Our company is a leading designer and manufacturer of water and wastewater treatment systems. We provide systems designed as per client’s requirements, and statutory treated effluent standards. Most of our projects thus involve detailed engineering drawings of various physical tanks, and mechanical parts such as clarifier rotating arms, air floatation systems, pumps, piping, control panels etc. Appropriate process flow diagrams and layouts are thus essential part of proposals and quotations. Thus, it is essential that we prepare our plant diagrams with respect to ASME Y14 standards. The ASME Y14 are standard codes developed by the American Society of Manufacturing Engineers for establishing uniformity in engineering drawings, which will enable their easy understanding, interpretation, modification as well as regular usage in engineering works (ASME, 2013b).
Relevance and Application of ASME Y14 Standards
In design of water and effluent treatment plants the engineering drawing of the plants need to be prepared in accordance with the requirements of ASME Y14.100 ‘Engineering Drawing Practices’ (ASME, 2013b). This standard document covers all aspects of the drawing such as size and format of drawings, labeling, line conventions and lettering, isometric views, logic circuit diagrams, marking, dating etc. (ASME, 2013b). The standard also covers numbering, and identification of various parts in the treatment plant. For instance, numerous valves and fittings need to be shown in a treatment plant diagram, and the make or model needs to be identified appropriately. ASME Y14.100 also provides standard practices for using symbols, marking replacement requirements, indicating design transfer responsibility, generating duplicates of the diagram, etc. (ASME, 2013b). These aspects of ASME Y14.100 make modification in designs and replacements of parts in the plant very simple because any professional can use the diagrams in future without any difficulty.
ASME Y14.24 ‘Types and Applications of Engineering Drawings’ is another valuable resource that can be used to develop proper plant layouts, mechanical schematic diagrams, process flow diagrams (PFDs) indicating the flow of water or effluent through various treatment stages or tanks, logic diagram used for controlling the plant operation, piping as well as cabling assembly diagrams (ASME, 2013a). These diagrams are essential for determining the space and material requirement, as well as costing estimation. Request for quotations usually require the techno-commercial proposal to be accompanied by appropriate plant PFDs and layouts.
As we offer packaged treatment plants fabricated is mild steel or fiber-reinforced plastic (FRP), in addition to conventional plants with civil tanks, ASME Y14.5 ‘Geometric Dimensioning and Tolerancing’ is very useful. These standards help fabrication of various components of the treatment plant such as reactor vessels; agitators, flocculators, and enclosures with the desired fit, movement and function (ASME, 1995). Usually packaged plants are chosen in areas with space constraint, and ASME Y14.5 compliant drawings help in supplying compact and efficient finished products to clients. Further, for FRP based composite plant parts, ASME Y14.37 standard serves as a good reference. ASME Y14.37 defines the geometric specifications, orientation, identification requirements, as well as manufacturing process requirements (ASME, 2012). ASME Y14.37 thus covers specific aspects of composites exempted from ASME Y14.5 (ASME, 2012). Both ASME Y14.5 and 14.37 can be incorporated in CAD/CAM designs.
Finally, revisions are common in all treatment plant designs and ASME Y14.35 defines drawing revisions as well as provisions to record them (ASME, 2014). The document defines notations for revisions, and also provides control methods to identify revision status of drawings (ASME, 2014). Dimensional changes, or completely redrawn designs, location of the changes, and transfer of the changes are all included in this standard, which applies to digital drawing data as well (ASME, 2014). There were instances when a previous version of a revised drawing had to be reinstated (to meet client’s requirement), and adherence to ASME Y14.35 requirements has made it hassle free.
Conclusion
Thus various ASME Y14 standards help project and design engineers develop accurate drawings of treatment systems, which form the basis of costing estimations, quotations and final implementation of a project. Familiarization with ASME drawing standards can thus help engineers deliver more reliable and efficient plants, which in turn would benefit the development of our company as well.
References
ASME. (1995, January 23). Dimensioning and Tolerancing. Retrieved June 23, 2016, from
http://gram.eng.uci.edu/faculty/green/public/courses/189a/lecture_slides/standards/ASME_Dimensioning and Tolerancing_Standards Excerpt.pdf
ASME. (2012, June 15). Composite Part Drawings. Retrieved June 23, 2016, from http://
files.asme.org/Catalog/Codes/PrintBook/32616.pdf
ASME. (2013a). Types and Applications of Engineering Drawings - ASME.
Retrieved June 23, 2016, from http://files.asme.org/Catalog/Codes/PrintBook/
34420.pdf
ASME. (2013b). Engineering Drawing Practices - ASME. Retrieved June 23, 2016,
ASME. (2014, August 29). Revision of Engineering Drawings and Associated Documents.
Retrieved June 23, 2016, from http://files.asme.org/Catalog/Codes/PrintBook/
35566.pdf
