Plot Plan Development

DECEMBER 23, 2014 1 COMMENT

Plot plan is the primary document in design of a plant. It takes lot of experience, knowledge
of international and local standards and regulations and Process Flow.

Index
1.

Input Data for Plot Plan Development

2.

General Plot Plan development philosophy.

3.

Relative location of units

4.

Inter-distances of Units

5.

Plot Plan Drawing

Input Data for Plot Plan Development

All the important input information must be collected from various sources such as Client,
Process Licensor, External Agencies, Government Database etc. so that a proper plot plan can
be developed.
Clause

Details

PP-ID001

Information about process Units.

PP-ID002

Utility Requirements of the Plant

PP-ID003

Storage Tanks Requirements and Stored Fluids.

PP-ID004

Capacity and type of LPG Storage Tanks

PP-ID005

Sizes, Pressure and Temperatures of Pressurized Storage Vessels.

PP-ID006

Product receipt / despatch and mode of transport (rail, road and pipeline)

PP-ID-

Warehouses, storage areas for solid products such as petroleum coke, petroleum wax,

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sulfur, bitumen / asphalt etc and other open storage areas like scrap yards and dumping
ground.

PP-ID008

Requriement of Chemical / Toxic Storage.

PP-ID009

Hazardous Waste Storage and Disposal.

PP-ID010

Flares

PP-ID011

Service Buildings, Fire Station and Fire Training Ground.

PP-ID012

Meteoroogical Data

PP-ID013

Bathymetric data (high tide level, surge wave height etc.) for installations in coastal areas.

PP-ID014

Seismic Data

PP-ID015

Highest flood level in the area, water table, natural sterams/canals

PP-ID016

Approach roads to main plant areas.

PP-ID017

Aviation Rules and Regulations, Height Considerations.

PP-ID018

Dangers posed to and posed by adjacent facility, in an industrial complex.

PP-ID019

Consideration for the local environment.

PP-ID020

Statutory Obligations of the local governing body.

General Plot Plan development philosophy.

Clause

Details

PP-GP001

Block layout should be adopted as far as possible.

PP-GP002

Plant layout arrangement should follow the general route of raw material to process
unit(s) with tankages interposed as required followed by storage & despatch facilities.

PP-GP003

The entire area should be sub-divided into blocks.

PP-GP004

All process units and dyked enclosures of storage tanks shall be planned in separate blocks
with roads all around for access and safety.

PP-GP005

Primary traffic roads in the installation should be outside hazardous areas.

PP-GP006

Roads separating the blocks shall act as firebreaks.

PP-GP007

Pedestrian pathways should be provided / marked alongside the primary traffic roads.

PP-GP008

Alternative access shall be provided for each facility so that it can be approached for fire
fighting in the event of blockage on one route.

PP-GP009

Road widths, gradient and turning radii at road junctions shall be designed to facilitate
movement of the largest firefighting vehicle in the event of emergency.

PP-GP010

Rail spur shall be located close to the periphery of the plant to minimise road/pipe
crossings and blockage of roads during shunting.

PP-GP011

Layout of the facilities shall be made to minimise truck traffic ingress in the plant.

PP-GP012

Two road approaches from the highway / major road should be provided, one for
employees and other for product / material movement. Both these approaches should be
available for receipt of assistance in emergency.

PP-GP013

Presence of ignition source shall always be contemplated beyond the boundary wall of the
installation.

PP-GP014

Orientation of flares, furnaces & heaters, dusty operations (e.g. sulphur handling etc) and
cooling towers should be decided based on prevailing wind direction to avoid travel of
hydrocarbon vapour over sources of ignition.

PP-GP015

Erection methods shall be studied for all types of equipment / structures. Towers, reactors,
fired equipment etc should be located in such an area so to facilitate erection.

PP-GP016

Maintenance requirements for each type of equipment shall be identified and considered.

PP-GP017

For construction activities, area should be earmarked.

PP-GP018

Future expansion should be assessed and space provision be made accordingly.

