Piping abbreviations are short forms (acronyms) used to quickly and easily convey piping and related information. Abbreviated forms of various piping terms are frequently used in various piping and related engineering drawings and documents. All piping engineers should know/learn about all these abbreviations used in the piping industry to easily recognize and understand the item. In this article, we will learn some of the most frequently used common piping abbreviations.
AFC: AFC in engineering companies is an abbreviation of Approved For Construction. AFC or Approved For Construction informs that the piping drawing meets all the design requirements, and it is ready to fabricate/construct.
AC: Alternating Current / Air Conditioner / Air Cooler
AISC: AISC is an acronym for the American Institute of Steel Construction
ANSI: ANSI stands for American National Standards Institute Inc
API: The term API is very popular in Piping Industry. It is an abbreviated form of the American Petroleum Institute.
ASA: American Standards Association
Asb: Asbestos (Gaskets)
ASCE: American Society of Civil Engineers
ASHRAE: American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers
ASME: The American Society of Mechanical Engineers
ASTM: ASTM is the short form for The American Society for Testing and Materials. More details about ASTM can be found here.
AWS: American Welding Society
AWWA: American Water Works Association
BB: The short form BB stands for Bolted Bonnet. A bolted bonnet or cover of a valve is attached to the valve body using bolts to act as a pressure-retaining shell of the valve.
BBE: BBE is an abbreviated form of Beveled Both Ends. The term BBE is widely used during purchasing of various piping and related items to denote the end condition of the item. Beveled Both Ends means that both ends are beveled. Some other related terms are as follows:
BOE / POE: Beveled One End / Plain One End
BOE / TOE: Beveled One End / Treaded One End
POE / TOE: Plain One End /Treaded One End
BLE: Bevel large end
BSE: Bevel small end
PBE: Plain Both Ends
TBE: Threaded Both Ends
BE: The abbreviated term BE stands for Beveled Ends. The term Beveled Ends or BE is applicable to all buttweld pipes, flanges, fittings, valves, etc. Ends are usually beveled to an angle of 30° (+5° / -0°) with a root face of 1.6 mm (± 0.8 mm).
BOM: BOM is an abbreviation of the Bill Of Materials that provides a detailed item-by-item list of the project requirements for piping or related items in a tabular format. The BOM is an important term in all engineering drawings as it specifies the items required for construction by the reference grade and standard to which it must be made, by the size and its rating. The information in this table is entirely extracted from the material take-off documents. Click here to learn more details about BOM.
BW: BW is an acronym for Butt Welding which is a circumferential butt welded joint. BW is the most common type of jointly employed in piping fabrication and is universally used to join, fittings, flanges, valves, pipes, and other equipment. Butt welding provides a high-quality and high-strength joint.
CMTR: CMTR or Certified Material Test Report ensures that the material is in accordance with specified requirements. The CMTR provides the actual chemical analyses, tests, and examination results.
CUI: CUI is a short form of Corrosion Under Insulation which is a type of corrosion on the external surface of insulated pipe or equipment. Even though CUI is caused by one of the multiple factors, the presence of moisture is more prevalent. Corrosion under insulation can occur in equipment and piping that are in service, out of service, or in cyclic service. More details about CUI are covered here.
DCCP: Design change control program
DCN: Design change notice
DIN: Deutsches Institute Normung, A German Standards Institute.
DIPRA: Ductile Iron Pipe Research Association
DIS: Ductile Iron Society
D&T: Drill and tap
D&W: Doped and wrapped (pipe)
DES: Double extra strong
DI: Ductile iron
Dia: Diameter
Dim: Dimension
DRL: Double Random Length (Pipe Length)
DSAW: Double submerged arc welded (pipe)
DSS: Duplex Stainless Steel
Dwg: Drawing
EFW: EFW is a term associated with welding which is an abbreviation of Electric Fusion Welding. Electric fusion welding is used to weld steel pipes. A directed impact kinetic energy electron beam and high-speed movement are impacted into the hot workpiece to melt the workpiece and create the weld. Hot-rolled plates are converted into pipes by the EFW method.
Ea: Each
Ecc: Eccentric
EJMA: Expansion Joint Manufacturers Association
El: Elevation (on drawing)
ELL: Elbow
Elec: Electrical
Eol: Elbolet
Esw: Eccentric swage
EUE: External upset ends
Ex.hvy: Extra-heavy
Ex.stg: Extra-strong
Exp jt: Expansion joint
ERW: ERW is the acronym for the term Electric Resistance Welded, a welding method using resistance heating to make the longitudinal weld. For better control and consistency, high-frequency induction heating is used.
ESD: ESD is an abbreviation for Emergency Shutdown which is a process incident. ESD valve or Emergency Shutdown Valve is an actuated valve designed to stop the flow of a hazardous fluid or external hydrocarbons when a dangerous event is detected. ESD valves are the final defense against process hazards.
