[Serial] The growth story of a chemical engineering designer - 56

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(56) “Three times I passed by Pingshan Hall; half a life passed in the blink of an eye.” Ten years apart, yet the old sage remains the same; dragons and snakes seem to move on the wall. To mourn the governor who penned verses, we sing of willows in the spring breeze. Stop speaking of how everything is ultimately empty; before it happens, it’s all but a dream. ” Carrying a piece of calligraphy written by Hong Xiaojun, Ye Wenhui returned to the dormitory at his workplace. Su Dongpo’s poem “Xi Jiang Yue” was written during a difficult period in his official career. While passing by the Pingshan Hall built by his mentor Ouyang Xiu, he recalled the past and expressed his deep reverence for his teacher. The words express the sorrow over how time flies by; in the blink of an eye, it passes swiftly. Life is like a dream, and when one looks back, half a lifetime has already been wasted. It’s only fitting that Hong Xiaojun took a pen to write gracefully, reflecting on the unpredictability of life. Both Hong Xiaojun and Grandpa Chen are now of advanced age; no matter how much they try to predict the future or understand fate, it’s uncertain whether they will have the chance to meet again after these fifty years have passed. The emotions of surprise, nostalgia, sadness, and regret that arise from this situation are beyond description. At that time, Hong Xiaojun was practicing calligraphy at home. After chatting a bit with Grandpa Chen and the others, he could no longer contain his emotions; he dipped his brush in thick ink and wrote this piece of calligraphy with bold strokes. Just the graceful strokes made by the pen were enough to move Ye Wenhui and Shu Fen, who were watching, deeply; not to mention the characters that appeared on the paper. To his surprise, this turned out to be a blessing in disguise for Ye Wenhui. On his way back, he treated that piece of calligraphy as a precious treasure, holding it carefully for fear of damaging it, and recalling the scene of Hong Xiaojun writing it; he couldn’t help but laugh several times. As for the encounter between Grandpa Chen and Hong Xiaojun, he even forgot about it. Amidst the joy, one had to face the harsh reality: the long National Day holiday was finally over. Shu Fen returned to the island city, and Ye Wenhui went back to the company to continue with the piping work, which was already under a tight deadline. Before even getting started on the work, Ye Wenhui realized that he was the slowest person in the entire project team. After the holidays, regular meetings are held; each member of the project team is required to report on their work to the chief engineer. In this project team, the contents of others’ reports generally include: xx has been completed, xx remains unfinished, xx is currently in progress, there are xx issues at present, and completion is expected by xx time. Among them, there are several items that have been completed, far more than the remaining tasks. There are also current issues, but it seems they can all be resolved quickly, as if the work can be finished right away. When it was Ye Wenhui’s turn, he had no choice but to say, “I’ve completed tasks such as preparing the table of pipeline material grades; the remaining work is to create the pipeline layout diagrams. I’m currently working on arranging the pipes. The problem is that I’m not familiar with this yet, so I need to learn while working. I expect to finish it in about half a month…” “Pfft!” ”As soon as Ye Wenhui finished speaking, some people started laughing. To spare their colleague some face, most of them covered their mouths and laughed quietly, but only Zhu Yuewen laughed out loud. His gloating expression was increasingly annoying, which made Ye Wenhui feel extremely embarrassed; his face grew hot again and again. Liu Shuang also smiled and said, “For newcomers, we can understand it; everyone who does this has gone through the same process.” ”He also said to Zhu Yuewen, “Xiao Zhu, don’t laugh; we’ll talk about your matter later.” ” Upon hearing this, Zhu Yuewen sat up straight as if nothing had happened, as his response to Liu Shuang. Liu Shuang continued, \"Recently, Xiao Ye has been working extra hours; time is very tight. If there’s anything you don’t understand, ask more questions. The weather is getting colder, and the civil construction work has already been completed. Equipment installation will start soon, so we need to hurry up and tally up the pipeline materials so that there’s enough time for procurement.\" ” “Okay, Mr. Liu, I understand. ”Ye Wenhui agreed. The sudden work pressure, combined with the fatigue from returning from vacation, made Ye Wenhui feel as if he were ready to face death. After the meeting, Sister Meng said to Ye Wenhui, \"Xiao Ye, let’s meet later; I’ll tell you what needs to be done next.\" ” “Okay, Sister Meng! ” Returning to his work station, Ye Wenhui quickly took a sip of water before turning around to look for Sister Meng who was nearby. Sister Meng was also resting. When she saw Ye Wenhui approaching, she put down the water cup in her hand and gestured for Ye Wenhui to sit down beside her. Then she said to him, “Let me first explain to you what tasks this job entails.” ” Ye Wenhui nodded, and Sister Meng continued, \"The work you are doing now actually involves two aspects: pipeline materials and pipeline layout. First, it’s about determining the pipeline materials, which means preparing tables such as those listing the grades of pipeline materials; these tasks were completed before the festival.