Plot Plan

The majority of Process Plants require a plot plan with somewhat less stringent and less
complicated arrangements than a refinery. Equipment spacing requirements will vary with
the type of plant and location. Plot plans are considered key documents to projects and are
normally initiated in the pre-contract, conceptual and development stages of a proposal. After the
contract is awarded for engineering, plot plans are developed at a rather rapid pace with very
limited information. This early stage plot plan usually is very limited in detail, containing only
enough dimensional data to define the outer limits of the available property selected for plant
development. Located within the boundaries of the available property, rough equipment sizes
and shapes are pictorially positioned, along with anticipated pipe rack configurations, structure
shape and rough sizes. The plot plan at this level of detail is then used for constructability
evaluation and is normally submitted to the client for approval.

The piping engineer has to understand the concept of equipment layout and consideration. While
preparing layout, the piping engineer should design a steady process, non-hazardous utility and
facility. In general the various process plants we come across are petroleum refineries,
petrochemical complexes, fertilizer plants, and chemical and pharmaceutical plants which need
special attention due to the nature of materials and products handled.
Before starting the development of the plant layout, the following information is required.

 Process units and capacities.

 A flow diagram indicating the process flow sequence.
 Utility requirement.
 Number of storage tanks and also open storage areas.
 Raw material / product receipt and dispatch philosophy.
 Covered storage required.
 Number of flares (As applicable).
 Grouping philosophy for utilities.
 Plant buildings such as Control room & electrical sub stations.
 Non-plant building i.e. Administrative block, laboratory, security workshop, parking
space, fire station, canteen, etc.

Ideally, before site selection, a preliminary layout should be made. The data collected during the
site selection stage shall be given due consideration at the time of the equipment layout. A few
points to be considered are:

 Site location, map and area topography, geological and meteorological data.
 Environment condition relative to adjacent properties: proximity to railway, road, airport.
 Soil conditions, prevailing wind direction.
 Source of water supply and the supply point with respect to the plot.
 Electric supply point with respect to the plot.
 Effluent disposal point and other drainages.
 Material transportation-railway entry point approach roads barge or ship dock etc.
 Geographical factors: wind direction, temperature, rain, frequent thunderstorm and
earthquake susceptible areas.
Major Consideration in Plant Layout: The most economical plant layout is that in which the
spacing of the main equipment is such that it minimizes interconnecting pipe work and structural
steel work. Normally equipment should be laid out in sequence to suit the process flow but
exception to this arises from the desirability to group certain tanks, pumps or perhaps to isolate
hazardous operations according to statutory rules and regulations. The use of the single stream or
multiple stream flow pattern will affect the layout.
The major variables affecting the final layout are interconnected pipe sizes, insulation thickness,
steel work spacing, matters of operational convenience, safety, ease of erection and maintenance
which calls for critical judgment on the experience and the study of existing and known
limitation.
Economic: Basically economic consideration means installing the unit in the smallest possible
space, consistent with the operability ease of piping material, structural sheets and concrete with
the proper layout considering further economies which can be achieved in way of pumping and
utilities.
Safety: Where toxic or hazardous materials are handled, layout may be needed to isolate a
section of the plan equipment, which could be a possible source of hazard. It should be grouped
together and where possible located separately from other areas of the plant. i.e. furnaces, flare
stacks or other equipment containing naked flares. Mechanical equipment handling flammable or
volatile liquids which could easily leak or spill out of the equipment thus causing flammable
conditions. However such consideration should not override considerations of cost. For instance,
the process heater must necessarily be located close to other equipment to conserve expensive
alloy piping. Furnaces using gas as a feedstock do not normally constitute hazards. Due
consideration shall be given for fire hazardous areas and isolated by providing firewall, fire door,
etc. The BOCA (Building official and code administration) published by the National Building
Code shall be followed. The equipment area handling acids or other toxic material, which cause
damage or endanger personnel by their spillage should in general be grouped together and
isolated. To isolate hazardous areas it may be necessary to build walls with self-closing doors.
Process: Process considerations may require some items be elevated to provide gravity flow of
materials to accommodate pump suction requirement for NPSH. The other process consideration
could be the limitation of pressure or temperature drop in the transfer lines deciding the
proximity of the furnace, reactors and columns.
Operational: Thought should be given to the location of equipment requiring frequent
attendance by operation personnel and the relative position of the control room to obtain the
shortest and most direct route for operator. When on routine operation however the control room
should be placed so that they are easily accessible and the indicators are easily readable.
Generally a batch or semi batch process needs more attention by the operator and therefore more
consideration has to be paid to the ergonomics of the layout.
Maintenance: The need to remove for servicing, retuning or replacements, the heavy, servicing
equipment. The indivisible plant will dictate their location when access for cranes is called for
regular or rotating and other machinery calling for dismantling. This often makes their grouping
within the machine house desirable. The position of items needing replacement of internal spent
catalyst etc. or frequent internal cleaning has to be carefully considered.
Constructional: The plot should be so designed that adequate access is available to lift the large
items of equipment or columns into place. Such equipment is positioned close to the boundary
limits so that erection must take place from outside these limits. A careful check must be
undertaken to ascertain whether space will be available at the time of erection for positioning the
crane or lifting the delivery equipment which is known, may well arrive fairly late in the
construction program and therefore have to be fitted into place after most of the surrounding
equipment has already been installed. It is important that the insulation requirement be
considered during the layout of the plant.
Appearance / Aesthetic: An attractively laid out plant with the equipment in rows also
economically laid out gives an aesthetic appearance. The building structure and groups of
equipment should form a neat, symmetrical balanced layout consistent with keeping the pipe run
to a minimum and allowing proper access for maintenance. The tower and large vertical vessels
should be arranged in rows with a common centreline. They should be of similar size but if the
diameter varies, due note must be taken of the building line manholes on the adjacent tower
should be at a similar elevation and orientation to streams. These as far as possible should be
made identical. Such arrangement for parallel streams or similar groups of process equipment
require much the design work and also for construction and subsequently operation but help in
reducing the amount of standby equipment.
Future Expansion: Thought should be given to the likely expansion of both equipment and pipe
work, so that additions can be erected and tested with the minimum interference to plant
operations. On main pipe runs, it is desirable to leave 30% space. At least 30 m distance from
flame proof plant area is needed for safe welding where no special precaution are needed.
Buildings: Plant buildings should be kept to a minimum on the basis that most of equipment
including pumps, heat exchanger boilers, cyclones, etc. may be safely installed in the open. The
philosophy should be that the plant is supported on an open steel structure unless there is good
reason not to do so. Thus it is to be installed in the open with centralized control facilities housed
in buildings.
Factors which determine the selection of enclosed buildings are

