Workshop: Managing Piping Loads on Pumps: A Detailed Review

Piping connected to pumps is often one of the more challenging areas of a piping flexibility analysis. Pumps can generally tolerate only limited external forces and moments at their nozzles, while the connected piping still needs to accommodate thermal expansion, weight, imposed movements and other loading conditions.

Excessive piping loads can contribute to pump casing deformation and alignment problems, potentially affecting the reliability of bearings, seals, shafts and internal pump clearances. At the same time, simply requesting the piping engineer to reduce every load further is not necessarily a practical design approach. The piping system still needs sufficient flexibility, suitable support and restraint, constructability and reliable operation.

During this 2-hour instructor-led workshop, Zdravko Ivancic approaches the subject from the piping professional's perspective. Using real project designs, he will explain how different piping layouts and support arrangements influence the forces and moments transferred to pump nozzles, why certain arrangements work better than others, and how experienced engineers iterate the design when calculated loads are too high.

API 610 will be discussed as an important reference for pump nozzle-load acceptance, including the detailed compliance checks provided in Annex F. The workshop will also address the practical interaction between piping engineers, rotating-equipment engineers, project teams and pump vendors when allowable loads become a point of discussion.

Different design philosofies for reducing pump loads will be reviewed, including changes to piping routing, flexibility, guides, restraints and support locations. Expansion joints will also be discussed where relevant, including situations where they can provide an effective solution and situations where they introduce additional design considerations.

Through worked calculations and several real-life piping arrangements, participants will see how changes to the piping and support design influence pump loads and what advantages and disadvantages different solutions introduce elsewhere in the system.