\" Next, what needs to be done is to conduct a count of the pipes and related materials. The piping discipline actually includes the design of equipment layout; in this project, the equipment layout has already been completed, so all you need to do is arrange the pipes. The layout of equipment and pipelines is the phase in chemical engineering design that is closest to actual construction. It must be clear, accurate, reasonable, and cost-effective. This means that the facilities, types, and categories of equipment and pipelines must be clearly defined; their dimensions, locations, and quantities must be precise. The arrangement of equipment and pipelines should be logical, facilitating construction, maintenance, and operation. Additionally, it is necessary to minimize land use while reducing material and construction costs as much as possible. These principles are specifically summarized in the \"Specifications for the Layout Design of Chemical Plant Equipment\" (HG/T 20546) and the \"Specifications for the Layout Design of Pipelines in Chemical Plants\" (HG/T 20549). When designing, you need to think carefully, regularly refer to these two standards, and imagine yourself in the role of the construction workers and operators to see if the arrangement is reasonable. If you’re unsure about something, ask me; the more you do it, the more proficient you will become. ” When the word \"skilled\" came up, Ye Wenhui thought again of what had happened during the meeting, and his face turned red once more. To hide his embarrassment, he gave Sister Meng a smirk and nodded to show that he understood. Sister Meng continued, \"You did some work on gas station design some time ago, so you should have a basic understanding of pipeline layout. However, gas stations require fewer types of pipelines; in comparison, this project is much more complex.\" For this project, the work you are doing now needs to result in completed documents such as the \"Piping Layout Diagram\", \"Pipe Section List\", \"List of Piping Insulation and Heat Insulation Materials\", \"List of Piping Anti-corrosion Coating Materials\", \"Pipe Rack List\", \"List of Insulation and Heat Insulation Materials\", \"List of Anti-corrosion Coating Materials\", and \"List of Pipe Rack Materials\". Finally, all the piping materials need to be summarized in a \"Comprehensive Material Table\", which is then submitted to the owner for the procurement of piping materials; the quantities listed in this table should be as accurate as possible. ” After listening for such a long time, Ye Wenhui felt his head growing heavier; the enthusiasm he had built up moments earlier vanished in an instant. Helplessly, he asked Sister Meng, \"It’s just piping work – is it really necessary to have so many things?\" I suddenly didn’t know where to start. ” Sister Meng smiled upon hearing this and said, “Hehe, don’t worry. Everything is done step by step. First, the ‘Piping Layout Diagram’ needs to be completed; only after that can the other materials be listed.” ” “Oh! ”Hearing Sister Meng say that, Ye Wenhui finally breathed a sigh of relief. Sister Meng added, \"You already have some experience in counting pipes using piping and pipe segment tables, so you can start with those tasks first.\" In other tables of finished products, there are several that cover topics you may not be familiar with yet and require further study. For example, the \"Pipeline Insulation and Heat Insulation Table\" requires calculations for pipeline insulation as well as the selection of appropriate insulating materials; the \"Anti-corrosion Coating Table\" involves choosing the right coating materials. There’s also the \"Pipe Support Table\" – when planning pipeline layouts, it’s necessary to take pipe supports into account. It might be difficult to get started with these things at first, so as before, it’s best to refer to previous design documents while learning and working through them. ” “Oh! I suddenly realized that piping is also very difficult! ”Hearing Sister Meng mention so many things he had never done before, Ye Wenhui only felt his head growing heavier and heavier. “Hehe, don’t worry; these things aren’t that complicated after all. It’s just difficult for those who don’t know how to do them, but easy for those who do. Once you’ve done this once, it won’t seem so hard anymore. For the calculations related to pipeline insulation, you have already studied \"Heat Transfer\" before; you must have learned these concepts. I have here some information on commonly used insulation materials as well as guidelines for selecting coatings, which I will send to you shortly. You can use this information when making your choices. There are also several other standards that should be taken into consideration during the design process. For insulation, one can refer to the \"Design Code for Insulation of Industrial Equipment and Piping\" (GB 50264) and the \"Technical Specifications for Insulation of Petrochemical Equipment and Piping\" (SH/T 3010). As for anti-corrosion coating design, the \"Design Code for External Anti-Corrosion Protection of Chemical Equipment and Piping\" (HG/T 20679) and the \"Design Code for Anti-Corrosion Coatings on Petrochemical Equipment and Piping\" (SH/T 3022) can be consulted. These include national standards, chemical industry standards, and petrochemical industry standards, and there are many similarities among them. In chemical engineering design, we generally refer to national standards and chemical industry standards. As for the design of pipe racks, standard pipe supports should be used whenever possible; otherwise, a \"Special Pipe Rack Drawing\" must be prepared. For complex special pipe racks, design requirements must also be provided to the structural engineering team. The standard pipe supports that we commonly use can be found in the \"Pipe Rack Standard Drawings\" (HG/T 21629) catalog. Also, these are all specified in the unified rules; pay close attention when working on them. Time is tight, so put in extra effort, and ask questions if you’re unsure. ” “Okay, thank you, Sister Meng! ” Returning to my workstation, I saw Tian Jing walking in with a joyful expression on her face. It was almost time for lunch. After attending meetings all morning and being bombarded with advice from Sister Meng, the unprecedented pressure made Ye Wenhui feel exhausted. Seeing Tian Jing so cheerful, Ye Wenhui felt relieved: If this girl was able to smile like this even after working on piping tasks last month, then the job must not be that difficult! “Hi, sis, what are you daydreaming about? ” “I go… Classmate Tian Jing, can we figure out the gender clearly? ” “Haha... long time no see, I had completely forgotten! ” “Ah! Well, you win! ” ……