Exploration & Production

GENERAL SPECIFICATION

PIPING VALVES VESSELS

GS PVV 119

Metallic piping support design

02 10/03 General review - Change of Group name and logo

01 10/02 General review
00 02/01 First issue
Rev. Date Notes

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GS PVV 119.doc
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General Specification Date: 10/03

GS PVV 119 Rev: 02

Contents

1. Scope .......................................................................................................................3

2. Reference documents.............................................................................................3

3. Requirements applicable to all supports ..............................................................4

3.1 General........................................................................................................................... 4
3.2 Selection of proper supports ........................................................................................... 5

4. Cryogenic supports ................................................................................................6

4.1 Forces, loads and moments ............................................................................................ 6
4.2 Design ............................................................................................................................ 6
4.3 Welds.............................................................................................................................. 7

5. Non-cryogenic piping supports .............................................................................7

6. PTFE sliding plates .................................................................................................8

7. Supports for corrosion resistant alloy (CRA) piping ...........................................8

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1. Scope
This specification covers the requirements for the design, fabrication of cryogenic and non-
cryogenic pipe supports, including secondary structures fixed to main structures or concrete
pipe-racks (see Figure 1).
Cryogenic supports are used on lines handling fluids which the minimum operating range is in
the range -196°C to -46°C and able to operate up to +66°C.

2. Reference documents
The reference documents listed below form an integral part of this General Specification. Unless
otherwise stipulated, the applicable version of these documents, including relevant appendices
and supplements, is the latest revision published at the EFFECTIVE DATE of the CONTRACT.
Unless otherwise specifically indicated in writing, the supports design shall conform to the
requirements of this specification and those of the latest editions at the time of call for tender of
the documents listed hereafter, where applicable.
Construction Codes or Government regulations which may be listed in the Project
Specifications, in the Requisition or in the Purchase Order, if any, shall have precedence except
where this Specification is more stringent.
Any divergence between any of the Contractual Reference Documents or between this
specification and any other Contractual Reference Document, should be reported to the
COMPANY for decision. In such a case, and unless otherwise agreed or decided by the
COMPANY, it is understood that the more stringent requirement shall apply.

Standards

Reference Title
MSS SP 58 Pipes hangers and supports: materials and design
MSS SP 69 Pipe Hangers
MSS SP 77 Guide Lines for Pipe Support Contractual Relationship
DIN 7707 Resin impregnated and compressed laminated wood and
insulating wood. Test methods (part 1) and types (part 2)
BS 3974 Pipe supports

Professional Documents

Reference Title
Not applicable

Regulations

Reference Title
Not applicable

This document is the property of Total. It must not be stored, reproduced or disclosed to others without written authorisation from the Company.

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Codes

Reference Title
ASME B 31.3 Process Piping

Other documents

Reference Title
49 CFR 193 Liquefied Natural Gas Facilities: Federal Safety Standards
NFPA 59 A Production Storage and Handling of Liquefied Natural Gas

Total General Specifications

Reference Title
GS COR 230 External laminated glass fibre/resin based coating for risers of
sea-line
GS COR 350 External protection of off-shore and related structures and
equipment by painting
GS PVV 107 Flexibility analysis
GS PVV 111 Piping design specification
GS PVV 611 Welding of pressure containing piping and equipment

3. Requirements applicable to all supports

3.1 General
Piping and accessories shall be adequately supported and provided with suitable anchorage to
prevent excessive loads on connected equipment, and to prevent undue movements caused
either by expansions or by vibrations.
Supports shall be designed so as to meet all static, operating and occasional loads (earthquake,
surge, etc.) to which the piping may be subjected. The design shall be based on all concurrently
acting loads transmitted into such supports. The concurrently acting loads are those derived
from the relevant piping stress analysis of the related line.
For piping containing gas and not subject to an hydrostatic testing, weight of liquid shall not be
considered provided that precautions against liquid entrance into the piping have been taken.
Support points shall be adequately located and spaced for optimum load distribution and weight
balance.
Guides and direction restraints shall be so as to allow lines to expand and contract freely
relative to the anchor, and must be designed to be structurally suitable to withstand loads
involved.
Piping entering vessels will preferably be supported from brackets attached to the vessel which
shall be designed accordingly.