Relative location of units

Locating unit blocks based on their hazard characteristics, wind direction etc. is a critical
activity while developing plot plan. Following rules needs to be adhered to while developing
a plot plan.
Clause

Details

PP-RL001

Blocks should be arranged in sequential order of process flow.

PP-RL002

All units and roads should be located on high ground to avoid flooding.

PP-RL003

If process units are operated in an intergrated way, and shutdowns are taken
simultaneously of these units, then they may be considered as single block for
interdistances and relative placement purpose.

PP-RL004

Control room should be located in a non-hazardous area.

PP-RL005

Control room should be upwind of process plants, hydrocarbon storage and handling
facilities.

PP-RL006

Control room shall not be located at lower level than surrounding plants and tank farms to
avoid flooding with process fluids or contaminated rain water.

PP-RL007

There shall be no structrure that could fall on the control room in case of a blast.

PP-RL008

Locate Utility blocks adjacent to unit blocks.

PP-RL009

If a power generation facility supplies steam to a process block also, locate it near that
process block.

PP-RL010

When external power grid is interconnected with plants own power generation facilities,
then either locate the power generation block near the plant boundary or run external
power transmission lines underground.

PP-RL011

Power transmission lines shall never be run above the plant as well as parking areas.

PP-RL-

Horizontal clearance between power transmission lines and plant shall be as per local

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electricity rules.

PP-RL013

Locate HighTension substations near the major load centers.

PP-RL014

Locate Low Tension substation in such a way that distance between distance between
distribution transformer and farthest motor is minimum.

PP-RL015

Cooling towers generate fog. They should be located downwind of process equipment and
substation so that fog will not cause corrosion, obstruct vison or short circuiting.

PP-RL016

Group storage tanks according to product classification as per relevant national standard.

PP-RL017

If the area is hilly, locate storage tanks at lower elevations.

PP-RL018

Locate truck loading/unloading facilities close to the product movement gate, and orient in
such a way to provide one way traffic pattern for entrance and exit.

PP-RL019

Locate Rail loading facilities along the periphery of the installation.

PP-RL020

Sulphur recovery unit and sulphur loading area should be located close to product
movement gate and away from process units, hazardous and populated areas.

PP-RL021

Equipment drawing air (e.g. air compressors, air blower, FD fan etc) should be located
away from Sulfur recovery unit / Sulfur handling facility.

PP-RL022

Minimum separation distance of 50 meters is recommended between sulfur storage /

handling and any facility or boundary wall.

PP-RL023

Petroleum coke storage and handling facilities should be located as far as possible away
from process units, air separation plants, populated and hazardous areas.

PP-RL024

Separate collection system should be provided for different types of waste generated in the
process plant such as oily water, caustic, acid effluents, fecal etc.

PP-RL025

Effluent Treatment Plant should be located minimum one block away from process unit
area, down wind of process units and important areas considering odour & emission of
volatile organic compound.

PP-RL026

ETP Plant should be closer to disposal point by the side of the boundary and at lower
grade to facilitate gravity flow of effluent.

PP-RL027

Flare should be located upwind of process units and the area around flare should be paved.

PP-RL028

Main pipe racks / pipe track shall not be routed through process units. Provide overhead
clearance for vehicles over roadways and railroads.

PP-RL029

Roads should be provided in a symmetric manner to serve all process areas requiring
access for the operation, maintenance and fire fighting. These roads should encircle the
process blocks/ process units.

PP-RL030

Smoking booths should not be provided in the hydrocarbon industry. However if required,
these shall be located at minimum distance of 60 meters from any hydrocarbon source.

PP-RL031

Fire station, firewater storage & firewater pump house shall be located at a safe place
away from hazardous areas.

PP-RL032

Fire station should be upwind of process units and hydrocarbon storage area with straight
approach to process units / other critical areas.

Inter-distances of Units
These interdistances are based on OISD Standard 118, Table 1.
[oisd118table1]

Relevant Notes :
1.

All Distances are in Meters.

