SCOPE OF PIPING ENGINEERS

What is the Scope of Piping Engineers? Its Types, Roles & Responsibilities, Career & Learning Options


INTRODUCTION

The oil and gas sector is one of the important sectors in the Energy Sector, it is among the eight core industries in India. It plays a very critical role in influencing decision-making for all the other vital industries.

Piping systems are critical to any process plant and processing unit. Therefore, it must be constructed with precision and care. Plant efficiency is highly dependent on the ability to move liquids through pipes to various devices that work collectively. The Piping Engineering department plays a critical role in EPC companies and is involved in the production of a lot of Deliverables & Non-deliverables. An important point to be noted here is that the process department provides basic inputs to the piping discipline to deliver the desired output.

As an academic subject, Piping technology is rarely taught in college. However, it is also very important for the safety of facilities, staff, and the public, and to maintain a level of consistency within facilities.

An important point to note is a lot is expected from Piping Engineers to perform the desired roles & responsibilities which makes this role very important in the Process industry.

TYPE OF PIPING ENGINEERS

In this article, let’s explore the types of piping engineers. In general, Piping engineers can be categorized into the following classes: (Check video explanation for various segments of Piping Engineering)

  1. Piping Design / Layout Engineer
  2. Piping Materials Engineer
  3. Piping Stress Engineer
  4. Piping Field/Construction Engineer
  5. Piping project engineer

Piping Design Or Layout Engineer

Piping Design/layout Engineers deal with pipe routing with the help of various 3D tools & software.

COMMONLY USED SOFTWARE:

SP3D, PDMS, E3D, NAVISWORKS, CADWORX, SOLIDWORKS, AutoCAD, PDS, MicroStation, E3D, etc.

They use their knowledge to define the most suitable economic pipe routing, type of fittings, space requirement, and various parameters in the design. A major part of their job involves coordination with other departments and the resolution of conflicts as and when they occur.

PIPING LAYOUT/DESIGN ENGINEER JOBS DEMAND THE FOLLOWING

  1. Knowledge of international codes & standards
  2. Concept of piping engineering
  3. General Piping engineering principles
  4. Basics of Piping materials
  5. Basics of Pipe supports
  6. Tendency to interact with various disciplines

ROLES OF A PIPING DESIGN/LAYOUT ENGINEER

Piping Engineers play various roles in the process industry, at the beginning of any process/chemical plant piping engineers are involved in the following activities, however, piping engineers are involved in the complete life cycle of the process plant:

  1. Feasibility check
  2. Concept design & development
  3. Front-end engineering design (FEED)
  4. Detail engineering

Mostly, piping layout engineers are responsible for the following jobs:

  • Preparing Work Instruction for Designers.
  • Developing design specifications & drawings
  • Participating in engineering meetings 
  • Discussing and Analysing problems that arise during Design.
  • Preparing Piping MTO and material requisitions
  • Providing technical support to the team
  • Planning and Scheduling work activities for the piping team.
  • Reviewing Vendor drawings, Interdisciplinary item checking.

Piping Material Engineer

A piping material engineering job is one of the unique jobs on the list of most wanted & reliable jobs.

PIPING MATERIAL ENGINEER JOBS DEMAND THE FOLLOWING:

  1. Excellent knowledge of international codes & standards
  2. Interest & knowledge of material properties & corrosion subject
  3. Capability to verify the technical documents.
  4. Tendency to interact with various vendors
  5. Grip at reading technical content & interest in technical subjects
  6. Interest in engineering materials & corrosion, metallurgy, and strength of materials.

ROLES OF A PIPING MATERIAL ENGINEER

  1. Select suitable materials for service
  2. Check the compatibility of existing materials
  3. Piping Material Engineer prepares project-specific piping class and material specifications.
  4. They prepare Material take-off
  5. Material requisitions
  6. Check the compatibility of existing materials
  7. Vendor interactions
  8. Perform Technical Bid Evaluation
  9. Review valves and special items. 

Piping Stress Engineer

A piping Stress Engineer is a Piping professional who provides technical expertise in piping design.

COMMONLY USED SOFTWARE

They develop Static and Dynamic piping models and analyze system stresses using software like Caesar II, CAEPIPE, AUTOPIPE, & PASS/START-PROF, Rohr-2, etc. 

PIPING STRESS ENGINEER’S JOBS DEMAND THE FOLLOWING

  1. Excellent knowledge of international codes & standards
  2. Capability to verify the technical documents.
  3. Pipe stress analysis fundamental
  4. Grip at reading technical content & interest in technical subjects
  5. Interest in engineering concepts related to the strength of materials.
  6. Ability to visualize the material behaviors under the potential condition

ROLES OF A PIPING STRESS ENGINEER

  1. To perform the stress analysis
  2. Determine potential failure cases
  3. Check and qualify the behavior of the piping under various reasons such as high temperatures, high pressures, wind effects, and seismic 
  4. Recommend pipe supports
  5. Ensure piping loads are within the allowable range.

Piping Field/Construction Engineer

A piping Field engineering job is the most interesting and challenging job to take up in the process industry.

PIPING CONSTRUCTION HAS VARIOUS STAGES

  1. Fabrication
  2. Inspection
  3. Installation,
  4. Testing
  5. commissioning

Occasionally, an on-site Piping designer is sent to do on-site piping design work. They will solve any problems on-site and communicate with the design engineering department in case there are any changes required.