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All support components to be welded on pipes and fittings shall be of the same material as the
relevant pipe; welding shall be by qualified welders in accordance with qualified procedures and
shall comply with the COMPANY specification GS PVV 611 for welding.
Supporting one line from another should be avoided as much as possible and is forbidden for
cryogenic lines.
Reinforcements to be welded to the pipe during prefabrication shall be shown on isometric
drawings and positioned.
Where concrete or steel pipe-rack is not located immediately above the point of support, it will
be necessary to provide supplementary secondary steel structures to obtain a point of support.
These secondary steel structures shall be designed to cope with main structure design, and
provision will be taken to eventually reinforce the main structure (gussets, etc.).
Loads (permanent and temporary) induced by these secondary structures shall be considered
in main structure design. Secondary structures shall be painted according to the applicable
Project painting specification.

3.2 Selection of proper supports

The method of supporting depends on:
• Pipe movements
• Forces and loads at points of support
• Pipe insulation
• Existing structure.

3.2.1 Pipe movements

At points of support subject to vertical movements, spring supports of suitable design shall be
used to prevent excessive load variation. All springs shall be provided with devices preventing
misalignment, eccentric loading and excessive spring stresses.
When piping stress is critical, the use of constant load supports shall be imposed.
At points of support subject to horizontal movements, the displacements shall be taken by the
use of sliding supports (with adequate length to take into account pipe displacements, etc.) or
by the swing of long hanger rods (in any case, maximum angular displacement shall not exceed
5 degrees).
Selected pipe hangers shall be of an adjustable type.
Pipes installed with axial bellows shall be guided from each side in order to maintain correct
alignment, and anchors for bellows shall be designed to withstand the pressure thrusts.
Piping installed with cold spring (only applicable for non-cryogenic lines) shall be shown on
drawings in the pre-stressed cold position. Clearances shall be kept free for both construction
and hot conditions.
Except otherwise stated, construction allowances shall be ± 2 mm.

This document is the property of Total. It must not be stored, reproduced or disclosed to others without written authorisation from the Company.

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3.2.2 Forces, loads and moments

For each support, the Contractor shall define a combination of loads and moments respectively
for permanent loads and occasional loads not exceeding the allowable stresses of support
components.
Other combinations of loads and moments shall be checked with the support design by the
Contractor.

3.2.3 Allowable stresses

Allowable stresses for materials commonly used in the design of pipe hangers and supports are
listed in Tables 2 and A1 of MSS SP 58.
Allowable stresses for materials not listed in Tables 2 and A1 of MSS SP 58, with known
physical properties shall be determined as the lower of the following values:
• 1/4 of minimum tensile strength at service temperature
• 5/8 of minimum yield strength at service temperature.
Allowable stresses for castings shall be multiplied by a casting quality factor of 0.8.

3.2.4 Pipe insulation

Weather jacketing on insulated piping and specially vapour barrier on cryogenic pipes shall be
protected from damage at all support points. On hot insulated lines for personnel protection, the
insulation may be interrupted.
Pipe clamps of hanger assemblies shall have their rod attachment outside the insulation.

4. Cryogenic supports
4.1 Forces, loads and moments
Allowable forces, loads and moments combination shall be defined in accordance with
paragraph 3.2.2, for support components (plates, welds, etc.). Insulation cradles shall be high
density foam design with a minimum safety factor of 5.

4.2 Design
Cryogenic supports shall be designed to minimise thermal conduction which could adversely
affect the fluid in the pipe and/or the surrounding structure.
Cryogenic supports shall be designed taking into account warm-up and cool-down conditions.
Adequate systems shall be used in order not to induce additional stresses on insulation
material.
Clamps will be installed around insulation. Tolerances on clamps shall be compatible with
insulation cradle tolerances to have the maximum contact between clamp and insulation for the
best distribution of loads.
Clearances between upper and bottom part of clamps shall be sufficient taking into account
warm-up/cool-down procedures and erection tolerances.
For cryogenic anchor supports, trunnions design shall be preferred. Trunnions shall be of
sufficient length to allow a minimum of 300 mm of bare metal between termination of insulation
and support/structure.

