Further Reading
5.1 Background
5.1.5 Projects
Engineering design projects are generally organized by discipline. Within each discipline there may be various specialties or the specialties may be treated as a separate discipline.
Corporate guidelines and a code of conduct should ensure that engineers work within their Table 5.2 Suction specific speed – typical ranges.
Flow units (Q) NSS range
l/s 4900–7300
m3/s 155–232
gpm 8000–12 000
area of expertise. As the project develops, an initiating discipline will hand off work products to one or more receiving disciplines that advance the design and specifications germane to their specific area of expertise. In this case study, process engineering has handed off an engi- neering package to the fluid systems engineering discipline, which will contribute to the piping and instrumentation diagrams (P&IDs), set equipment elevations, advance the vessel data sheets, create requirements for control valves, and rotating equipment including pumps, compressors, and fans.
Engineering disciplines may be organized depending of the project size and corporation. An organization chart like the one in Figure 5.3 might be used on a process plant design in the chemical or refining industries where many specialties are required with several discrete processing areas of the plant, each requiring equipment specifically designed for that area.
The overall project of Figure 5.3 would include cost and schedule control, quality assurance, procurement, document control, and support disciplines of legal, human resources, and so forth, as necessary to complete the project.
Projects are accomplished on and iterative basis, beginning with broadly defined objectives, and working toward sufficient detail to allow construction and eventual operation of the new asset, specifically designed to meet a client’s or owner’s requirements. Large projects may be completed in discrete phases, each terminating with a process gate review that allows senior management to review and verify that the original premise for the project is still viable, eco- nomics have not changed, and risks are being addressed, among other attributes. Each project phase would be completed as a separate project. For example, phases prior to final authoriza- tion (Front End Loading, FEL) may include: identify an opportunity, select a process or method, refine and optimize the selected process, and complete Front End Engineering Design (FEED). If the project receives approval, then the FEED package would be the launch point for detailed design and construction.
Within a project phase, various disciplines are involved to a greater or lesser extent. Process engineers are typically heavily involved early in the project development but only available in consulting roles during FEED and detailed design. An early development process design package (PDP) may contain only the process flow diagrams (PFD), process description, and basis for design. Fluid systems engineering picks up the early process design and develops the conceptual design for the mechanical systems; producing P&IDs and equipment datasheets for vessels and equipment. A single PFD may results in as many as a dozen P&IDs. Once completed, P&IDs are handed off to the piping designers where a single P&ID may yield a dozen or more piping isometrics. The equipment data sheets work their way to the equipment specialists, who develop purchase specifications that are delivered to procurement specialist for acquisition. Civil and structural engineers require manufacturer data, piping isometrics and stress calculation results for weights and stresses to engineer foundations, supports, and steel structures to support piping and elevated equipment.
As details develop, early documents may be revised. Manufacturer data is added to the P&IDs, as are design information from piping and equipment engineers, and client comments are incorporated. Quality‐control inspections may yield necessary changes. Throughout the project, engineering documents are reviewed, revised, reviewed again and finally approved.
Pride of authorship gives way to a collaborative effort to provide the client the deliverables required to complete the process within the quality requirements.
Projects may be executed under several structures within a corporation. PMBOK® (Project Management Institute, 2013) describes these as functional, matrix, and projectized. To varying
Project engineering
manager
Process engineering
Process engineers
Subject matter experts
Fluid systems
Cryogenic
Refrigeration
Flare system
Utilities
Design
Equipment
Vessels
Rotating equipment exchangersHeat
Civil structural
Civil
Structural
Electrical
High voltage
Med. low voltage
Instrument and control
Instruments
Control systems
Piping
Pipe stress
Piping design
Subject matter experts
Materials
Health
&
safety Environmental
Equipment
Figure 5.3 Project organization example.
degrees they all share a common trait. When the number of projects diminishes, the staffing diminishes with it. Function and matrix organizations may suffer this to a lesser extent than projectized organizations. In functional or matrix organizations, personnel may be reassigned to a functional department or on another project. An organization assembled for the purpose of a single project can be dismissed at the conclusion of the project. Even with the benefits of function or matrix organizations, companies in the business of executing projects for clients experience reductions in force during periods in which their clients cannot afford to complete more projects.
In this study, you have received the process design from a PFD together with the stream properties as calculated by the process design engineer. You are preparing a calculation to set the elevation of a tower based on the process engineer requirements as outlined in section 5.2.