Principles of P&ID Development

The piping and instrumentation diagram (P&ID) is often considered to be the gold standard for the proper design, operation and maintenance of plants in the chemical process industries (CPI), including chemical, oil-and-gas facilities, mining operations, food-processing plants, and water- and wastewater-treatment plants. The P&ID provides important information for manufacturing and installing equipment and machinery, piping, instrumention, and safe and appropriate startup and correct operation of the plant. The P&ID is frequently referenced by various engineering disciplines — during both the design stages and the operating phase. It is also referenced in technical meetings with equipment vendors and manufacturers, in hazard and operability (HAZOP) studies, in management meetings, and during project scheduling and planning. The P&ID is one of the few plant documents that is created by multiple engineering disciplines working in concert. These disciplines include process engineering, instrumentation and control (I&C), plot plant and piping (PL&P), mechanical, heat ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC), and to a lesser extent civil, structural and architecture (CSA), and the environmental and regulatory group.  Figure…