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Legs on trunnions to be welded to the product line shall be of the same material as the line.
In order to reinforce the trunnion, gussets shall be used and shall be welded to the pipe or to the
base-plate.
Cryogenic anchor supports shall be adequately designed taking into account the following,
where applicable:
• Resultant forces and moments
• Stress level in the weld between anchor and pipe
• Stress level in the anchor
• Rigidity of the anchor foundation
• Strength of the anchor foundation
• Strength of the load bearing insulation.
Differential movements between a pipe component and its welded-on anchor can produce high
stresses in the pipe, leading to wall damage or failure (buckling).
For thin wall pipes, reinforcing saddles (where required) shall be avoided and shall be replaced
with higher pipe schedule/thickness.
Supports designed with wooden blocks (as stops, etc.) shall have a good finish of its insulation.
If the wooden block is outside the insulation, it shall be covered by a weather resistant mastic.
Wooden blocks shall be designed in accordance with DIN 7707.
For clamp fastening on insulation cradles, a bolt tensioning torque procedure shall be defined
by the Contractor for pre and after cool-down and submitted to the engineer prior to any use.
At support location, insulation material shall be reinforced as follows:
• High density foam for resting and guide (160 kg/m3 or higher)
• Wooden blocks for stops.
A maximum deflection of 1% on insulation cradle shall be respected.

4.3 Welds
All welds shall be 100% radiographed (x-rays) or checked by calculation.
Allowable stresses in full penetration welds shall be same as for the plate material.
Allowable stresses in fillet welds shall be the allowable stress for the plate material multiplied by
a joint factor of 0.8.
For fillet welds, the design throat thickness shall not be less than 0.7 nor greater than 0.8 times
the leg length (for definition, see BS 3974).

5. Non-cryogenic piping supports

Supports for lines NPS 1”½ and smaller shall be designed by the Contractor.
Non-insulated lines <12" will rest directly on the support member.
For piping in marine atmosphere polymeric (polyethylene, polypropylene or PTFE) sheath or
sheet shall be inserted between piping and support to avoid corrosion built-up.

This document is the property of Total. It must not be stored, reproduced or disclosed to others without written authorisation from the Company.

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Hanger rods for lines subject to thermal displacement should be set out of plumb to an amount
equal to one-half of the anticipated displacement of the pipe at the point of support.
On galvanised carbon steel pipes, a rubber sheet shall be placed between the clamp and the
pipe.

6. PTFE sliding plates

The following lines shall be supported with special PTFE sliding plates in order to minimise
horizontal forces caused by frictional resistance:
• All cryogenic lines
• All process lines NPS > 12”
• All cold insulated lines NPS > 3”, when support clamps are tightened around insulation
cradles.
PTFE sliding plates must be purchased from an experienced Manufacturer who can prove
successful operation during five years minimum of devices supplied by him and fabricated
according to the same procedure.
PTFE sliding plates shall be prefabricated and shall be embedded in steel substrate.
The best design shall be selected taking into account the actual working conditions, with the
following particular emphasis:
• PTFE sliding on PTFE, or on stainless steel (polished), depending on vertical loads and on
allowable axial friction loads
• With an insert in neoprene or not, depending on parallelism of surfaces
• The PTFE area shall be selected based on vertical loads and on maximum allowable
contact pressure.

7. Supports for corrosion resistant alloy (CRA) piping

Following rules shall be implemented to protect piping made of CRA (AISI 316L, 317, 321,
austenitic-ferritic stainless steel, Inconel …), from potential risk of crevice corrosion at clamps,
supporting devices or contact areas.
Protection shall be applied to the pipe itself at the location of the support, even if the support is
already painted.
The following solutions are acceptable:
• Pipe is coated with a vinyl-ester paint reinforced with glass flakes. The coating shall be
applied in accordance with GS COR 350.
• CRA doubler plate is welded to the pipe (100% welding, the welding gas vent to be plugged)
followed by a passivation treatment.
• Stratified shell composed of laminated epoxy resin reinforced with fibreglass is glued to the
pipe as specified in GS COR 230 (§ Application of the coating on site).

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Figure 1 - Secondary steelwork structures

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