2.

Note 2 : Type of construction shall be as per OISD-STD-163.

3.

Note-7 The distances specified are for the elevated flare. For ground flare, these
distances shall be 150 m. For Exploration & Production installations, this shall be in line
with Oil Mines Regulations

4.

Note-11: Boiler house or heater of a process unit is to be treated as a separate identity

only for the consideration of surrounding blocks / facilities. However, heater of a process
unit remains an integral part of the process unit to which it is attached and in that case the
inter equipment distances should be inline with Table 2.

5.

Note 13: Separation distance of electrical substation was added in table 1 in January
2006 based on decision in 40th steering Committee Meeting in De05.

Plot Plan Drawing

Following checklist shall be completed for the IFA and IFC issues of a Plot Plan.

Information Required

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Description

Done

Project Scope referred for developing plot plan.

Plot plan shows entire facility as per project scope, including any future expansions.

Plant North, True North, Wind Direction and Wind Rose Shown.

Angle between Plant North and True North shown.

Separate gates are provided for Personnel movement and Material Movement.

Assembly points and emergency exits are shown.

Datum point for plants relative co-ordinate system is defined. It is located as per Project
Specification.

Main gates with security room/guard rooms are shown.

List of major equipments include in sidebar if required as per project specification.

10

Units / Areas are given proper area codes e.g. PA01, PA02, UA01 etc.

11

Location of new facility w.r.t. existing facility is given in terms of distance or coordinates.

12

Distances between units/buldings/equipments are given and are as per relevant standard.
E.g. OISD

13

Buildings / Shelters inside the plant are shown as blocks with outlines.

14

Access availability to heavy equipment for erection purpose is confirmed.

15

Dyke walls around tanks are shown if applicable.

16

True geo-graphical co-ordinates (UTM) of the datum point are defined in notes or at the
datum point.

17

Future Requirements marked.

18

Non-plant buildings e.g. Administration, Warehouse, Canteen etc. are shown as blocks.

19

Road and shoulder widths are as per project specification or relevant national standard.

20

Gridlines for co-ordinates are shown wherever applicable, along with Northing and
Easting Values.

21

Relaton of plant grade levels w.r.t. datum level e.g. mean sea level is given.

22

Plant Fencing and Securty wall is shown.

23

Main roads and auxilary roads are located with centre line and co-ordinates.

24

Major storm water drain trenches, Underground Corrodors for piping and cables are
shown with dimensions, grids.

25

Piperacks and Sleepers are correctly dimensioned with grid numbers.

26

Grade levels for all areas are given as per Civil Grading Drawings.

27

Eqipment tags / packaged item tags given.

28

Sterile zone radius is shown for flare stack and no equipment is present within the sterile
zone.

29

Access roads around process units and tank farms are adequate.

30

Flare stack, Pig Receiver and launcher, Metering stations are provided with separate
fencing if requires as per project specification.

31

For fired heater/hazardous equipments, safety distances are shown.

Drafting Related
Sr

Description

Legend provided in side bar for new/existing facilities, scope etc.

Units of dimensions, co-ordinates and levels are given in notes.

Initials of Designer, Checker and Approver given in revision block.

Drawing scale along with graphic scale marked and as per project specificaton.

Fonts sizes, types and styles as per project specification / company standard.

Design file layer structure as per project specification / company standard.

Drawing extracted from 3D model is not manally edited.

Dimensioning, Co-ordinates etc. as per project specification / company standard.

All tags are legible and clear.

10

Line types as per as per project specification / company standard.

11

All general notes are properly specified.

12

Electronic File name given at proper location inside the border.

Done

13

Reference drawing numbers and their titles specified.

14

Hold list specified along with hold clouds in drawing.

15

Revison clouds along with revision number triangles properly marked.

16

Drawing title, Drawing Number and Revision number as per Project Document List

17

Drawing border is as per company standard or Client requirements.

18

Key Plan / Location map given.

19

Status stamp e.g. For approval, For construction is shown