PIPING FIELD/CONSTRUCTION ENGINEER JOBS DEMAND THE FOLLOWING

  1. Knowledge of international codes & standards
  2. Capability to verify the technical documents.
  3. Understanding of Safety Procedures
  4. Strong technical knowledge of the construction processes and resource handling.
  5. Capable of performing construction activities and facing changeling scenarios to get the job done at the field
  6. Tendency to qualify the local regulation, and safety regulations and to meet the project deadlines.

ROLES OF A PIPING FIELD/CONSTRUCTION ENGINEER

  1. Piping fabrication & Installation
  2. Piping Inspection & Testing
  3. Management of resources & tools
  4. Non-Destructive testing
  5. Ensure safety
  6. Providing solutions to construction problems

Piping Project Engineer

Piping project engineering is the techno-commercial role in the process industry. The engineers performing this role should know the technical and commercial background of the process plant. Although they may not be strong at the technical aspects but must be good at the commercial side, for negotiating with various contractors & stakeholders.

PIPING PROJECT ENGINEER JOBS DEMAND THE FOLLOWING

  1. Excellent communication & negotiation skills
  2. In-depth knowledge of cost estimation
  3. The broad idea of the overall process of plant
  4. Determine potential failure cases

ROLES OF A PIPING PROJECT ENGINEER

  1. Planning & monitoring of engineering activities
  2. Controlling cost & schedule
  3. Vendor negotiations
  4. Interactions & co-ordination with various disciplines & stakeholders
  5. Responsible for the overall completion of project activities

FEW IMPORTANT POINTS TO BE NOTED

  1. In various small-scale projects, all the above tasks (all jobs of design engineer, materials engineer, stress engineer, and field engineer) are done by a single piping engineer.
  2. The experts in each of the above roles are making a wonderful income.
  3. All of these could be achieved by gradually improving your subject knowledge of the profession, day by day. 

PIPING ENGINEERING AS A CAREER

Piping technology is an emerging engineering science, but it has been around for years. Pipes are essential to any facility as are the people who help create the plans and designs to create the proper Piping system for the facility.

Piping Engineering is more related to common sense along with technical jobs. To become a successful piping engineer, one needs to have good imagination, knowledge, and willingness to learn.

BASIC SKILLS REQUIRED BY PIPING ENGINEERS

Along with technical skills, the following basic skills are required to be a good piping engineer

  • Observational Skills
  • Analytical Skills
  • Project Management Skills
  • Written and Verbal Communication Skills
  • Drafting Skills

Most of the time, Mechanical and Chemical Engineers opt for the piping engineering profession.

CHALLENGES FOR PIPING PROFESSIONAL

Drop in Crude Prices

From the last few years, especially from 2014 onwards, because of the drop in crude oil prices and the advancement of electric vehicles, the oil market suffered a huge loss, which caused in reduction of new piping projects, hence a drop in the requirement of qualified piping engineers.

Increase in Competition

In previous years, various piping engineering institutions around the world are producing many piping engineers each year. So, competition is increasing each day which directly impacted the Piping Engineer’s demand, salary, and remuneration.

The surge of freelancers

In recent times, there is a huge surge of experienced freelancers in piping engineering. So many companies are offering jobs to them which helps them to reduce the required infrastructure to build a design team. The trend of outsourcing is increasing which has caused a dip in the salaries of piping professionals.

OPPORTUNITY IN THE PROCESS INDUSTRY AS A PIPING ENGINEER

Automation & developments in the Piping industry

In order to construct a piping system, it is necessary to systematically analyze various construction methods. In recent years, many standard practices for piping systems have emerged and today piping systems are recognized as one of the most important engineering disciplines. As a result, trained Piping engineers to design piping systems continue to be in demand in all engineering and construction firms.

Scope of piping engineering

Piping Engineering is one of the most recognized engineering groups in the oil & gas, petrochemical, refinery, chemical, power plant, steel, water, and pharmaceutical sectors. Piping engineers design piping systems that transport water, steam, gas, oil, two-phase mixtures, waste, and other liquids. They are involved in the design, assembly, troubleshooting, and all other aspects of creating these piping systems.

Petrochemical sector

The petrochemical industry is an industry branch that produces organic intermediate products such as refinery products, natural gas, plastic, rubber, and fiber raw materials.

Petrochemical feedstock accounts for 12% of global oil demand, which means today roughly 88% of every barrel of oil is used to make gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel, a share that is expected to increase driven by increasing demand for plastics, fertilizers, and other products at the rate of 6.2 % annually.


PIPING ENGINEERING COMPANIES

Engineering Contractors

There are various companies that offer jobs for piping engineers. Some of the most reputed companies are:

  • Bechtel
  • Fluor
  • Worley
  • Larsen and Toubro
  • Toyo engineering
  • Petrofac
  • Technip Energies
  • Samsung Engineering
  • G S Engineering
  • Technimont
  • Mcdermott
  • Udhe Engineering
  • Aker Solutions
  • Burns & Mcdonnell
  • Toshiba Engineering
  • Siemens
  • Alstom
  • Punj Lloyd
  • Lisega
Major Client Companies globally are listed below
  1. BASF (Germany)
  2. Dow Chemical (USA)
  3. ExxonMobil Chemical (USA)
  4. LyondellBasell Industries (Netherlands)
  5. INEOS (UK)
  6. Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (Saudi Arabia)
  7. Formosa Plastics Corporation (Taiwan)
  8. Sumitomo Chemical (Japan)
  9. DuPont (USA)
  10. Chevron Phillips (USA)

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