Connecting Piping Design in AutoCAD Plant 3D to Piping Fabrication Through SpoolgenIan Matthew

Ian Matthew Consulting

ENR225902

About the speaker

Ian Matthew

Specialist in AutoCAD Plant 3D providing services in:

• Basic & Advanced Product Training• Project Customization Training• Hands-on Piping Specs & Catalogs Customization• Plant 3D Technical Support

35 years experience in Plant Design CAD software with Autodesk, Bentley, Hexagon (Intergraph), Aveva

Learning Objectives

• Tune Plant 3D Isometric Generation to create ‘clean’ PCF’s

• Create Error-free PCF’s

• Avoid Spoolgen (and Isogen) pitfalls

• Follow a step-by-step process for customizing Plant 3D Isometric Creation to interface correctly to

Spoolgen

Introduction

Piping Fabrication Trends

Increasing requirement to provide Piping Isometrics in Digital Format - WHY?

• Reduce errors

• Improve productivity

And hence control costs

De Facto interface standard is the Isogen PCF file format

Most common software used by Piping Fabricators is Hexagon’s Spoolgen

And YES – Plant 3D creates PCF Files compatible with Spoolgen

Spoolgen

Acknowledgements

Thank you to Hexagon for their support in creating this presentation

The following slides are inserted by request of Hexagon and have not been edited

Pipe spool fabrication challengesHandle piping design data from many different sources

Check that the design can be fabricated

Estimate work content and cost

Manage material availability

Make spools in the right order for the project

Balance labour and machine resources

Track progress and quality

Handover as-built data to construction/operations

Generate drawings and documentation

Automate pipe cutting, bending and welding

Manage revisions and other changes

Reuse Isogen piping data – work with anyone

Smart 3D PDSSmartPlant

Isometrics

Plant 3D

PlantSpace

AutoPlant

ISOGEN

(old version)

PCF IDF PCF PCF IDF

PDMS

PCF

CADWorx

ISOGEN

FABRICATION and

CONSTRUCTIONOPERATIONS

Pipe Stress / Fluid flow / Process simulation /

Heat Tracing / Insulation / Inspection

Improving data flow to fabrication and construction

How to improve the flow of information on projects (PIF)

Extend the standard for piping data exchange – the PCF - and

make it open for all stakeholders“Super PCF” now available in Smart 3D, CADWorx and Spoolgen with additional

fields to support data exchange

SmartPlant Spoolgen - What Existing Customers Say

• “Quick to implement, configure, learn and become productive”

• “Ten fold productivity gain over manual drafting of spool sheets”

• “95% reduction in manual data entry”

• “Elimination of most drafting errors and rework”

• “Production of consistent quality drawings”

• “Clearer communication between design and engineering disciplines”

• “Key enabling technology for improvements to

o Material management, workshop utilization, reduction of construction hold-ups due to inaccurate fabrication, missing or incorrect

materials”

Example

Plant 3D Model

Plant 3D Isometric

Plant 3D Isometric

Spoolgen Output

Spoolgen Output

Spoolgen Output

Spoolgen Output

Compare

Iso Generation Process

How Isometrics are created

Plant 3D

PCFGen PCF

IsoGenerator

Spoolgen…..

Piping Component Files (PCF’s)

Example PCF

Header Information Component Information Material Data

Pipeline component definition

Valve Example

SKEY END TYPE

Valid End Types for Spoolgen

Spoolgen End Type End Prep Plant 3D Default End TypeBW Butt Weld BW

CP Compression

SW Socket Weld SW

FL Flanged FL

SC Screwed / Threaded THDM

PL Plain End PL

LN Liner Nut

LC Liner / Clamp

LR Reducing Liner / Nut

MP Male Part MJM, THDM

PF Push Fit PFS

GL Glued PPL, PSW

CL Clamped TC, GRV

FA Flared FA

BS / SB Ball and Socket (used on fixed

length type pipe work)

