Piping and Instrument drawing tutorial

Let’s go over a few fundamental principles before diving into how to construct a piping and instrumentation diagram (P&ID).

A P&ID is a critical engineering document that shows how process equipment and instrumentation are linked to regulating the design system. P&IDs are the primary schematic drawings that are used in detailed engineering.

Control Valve Symbols

What is P&IDs all about?

P&IDs are used in process engineering to demonstrate interconnection; however, they do not always include specifications. Typically, specifications are presented in distinct documents. However, they are extremely useful in a variety of ways, including:

  • Examine construction procedures
  • serve as the foundation for control programming
  • Create facility operating rules and standards.
  • Create documentation that explains how the process works.
  • Establish a lingua franca for discussing plant operations.
  • Create and apply safety and control ideas.
  • Create a conceptual design for a chemical or manufacturing plant.
  • Make cost estimates, equipment design, and pipe design recommendations.

What is Control valve stem?

What are the limitations of P&ID’s?

P&IDs have some inherent limitations because they are pictorial representations of processes. They cannot be used as true models because they are not always drawn to scale or mathematically accurate. There is also no universally agreed universal standard for them, so they may change from company to company—or even within the same organization—depending on internal standards, the sort of software system being used, and the creator’s tastes. That is why it is critical to design and review documentation that delves into the nuts and bolts of support materials.

How to Draw a Piping & Instrumentation Diagram?

A piping and instrumentation diagram is created during the process design stage to model the system.

It consists of the instrument engineering design, the mechanical equipment design, and the process flow datasheet.

Tools Required

  • Computer
  • Internet connection
  • Appropriate Software

Steps to draw your own P&ID

Steps 1: Aware about the system

Before you are going to draw a P&ID, make sure you have to know the overall process and what does it achieve?

Step 2: Identify the inputs

Need to identify inputs like Are they manual or not? Where are the inputs coming from and where are they going?

Step 3: Identify the outputs

Need to know what is the output?

Step 4: List all the equipments needed for process

Make a list of all instrumentation, control devices, piping and equipment.

Step 5: Define the relationship between components

How do they get along? Are they a good match?

Step 6: Put your flow together

Begin at the beginning or conclusion of the procedure and work your way through it systematically. What occurs in the system next?

Step 7: Add detail

Details on the pipe, component, and instruments, such as measures and diameters, should be included.

Step 8: Review the process

Keep an eye out for bottlenecks and inefficiencies.

How to draw P&ID Online?

Make an account in Lucichart

List equipment

Keep in mind that P&IDs reflect the hardware and software required to plan, construct, and operate a facility for the process industry. List the components of a typical P&ID as a starting point for such an extensive design. All plumbing components, including their placement and order, should be on your list.

  • Branches
  • Control interlocks
  • Equipment
  • Instrumentation
  • Reducers
  • Valves

Add Shapes

In your Lucidchart account, launch a new document. By selecting the “Shapes” option in the upper-left corner of your browser, you might need to enable the Process Engineering shape library. Make sure the box is checked next to the Process Engineering option.

Once the P&ID shapes are available customize into the canvas and customise them by clicking the context panel icon that appears next to the shape. Here, a range of options are available; for instance, a tank’s roof can be customized with several roof styles, and users can choose whether to hide or reveal the stump. Use the toolbox’s search feature to locate a certain sign if you get lost in the enormous variety of P&ID shapes.

Organize the pipes and machinery.

Once the parts have been put together, attach them to one another in the proper sequence. Each shape in Lucidchart attaches precisely to a pipe or connecting line. If you’re unsure of how the procedure should go, consider these questions:

  • What event starts this process?
  • What follows is what?
  • What tools do I need in order to proceed to the next step?
  • Is there a unique configuration needed for this unit?

Piping & instrumentation shapes in Lucidchart

The ISA S5 standards serve as the foundation for all of Lucidchart’s P&ID shapes and options. The following categories—which are not an exhaustive list—are used to arrange them within the application:

Equipment

  • Compressors
  • Conveyors
  • Motors
  • Turbines

Piping

  • One-to-many pipes
  • Multi-line pipes
  • Separators
  • Reducers
  • Flanges

Vessels

  • Vessels
  • Tanks
  • Cylinders
  • Columns
  • Bags

Heat exchangers

  • Boilers
  • Condensers
  • Exchangers

Pumps

  • Pumps
  • Fans

Instruments

  • Indicators
  • Transmitters
  • Recordings
  • Controllers
  • Elements

Valves

  • Valves
  • Rotameters
  • Orifices