and Bevelling Equipment
 Torque Wrench/Adjustable Wrench/Combination Wrench/Hammer Wrench
 Flange Alignment Tools and Pins
 Center Punch
 Compass/Contour Marker
 Pipe Threader
 Fork Lift
 Grinder
 Wraparound Tapes
 Hydraulic Crane/Tower Crane
 Pipe Bending Machine, etc

Typical Pipe Fabrication tools

Preparation for Pipe fabrication


In this stage, pipe fabricators are required to calculate various parameters from the
drawing specifications. They are required to take into consideration welding and tack
welding processes along with any distortion that may arise from welding. The tools
required for the fitting-up of pipes and flanges, such as pipe supports and clamps will
also need some thought. Then they need to prepare a simple wire model of the pipe
spool from the drawings. Material take-off and client’s fabrication specification is also
supplied to the pipe fabricators.

Pipe fabrication in a Pipe fabrication Shop

Piping Fabrication Procedure


The pipe fabrication process requires to assemble pipes and pipe fittings according
to the spool drawing. Pipe fabricators must take into consideration the size of the
assembly, as transportation could be a problem. In such cases, Sub-assemblies are
an effective way of transporting large projects. Piping fabrication is done as per the
below-mentioned steps:

 Marking and Cutting: As per the design drawing requirement, Marking shall be
done and the same shall be verified by the concerned supervisor prior to cutting.
Pipe cutting is normally done as follows:
 Carbon Steel pipes – By gas cutting & grinding.
 Alloy Steel pipes – By grinding or flammable cutting.
 Stainless Steel Pipes – By grinding or plasma cutting.
 Tagging: Using dye stamping, Paint marking, or Tagging, pipe heat numbers are
transferred to the cut pieces before cutting the pipe.
 End Preparation: In the next step, End preparation (bevelling) and fit-up are
done following an approved Specification and WPS.
 Welding Pipes: Extra precaution must be exercised to ensure that longitudinal
seams on the joining pipes do not come in one line in a butt-welded joint. Seams
must be staggered at least 100 mm apart and also will clear the branch
connections. Care is taken to make sure that longitudinal seams are not resting
on the steel structure.
 Welding Pipes and Fittings: Pipes and Fittings for fit-up are then placed on a
temporary pipe bed and supports are properly secured properly. Next, the
arrangement is inspected for quality Fit-Up. Once inspection clearance is
received, Joints are welded by qualified welders.
 Details Marking: Various details line pipeline No., Component Heat No., Joint
No., Fit-up inspection signature, Welder No., Visual inspection signature, and
welding date are marked near to the joint using a metal paint marker.
 The pipe Spool Number is marked with a paint marker and an aluminum tag is
tied to the spool.
 Heat-treatment: As per project-specific requirements, Preheating and PWHT will
be done at the shop or field.
 Fabricated pipe spools are then shifted from the pipe fabrication shop to the
laydown area.
 Inspection: As per the requirement of the project specification or guidelines, NDT
is performed. Once NDT clearance is received, spools are released for
erection/painting with a release notice.
 Spools rejected in the NDT process are identified with yellow and black tags and
sent for the repair work. NDT has performed again on the repaired weld areas as
required.
 Documentation: After painting, field inspection is executed for QC and the same
is recorded in the prescribed format. After painting inspection, the spool is
released for erection.
 Fabrication of Stainless Steel Pipes: Stainless Steel piping fabrication is
normally done in the shop with an isolated area from carbon steel and alloy steel.
The equipment and tools which are used for CS fabrication shall not be used for
SS. Tools for SS must be differentiated clearly by marking “For Stainless Steel”
only. For Stainless steel materials, stainless steel tools will be used for grinding,
brushing and clamping, etc.
 Protection: For the protection and temporary storage till the erection, all flanged
raised faces of completed pipe spools are fitted with plywood blinds and spool
ends shall be fitted with proper caps.

Pipe Fabrication Shop


Pipe fabrication Shop is basically a workshop where all the prefabricated pipe spools
are developed. All the pipe works for spool preparation are normally performed
inside this shop using highly skilled pipe fabricators. Generating pipe spools in the
Pipe Fabrication shops are the best economic way for reducing site installation costs
for big size projects. All equipment, tools and manpower are available in the pipe
fabrication shop and pipe spools are produced with high quality.

Pipe Fabrication Specification


Pipe fabrication Specification is an engineering documents that provides all
guidelines to be followed by pipe fabricators for spool pipe fabrication. The
specification for piping fabrication provides the minimum requirement of preparation
of detail shop drawings and the fabrication, requirements for inspection and testing.
It lists down all applicable codes and standards.

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