GF Gland (used on fixed length type

pipe work)

MJM, MJF, MJP

SKEYS

• Google Isogen Symbol Keys

SKEYS

Create PCF

Check PCF

More about PCF’s

• Download the manual

https://hexagonppm.com/products/pfc-product-family/isogen/super-pcf

Avoid Spoolgen Pitfalls

END TYPES

• SPOOLGEN Only Supports End Types defined in the Documentation

Spoolgen End Type End Prep Plant 3D Default End

TypeBW Butt Weld BW

CP Compression

SW Socket Weld SW

FL Flanged FL

SC Screwed / Threaded THDM

PL Plain End PL

LN Liner Nut

LC Liner / Clamp

LR Reducing Liner / Nut

MP Male Part MJM, THDM

PF Push Fit PFS

GL Glued PPL, PSW

CL Clamped TC, GRV

FA Flared FA

BS / SB Ball and Socket (used on

fixed length type pipe work)

GF Gland (used on fixed length

type pipe work)

MJM, MJF, MJP

Defining SKEYS - Example

MUST

Match

Put Valid END TYPE instead of ** or ??

Bad Example

• TC is invalid End Type for Spoolgen

Gotcha’s

• Instruments

o Inline Instruments have two endpoints and the SKEY is II**

o Offline Instruments (e.g.dials) have one ONE endpoint and have the SKEY as IDFL or IDPL (not ID**)

• Multi-Port Valves:

o If no common centerpoint (one or more ports in a different plane) SKEY = MD** or MZ**

▪ Iso Symbol Type = VALVE-MULTIWAY

o If ports are on the same plane, SKEY is selected from the Symbol Key Definitions

▪ Iso Symbol Type = VALVE-3WAY or VALVE-4WAY

Screwed Connections sometimes appear as welds

• In some cases a screwed weld component is placed in the PCF:

• Delete this component from the PCF

Tapped Cap

• Occasionally, Spoolgen can struggle when going ‘up’ through tap connections

• Can be fixed in Spoolgen

o open I-Configure, select the SGImport style for your project and then edit

o Go to Drawing Area > Piping Features > Taps > Convert Tap To Straight Through

▪ Ensure that this option is checked

o Save the changes and re-import the PCF

Tune Isometric Generation

PCF Header Syntax

Need to replace ISOCONFIG.FLS with ISOGEN.FLS

End Type Definitions

• Try to stick with End Prep Definitions in SKEY documents

o You MUST follow this in the SKEY Definition in Catalog Library

• Problems may occur in Spoolgen in following example

Step by Step Process

Planning Plant 3D Customization?

• Steps to consider

1. Stick to End Types supported by Spoolgen

2. Use SKEY’s defined in the SKEY Definition Document

▪ No “**” or “??” in the catalog component SKEY

3. Make sure the SKEY and Iso Symbol Type correctly match the SKEY Definition Document

4. Beware of the “Gotcha’s”

▪ Instrument Dials vs. Inline Instruments

▪ Multi-Port valves vs. 3-way or 4-way valves

SKEY and Iso Symbol Definition

Error-Free PCF’s

Produce error-free PCF’s using pre-processors

• Use a script to edit line 1:

o Change “ISOGEN-FILES ISOCONFIG.FLS” to “ISOGEN-FILES ISOGEN.FLS”

• Use the Spoolgen Preprocessor to change some invalid settings

o This needs to be done by the fabricator – he has the documentation to create the .PPC file:

PCF CHANGE-PROPERTY SKEY SC WW

PCF CHANGE-PROPERTY SKEY SO WW

PCF CHANGE-COMPONENT VALVE-MULTIWAY VALVE-3WAY SKEY MD??

Conclusions

Plant 3D CAN create Spoolgen PCF’s

• Use correct end types

• Use correct SKEYs

• Change line 1 in the .PCF

• Use the Spoolgen Pre-processor to handle some of the errors

For more information:

ian.matthew@comcast.net

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