 Nature and frequency of the operator's work- Equipment, which requires frequent
maintenance in adverse weather conditions.
 Climate- Extreme climate conditions may determine that the plant is to be kept in a
building.
 Type of equipment - Expensive equipment and complex machinery should have some
degree of weatherproofing.
 Nature of process - Plants handling dust explosive and combustible solid materials
require a building .To prevent contamination, food, pharmaceutical and bio-chemical
plants require to be in a building.
 Proximity of hazards- To prevent the possible spread of fire and explosion, a building
may be desirable.

If enclosed buildings are planned, then consideration must be given to the following
factors

 Fire protection / Explosion Protection approval by the local fire authority must be
obtained on fire fighting equipment and layout.
 Illumination: Natural illumination may be obtained by the use of patent glazing windows
or translucent sheets in the sidewalls or the roof. Artificial lighting must be arranged to
give adequate illumination where physical and chemical hazard exists
 Fireproofing: Determines the plant arrangement and switch room.
  Heating / Ventilation: Air intake should be positioned in such a way that it should avoid
the risk of drawing toxic or hazardous fumes. Exhaust may be required for treatment of
filter washer, separation.
 Access: Proper access for maintenance and operation purposes to be considered.
 Roofing.

Techniques for Layout: There is no single technique leading to the best arrangement in any
problem. Layout may be considered at several stages from the selection of the site and
arrangement of the plant on it through block layout.
The three basic principles of layout planning are:

 Plan the whole, then the detail, Individual aspects must be subservient to the whole and
sub optimisation avoided.
 Plan the ideal, then the practical. The ideal layout is free from restrictions and gives a
datum.
 Plan more than one layout. It is seldom that a single layout is "BEST" for each criterion.
Planning more than one permits comparison and leads to greater confidence in making
the final selection.
 Sequence of activities in layout. A simplified network showing the integration of the
plant layout and design activities should be given.

