Project road mapĭemands such as “Stop making changes to the P&IDs” and “Get the process engineers off this project” may have been heard by those associated with a process plant FEED or EPC project. However, for any engineer, owner or operator coming from a non-P&ID world to the P&ID world, this article will increase understanding of the subject and lessen the potential daily shocks. While several names and variations exist for these schematic drawings, this article will refer to them as piping and instrumentation diagrams (P&IDs).Īnyone that has been involved with P&IDs for front-end engineering design (FEED) or engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) projects may be familiar with the subject matter discussed here. These drawings will also show associated measurements, monitoring, controls, safety devices, etc.

Process engineers develop schematic drawings that show how fluids move from point A to point B. A billion-dollar project can comprise up to 1,000 equipment items. Supporting equipment may include tanks, cooling towers, water treatment equipment, boilers, chemical storage/handling, fuel systems, air systems, flaring systems, fire protection, wastewater treatment equipment, fire protection equipment, loading/unloading arms, etc. Process equipment may include columns/towers, reactors, pumps, vessels/drums, compressors, furnaces, heat exchangers, gas or steam turbines, etc. This may involve moving gases, liquids and sometimes solids, and carrying out reaction, distillation or separation, cooling, heating and storage of feed, products, byproducts and supporting systems. Process plants require numerous types of equipment to produce the required products from the feed or raw material.

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