Industries
Process plant structures, heat exchangers, columns and complex piping for refineries and chemical complexes.
Quick answer
Structural Engineering Services supports Petrochemical & Refining projects worldwide with process plant structures, heat exchanger mechanical design, piping design services, equipment support structures — delivered by senior engineers on licensed software to international codes.
Governing codes
Sector challenges
Refinery and petrochemical work is congested, hot and rarely greenfield. The engineering problem is fitting new equipment and lines into a plant that is already full, and proving it against a client specification that runs to hundreds of pages.
Challenge 01
Reformer, cracker and hot-oil lines run where creep, thermal bowing and support friction govern the design.
How we answer it
Hot lines are modelled in CAESAR II with friction and spring-hanger selection, cold spring only where it is justified, and expansion joints used only where supports genuinely cannot absorb the growth.
Challenge 02
New pipework and structures have to thread through live plant while keeping access and escape routes clear.
How we answer it
Laser-scan or existing model data is federated in Navisworks, clashes are closed before IFC, and maintenance envelopes are modelled as solids so they cannot quietly be built over.
Challenge 03
Tie-in work has to be designed, fabricated and installed inside a shutdown measured in days.
How we answer it
Tie-in packages are sequenced and released early, with spool drawings and support details issued ahead of the rest, so fabrication runs in parallel with the remaining design.
Challenge 04
Shell DEPs, client piping classes and local regulator rules sit on top of ASME and sometimes contradict each other.
How we answer it
We issue a reconciled design basis that states which document wins where, agreed at kick-off, so no deliverable gets reworked over a specification clash.
Relevant services
Designing multi-level process structures, technological platforms and access steel.
Explore
Designing floating head, fixed tubesheet, U-tube, stacked and kettle exchangers per TEMA.
Explore
Developing complete piping engineering from layout and routing through to isometrics and BOM.
ExploreDesigning platforms and supports for vessels, exchangers, pumps and rotating equipment.
ExploreTypical assets
From a single assembly to a complete package — the asset types our petrochemical & refining teams work on week to week.
Multi-level process frames, technological platforms and access steel.
Fractionators, absorbers and reactors with skirt, lug and vortex-shedding checks.
Shell-and-tube, kettle and stacked exchangers to TEMA and API 660, with bundle pull space.
Spec-driven 3D piping, racks, isometrics and stress-critical line analysis.
Pump, compressor and exchanger supports, including vibration-sensitive items.
Heater structures, breeching and ducting supports with stack framing.
Codes & specifications
The base code is only half the story. On petrochemical & refining work the client specification usually overrides it somewhere, so we agree a single reconciled design basis before any calculation starts.
Browse all codesThe governing process piping code for thickness, flexibility and allowable stress range.
Vessel, column and drum construction across the whole unit.
Shell-and-tube exchanger mechanical design, tubesheets and expansion bellows.
Wind and seismic actions on open process structures, which behave nothing like buildings.
Operator standards overriding code on materials, supports and allowable nozzle loads.
Steel design for process frames, platforms and exchanger support structures.
Free quote
Send the drawings or datasheets you already have. We will tell you what is missing and quote the scope in 24 hours.
Project lifecycle
Most clients bring us in at detailed design. We can start earlier, or pick a package up mid-stream — here is what you get from us at each stage.
Options, preliminary sizing and budget tonnage, before the scheme is frozen.
Plot-space study, equipment footprints and early identification of tie-ins.
You receive
Design basis, load schedules and layouts good enough to price and procure from.
Line list, stress-critical schedule and structure sizing for the FEED estimate.
You receive
Full analysis, code checks, 3D modelling and issued-for-construction documentation.
3D piping model, exchanger and vessel calculations, structural steel issued for construction.
You receive
Shop queries, RFIs and as-built updates while steel is being cut and erected.
Turnaround sequencing support, field-fit queries and as-built model updates.
You receive
Deliverables & handover
Brownfield scope is handed over with the federated review model, so the plant document controller inherits a model that matches what was actually installed.
| Deliverable | Format | Issued at |
|---|---|---|
| Design basis and calculation report | PDF, signed and checked | Detailed design |
| General arrangement drawings | DWG + PDF | FEED to detailed design |
| Drawing register and transmittal | XLSX + PDF | Every issue |
| Tekla 3D model | Native .db1 + IFC 2x3/4 | Detailed design |
| Single-part, assembly and erection drawings | PDF + DWG, one sheet per mark | Detailed design |
| CNC files, bolt list and BOQ | NC1/DSTV, DXF, XLSX | Pre-fabrication |
| Mechanical design calculations | PV-Elite output + PDF with code references | Detailed design |
| Fabrication and nozzle orientation drawings | DWG + PDF | Pre-fabrication |
| 3D piping model and isometrics | Native + PDF/DWG, line-numbered | Detailed design |
| Stress report with support and nozzle loads | PDF + CAESAR II .c2 input | Detailed design |
| Clash detection and model review report | NWD + PDF clash log | Detailed design |
| Tie-in list and shutdown sequence drawings | XLSX + DWG/PDF | Detailed design |
Two-stage check
Originator, then senior checker signs off every sheet before it leaves our office.
Native files included
You own the model, so another team can pick the work up at any point.
Revision control
A revision table on every sheet; superseded issues are archived, never deleted.
Your transmittal route
Issued through your document-control portal with your numbering, or over secure FTP.
Directory
Jump straight to the market you build in. Every page sets out the governing codes, units and delivery window we work to there.
8 markets
Start your project
Free, no-obligation proposal from a senior engineer.