Process piping and valve skid

Energy · Case Study

Process Piping Layout

A complete piping system for a new processing facility, laid out for clean flow today and straightforward maintenance for years after.

Piping Design Plant Layout 3D Modeling

About the project

Designed for the technician, not just the process.

A new processing facility needed its piping system designed from a clean sheet — routing, supports, valve placement, and interfaces to existing equipment all had to come together into one coordinated layout. The client's clear priority was that the finished system be as easy to operate and maintain as it was to build.

Mazi Inc. built the layout in 3D from the start, coordinating routing against structural steel, equipment access, and future expansion space before a single isometric was issued for fabrication.

Process piping run with valve access maintained

Our approach

Philosophy & methodology

Philosophy

A piping layout is read by a technician holding a wrench years after it's read by an engineer reviewing a model. We designed with that person in mind at every routing decision — valve height, access clearance, and support spacing were treated as functional requirements, not afterthoughts fit around the pipe run.

Methodology

The full system was modeled in 3D against the facility's structural steel and existing equipment before any isometrics were generated, catching interferences on screen instead of on site. Routing was reviewed in passes — first for process flow, then for support and access, then for future expansion — rather than trying to solve all three at once.

What worked

Successes

  • 3D coordination caught interferences with structural steel before fabrication, avoiding field cuts.
  • Valve and instrument placement was reviewed with the client's operations team, not just engineering.
  • The layout left clear, planned space for a future expansion phase the client had flagged early.

What we navigated

Challenges

  • Interfacing with existing equipment meant working from field measurements rather than clean as-built models.
  • Structural steel design was still being finalized in parallel, requiring routing to accommodate a moving target.
  • Balancing shortest-path routing against maintenance access required trade-offs on several key runs.
Process plant with extensive external piping runs
Routing was reviewed for flow, then support, then future expansion

Looking back

Lessons learned

Reviewing the layout with the operations team, not just the client's engineering contact, surfaced access and valve-height issues that a pure design review would have missed entirely — the people who turn the valves see problems the drawings don't show. Designing around a structural model that was still moving also confirmed that building in review checkpoints, rather than waiting for a "final" structural release, is the only way to keep piping coordination realistic on a fast-moving project.

Why Mazi Inc.

Why Mazi Inc. for piping and plant layout

3D-coordinated from day one

Interferences get caught on screen, against real structural and equipment models, before fabrication.

Operator-informed routing

Valve height, access, and support spacing are designed for the person maintaining the system.

Room to grow

Layouts account for realistic future expansion, not just today's process requirements.

Laying out a new process line?

Send the equipment list, site constraints, and any existing structural drawings. We'll help scope the layout from there.

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