The Basics of Piping Drawings

Engineering drawings are often referred to as the "language of engineers." During basic engineering education, students learn both machine and geometric drawings. Piping engineers apply these fundamental principles to represent pipeline routes in drawings.

There are two main types of views used in piping drawings:

• Orthographic Views: These include plans and elevations.
• Pictorial Views: These are represented in isometric views.

Piping layouts are typically developed using plan views and elevation views. Additional sections or details may be included to improve clarity, especially in more complex areas. These drawings are referred to as Piping Arrangement Drawings. To represent three-dimensional piping on two-dimensional paper, standard symbols are used.

In intricate piping systems, particularly within plant units or buildings, orthographic views may not provide sufficient detail. In these cases, pictorial (isometric) views are used for clarity. Special isometric sheets are printed with lines oriented vertically, at 30° clockwise, and 30° counterclockwise from the horizontal, to assist in producing a 3D representation of the pipelines.

Plan and Isometric Views of a Piping System

The primary goal of piping drawings is to convey precise information needed for the fabrication and installation of pipelines to meet process requirements. Before piping drawings are developed, equipment layout drawings and plot plans are created, forming the foundation of the piping drawings.

In some cases, preliminary piping studies are conducted to finalize the placement of equipment coordinates. Additional data necessary for creating piping drawings are covered in the paper on "Equipment and Piping Layout."

For unit piping layouts, typical drawing scales are 1:25, 1:33, and 1:100 for pipe racks. Various sizes of drawing sheets are used for creating piping drawings. According to Indian Standard IS 10711, the standardized sizes for drawing sheets (untrimmed) are:

This organized and simplified approach ensures clarity in the design, fabrication, and installation of piping systems in industrial settings.