FAB: Fabricate/fabricator
FAS: Free along-side
FC: Fail Close for Control Valve
FCI: Fluid Controls Institute
F&D: Faced and drilled (flanged)
FE: Flanged ends/flow element
FF: Flat Face (Flange)/ Full face
F/F: Face of flange
Fig: Figure (number)
FMA: Forging Manufacturers Association
FO: Fail Open for Control Valve
FOB: Flat On Bottom (terminology for Eccentric Reducer)/ Free on board.
FOT: Flat On Top (terminology for Eccentric Reducer)
FFS: FFS is an abbreviation of Fitness For Service which is a method for assessing the integrity of in-service equipment and items. Assessing fitness-for-service improves plant safety and operational performance by avoiding unnecessary replacements and repairs. More details about FFS are explained here.
FFW: FFW is an abbreviated form of Field Fit Weld that indicates that a field adjustment welding in the piping may require the addition of an extra length of pipe.
Gal: Gallon
Galv: Galvanised
GG: Gauge glass
GJ: Ground joint (union)
Glb: Globe (valve)
GMAW: Gas Metal Arc Welding
GR: Grade
Gsk: Gasket
GOST: Gosstandart of Russia
GPM: Gallons per minute
GPS: Gallons per second
GTAW: Gas Tungsten Arc Welding
HAZ: HAZ stands for Heat-Affected Zone. This term is frequently used in welding, cutting, and other joining processes that involved intense heat. In the HAZ, severe heating causes microstructural and metallurgical changes in the metal. Details about Heat Affected Zone are covered here.
HB: Brinell Hardness
HRC: Rockwell C Hardness
HC: Hose coupling
HC: Heat Conservation Insulation
Hdr: Header
Hex: Six-sided (Hexagonal) head, bolt, plug, etc.
HI: Hydraulic Institute
HN: Heat number
HVAC: Heating, ventilating, and air conditioning
Hvy: Heavy
HPP: Highest point of Paving
ISBL: ISBL is a short form for In-Side Battery Limits. ISBL is decided based on the function and denotes the equipment and components solely dedicated to a single process. They are usually located within a geographical limit.
ITP: ITP stands for Inspection Test Plan which is an important document covering the construction quality control plan. All the inspections and tests required to maintain the quality of the product/item are usually mentioned in the ITP document.
IBBM: Iron body bronze mounted (valve)
ID: Inside diameter
IPS: Iron pipe size
IS&Y: Inside screw & yoke (valve)
ISO: Isometric (drawing)
ISO: International Standards Organizations
IUE: Internal upset ends
ISRS: Inside Screw Rising Stem
ISNRS: Inside Screw Non-Rising Stem
Jkscr: Jack screw
JIS: Japanese Industrial Standard
Jt (s)/ Jt.: (joints)
JW: Jacket water
Kg: Kilogram
LC: Locked closed
LO: Locked open
LR: LR is an abbreviation of Long Radius Elbow. There are two types of elbows, long radius and short radius depending on the center-to-face dimension. For long radius elbow, the center-to-face dimension is 1.5 times the Nominal pipe size (1.5D) whereas the same for short radius elbow is 1D.
MAOP: MAOP is a very useful term for the process and mechanical design of equipment. It is an abbreviated form for Maximum Allowable Operating Pressure. The Maximum Allowable Operating Pressure or MAOP is the maximum pressure, that a piece of equipment or piping can safely operate.
MAWP: Maximum Allowable Working Pressure is the full form of MAWP.
MIG: Metal Inert Gas welding process which is also known as Gas Metal Arc Welding (GMAW).
MTO: MTO is the abbreviated form of Material Take-Off, an important term used in piping materials engineering to estimate the number of required piping items in any project. Refer to https://whatispiping.com/piping-mto/ for further details.
NBR: Nitrile Butadiene Rubber
NDE: Non-Destructive Examination or NDE is also popular as Non-Destructive Testing. Typical examples of NDE are MPI, Ultrasonic Testing, Liquid Penetrant Testing, etc.
NPS: Nominal Pipe Size.
NPT: National Pipe Thread Tapered
NC: Normally closed (Valve)
NO: Normally Open (Valve)
NRS: Non-Rising Stem
NEMA: National Electrical Manufacturers Association
NFPA: National Fire Protection Association
OSBL: Outside Side Battery Limits
OS&Y: Outside Screw & Yoke
OD: Outside Diameter
OSHA: Occupational Safety and Health Act, or Administration
I am a Mechanical Engineer turned into a Piping Engineer. Currently, I work in a reputed MNC as a Senior Piping Stress Engineer. I am very much passionate about blogging and always tried to do unique things. This website is my first venture into the world of blogging with the aim of connecting with other piping engineers around the world.
4 thoughts on “Piping Abbreviations | Common Piping Terms”
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Very nice digestible material thanks for sharing
how we can pdf file?
I came across a new abbreviation, at least to me. What is “8” PA” mean?