Layout Analysis Methods:

1) Cut out to visualise plant layout: 2 dimensional scale templates or scale cutouts of unit areas
and equipment layout are prepared.
2) Block models: These models are chiefly used to develop the plot plan, floor plan, elevation,
major equipment and major pipe racks in the correct co-relation with each other.
3) Drawings: For the development and evaluation of the layout it co- relates the basic project
information on the equipment and site condition and provides source of data for the final layout.
4) Piping models: For accurate detailed layout of the process piping utility and control facilities.

Concept of the Plant Layout: A process plant which consists of the various different sections
mentioned earlier should be arranged so as to follow the general route of the raw material, to
process, to intermediate/finished product stage to dispatch. The entire plot area will be divided
into blocks, the size of the blocks depend on the facilities to be accommodated. While locating
the blocks and further sub-blocks within them, the following points runs should also be
minimum.
1) The layout planning shall be in the sequential order of the process flow so that the piping run
is also minimum.
2) The block shall be arranged considering the prevalent wind direction such that
flammable gases should not be carried by the wind onto a source of ignition.
3) The process unit block shall be centrally located with a straight approach from the main gate.
4) Storage tanks shall be grouped according to product classification. In undulating areas, storage
tanks shall be located at lower elevations.
5) Utility blocks shall be located adjacent to the unit block.
6) The main power receiving station shall be close to the boundary line so that the minimum
overhead power lines pass through the plant.
7) The electric sub- stations in the plant shall be located in such a way that cabling to major load
centers are minimum.
8) The location of power plants shall be near the process/utility block and close to the main
receiving station.
9) Flares shall be located upwind of the process units so that the inflammable gas from the
plant are not carried towards the flares.
10) Truck loading facilities shall be located close to the product movement gate. Rail loading
facilities are arranged generally at the periphery of the plant.
11) The effluent plant shall be located away from the other units on the down elevation. The
preferred location is at the lower elevation than the other plant units in order to facilitate
gravity flow.
12) The fire station and firewater pump house shall be at a safe place away from hazardous
areas. The fire station shall be near the main gate with a straight approach to the process units
and other critical areas.
13) Two adjacent process unit locations shall be decided based on the annual shut down
philosophy for the maintenance of the units. If the shut downs are be at different times, it is
preferable to increase the distance between the two units so that the risk for the operating units
due to heat jobs in the units under shut down can be minimised. Also this will facilitate easy
maintenance.
14) Process Units shall be located on the high ground.
15) The adjacent neighbourhood installations, if any, shall be taken into consideration before
fixing the plant layout. The limitations imposed by the neighbourhood facilities cannot be
ignored, e.g. an ignition source.
16) Flares, furnaces/heater, dusty operations and cooling towers shall be oriented depending on
the prevailing wind direction. The first two shall be located upwind of the Process units and the
last two on the downwind directions of the process units.
17) Due consideration to the construction and erection of the plant shall be given while deciding
the plant layout, especially tall towers, reactors, furnaces, etc. shall not be in congested areas and
sufficient open spaces shall be provided for erection at any stage.
18) Equipment requiring frequent maintenance shall have easy accessibility. So also equipment
which need removal of parts and also for free access for hoisting equipment.
19) Provisions for future expansion shall be considered. It is preferable to have similar type of
facilities with adjacent space for expansion adjacent. Care shall be taken to install the expansion
facilities without any disturbance to the existing facility.
20) Roads in between for the purpose of access and safety should separate the blocks developed.
Fire fighting facilities are to be provided on these roads. There shall always be an alternative
approach for fire fighting and maintenance in case one route is blocked. The layout shall be so
designed that truck traffic inside the plant is minimized.
21) Boiler house, air compressors, fuel oil facilities shall be grouped into one block adjoining the
process unit blocks, so that spreading of various utilities can be avoided and also facilitate easy
operation.
22) The layout shall be designed so as to minimise the capital cost for earthwork and pavement,
special foundations and the extent of a vacant plot as wasteland.
Equipment Location Drawing: Equipment location drawings (plot plans) show the exact
location of equipment in relation to the plant’s physical boundaries. One of the most difficult
concepts to explain to a new process technician is the scope and size of modern chemical
processing. Most chemical plants and refineries closely resemble small cities; they have well-
defined blocks and areas connected by a highway of piping and equipment. Equipment location
drawings provide information about the neighborhood.