PI Integrated Systems has been a leader in providing industrial facility design for the power, process and petrochemical industries for more than 15 years.

Its FlexCAD family of equipment layout and piping design software provides highly productive 3-D and 2-D solutions to both owner/ operators as well as engineering procurement companies in the design, construction and operations of process plants. Though the bulk of its 4000 seats of FlexCAD are installed in the U.S., many of PI’s Gulf Coast-headquartered firms have taken FlexCAD with them to execute projects in distant parts of their global operations.

PI President Thad Pugh comments, “Though we like to think of ourselves as “based here, best here”, the Internet’s reach has allowed PI to complement our customers’ installations with web-based services almost anywhere in the world.”

New technology is helping companies to provide accurate work with a quick turnaround time. PI Integrated has proven it can stay on top of facility design with its 3D_eXtension [3DX] to its popular 2-D PIPE module. Some companies are making the transition from traditional 2-D drafting to the world of 3-D design, and 3DX is making it easy for them to make that transition.

FlexCAD Industrial Design Series: 3DX

FlexCAD’s 3D_eXtension is an add-on software package to AutoCAD, which is produced by AutoDesk. It’s a 3-D piping program that lets a user create all design work in 3-D models and drop off 2-D orthographic & isometric spool drawings – these drawings can then be detailed for the field or fabrication using FlexCAD’s classic PIPE or ISO programs.

IDS-3DX creates 3-D intelligent plant models from which 2-D plant layouts, equipment arrangements and piping orthos (reFlexOrtho) and isos (reFlexISO) can be generated. Also, BOMs and weight tables, as well as equipment, valve, instrument and line lists, may be reported. Intelligence resides in attributed data nodes for standard equipment, pipes, valves and fittings (PVF) and AISC steel members. PVF data is used at draw time to fit-check spec, rating and size and for FlexSNAP insertions.

The benefits of using 3-DX include:

• Ease of use: 24-hour learning curve for AutoCAD end-users and FlexTABS dashboard interface.
• Productivity: 10 times over standalone AutoCAD without a 3-D piping design application.
• Standardization: Clients/contractors use the same symbols, layers and text/dimension styles.
• Reporting: Standard reports to database, spreadsheet and word processing programs.
• Extensible: Valve, notation and equipment libraries may be aliased, tailored or customized.

Equipment routines

The 3DX product provides dialog driven routines for towers, reactors and vertical vessels. It also provides routines for exchangers, kettles and horizontal vessels, pumps and compressors, separators and filters, drums and tanks, grated platforms, ladders, handrails and equipment structures that use steel member libraries.

Pipe and fittings include buttweld, flanged, socketweld and/or threaded endtypes for parametric pipe, reducers, flanges/flange pairs (std and orifice), gaskets, swages, elbows (long/short-radius, bends and reducing), 45Ls, tees (straight/reducing), crosses and returns, as well as olets, couplings, unions, plugs, caps and nipples, base-ells, trunions, dummy legs and other supports. Pipe racks may be designed with steel libraries. Valves include parametric gate, ball, globe, butterfly, check, needle, plug and control valves with optional handwheels — valves may be flanged, buttweld, threaded or socketweld, or inserted as flanged valve assemblies.

3DX extras

AutoPIPE/AutoATTACH modes and AutoELBOW/AutoRUN functions programmatically insert pipe, valve & fittings. Dimensional data in PVF parametric files may be modified or extended to create whole new fitting classes — PVC, fiberglass, filament-wound, AWWA, etc.

Using 3DX on the job

One of the early adopters of FlexCAD’s 3D_eXtension is Robert Hurt with Veolia Environmental Services — a worldwide corporation that handles disposable hazardous waste.

Hurt is the computer aided drafting and design (CADD) draftsman/ designer at Veolia, and is responsible for keeping up with files and equipment in the plant. He also handles the design and drafting of projects that are put in at the plant.

“Using 3DX has affected my design productivity in two ways,” said Hurt. “First, I do not make as many mistakes, especially the little ones like 1/8 inch or 3/16 inch because when I lay out my design in 3-D, I can really see if I am running into something else or bumping into the edge of something. Second, it’s allowed me to keep up with the demand that goes on out here.”

Hurt is the only draftsman at the facility, and that means his work has to move quickly, making it tough to keep up with, but with this 3-D package, Robert says he has been able to do just that.

“In my previous job, I have used other products, they were mostly just a 2-D reference,” said Hurt. “When I started working here, I got the 3DX package that is offered by PI Integrated, and I have weighed it against the other packages and I prefer this one mostly because of the ease of it. It is not hard to draw in 3-D with this package.”

Accuracy is key when drafting new work for any facility, and with 3DX, users are able to stay on top of any work that comes their way.

“Some of the other packages I have used were not very accurate, but with 3DX, all of the fittings and the steel sizes are right to scale,” said Hurt. “It is very exact, so I know when I put something in there I know I’m exactly where I need to be.”

Using a new product can sometimes mean having to learn something new in a short amount of time. PI Integrated’s desire to provide superior customer service is evident every step of the way. Since there is no fixed training required for the 3DX product, PI Integrated provides assistance when needed, which is something that has helped Hurt to establish a good working relationship with PI Integrated.

“I have enjoyed working with PI Integrated because I have always been able to get my questions answered,” he said. There is no fixed training program, so I am learning on my own, which is not difficult with this program, but I’ve always been able to call up and get my information and questions answered. Also, I’m always posted on package updates and what’s new out there, which isn’t always easy to do in this field.”

PI’s Thad also offers up, “Robert’s use of 3DX is an example of the productivity available to plant design staffs today and their capability to do more and more of the seminal front-end design for new capital projects themselves, as well as handle the day-to-day field changes that occur with routine maintenance & turnarounds, and even inhouse execution to completion of projects for smaller units.”

The company’s Web site also contains several features that customers and prospective costumers will find helpful. A discussion forum allows individuals to interact with others on any software-related topic. The PI Integrated site also has information related to licensing, a link to receive a 30-day product trial and a Web demonstration that displays the company’s line of products.

The site also provides more information about the impressive features and affordable pricing of the IDS-FLOW, IDS-PIPE, IDS-STEEL and IDS-ISO modules.

For more information, visit www.flexplant.com or call (888) FleXCAD.

Contact Information

PI Integrated Systems

PO Box 7786
Houston, TX, 77270
USA

tele: 888.FlexCAD
fax: 713.862.2533
pisales1@flexcad.com
www.flexplant.com