Instrumentation and Electrical Teams Interactions (Detail Design)

Industrial Process Plant Projects are the result of activities and produced documentation by the collection of different technical and non-technical teams.

Contents

The Instrumentation (I&C) and Electrical Teams are essential two parts of such collection and their activities and documentation have very close relations to each other’s.

In fact, the strong relations of activities and documentation of these two teams are so that in some manufacturing (automation) projects (and especially for small or medium projects) both activities and documentation are produced by one team as the Electrical & Instrumentation (E&I) team.

However in the operation and maintenance of some industrial plants (due to optimizing the number of engaged groups) also most of the I&C and Electrical activities will be handled by one team as E&I.

In this article, we will review the main responsibility scopes of the instrumentation and electrical teams interactions during detail design. For simplicity in the following text, we may use EL-Team as the brief notation of Electrical-Team.

I&C and Electrical Teams Main Duties During Design Phase

Instrument and Electrical Teams Main Duties

Figure-1: I&C and Electrical Teams Main Duties (Responsibilities)

In different Engineering (or Manufacturing) companies, we may find some different definitions for the main duties (responsibility scopes) of I&C and Electrical Teams but mainly we may find the below usual (common) definitions for the title of main activities of these two teams (see Figure-1):

Instrumentation & Control (I&C) Team

Activities and documents are relevant to “Control & Safety Systems, Instrumentations, Automation Functions, and Facilities”.

Electrical (EL) Team

Activities and documents relevant to “Electrical Power Feeders & Distributions, Electrical Drives/ Consumers & Motors” (including Lightings).

Electrical and Instrument Engineers Interaction Model (Detail Design Engineering Companies)

In order to focus on detailed activities and documents that are in I&C and Electrical Teams, we can use the Interactions Model shown in Figure 2 as the basis of our review.

Instrumentation and Electrical Teams Interactions (Detail Design Engineering)

Figure-2: I&C and Electrical Teams Interactions Model (In Detail Design Engineering Company)

Figure 2 summarizes the duties (activities and documentation) of I&C and Electrical teams in Detail Design Engineering Companies. As it is clear at the start of the project both teams get all project requirements as the project inputs for the basis of their duties, and then based on such inputs they will follow for their activities and required documentation.

Based on Figure 2 we can specify the whole interaction duties of both parties as 5 different types which they do for their jobs and producing their documents.

Mutual Interactions just with other technical disciplines for producing some project documents

Producing “Hazardous Area Classification” between Electrical and HSE Teams, and also preparation and finalization of P&IDs (“Piping & Instrument Diagrams“ or sometimes called “Process & Interlock Diagrams”) between I&C and PROCESS Teams are some examples of such activities.

Of course, both parties will have many mutual interactions with other disciplines which are not shown on the model for simplicity (as mentioned by general note in the model).

Direct Mutual Interactions between I&C and Electrical Teams

As it is clear in the model (and will be described below in detail) approximately all activities and documents of both parties will have some dependency on each other’s in some ways.

Mutual Interactions of both I&C and Electrical Teams with other technical disciplines for producing some project documents

Interactions of both parties with PIPING discipline on “Plant Layout” and “Project Area Allocations” and “Project Piping & Equipment Modelling” to clarify Boundaries/ Limitations/ Locations is one example of such activities.

As a more detailed example of such activities, notice that both parties for designing proper cable routes in both formats of Above and Under Ground (and producing relevant documents), they shall have simultaneous coordination with the PIPING discipline.

Mutual Interactions of both I&C and Electrical Teams with other technical disciplines for the design and procurement of Packages

For the design and supplying of each package by the relevant vendor both I&C and Electrical Teams shall provide help and assistance further to close coordination with other disciplines.

These help activities include providing design criteria, preparing requisition, proceeding procurement cycle and vendor selection, vendor document checking, and technical assistance for test and start-up, and operation of the package.

For more details on package design and supply cycle refer to reference articles.

Mutual Interactions of both I&C and Electrical Teams for special cases that may be assigned to them

For some subjects, the scope of duties & responsibility definitions differs in different engineering companies.

In fact, such special case subjects in some companies are followed by the Electrical Team, while in other companies it may be followed by the I&C Team or even by others.

For examples of such cases, we can mention: Communications (Radio, Telephone, Paging) + LAN/WAN.

Instrument and Electrical Duties in Engineering Design Company

Now let us review the Instrument and Electrical Teams‘ duties separately and the interactions between them. It shall be mentioned that the definition of duties is done and categorized in such a way that interactions between I&C and Electrical Teams can be better appeared.

On the other hand, other possible detail activities may be considered or (approximately) included in defined subjects.

A. I&C Team Duties (Responsibilities and Concerns)

The following are some of the main instrument team duties.

Instrument Cabling
Automation Systems Requirements
Control Room
Consumer Lists
Instrument Earthing Requirements
Analyzers Heat Tracing
Communications
I&C Requisitions
Other I&C Activities & Documentations
Instrument Packages Design Activities

A1) Instrument Cabling

The cabling includes all activities, concerns, and documents relevant to hardware supports for transferring signals including:

Cable Route Design (Cable Trays/ Ladders, Supports/ Accessories, …)

Pipes/ Tubes Routes

Cables & Bulk Material Take Off (Junction Boxes, Cable Trays/ Ladders, Cable Glands, Tubes & Tube Fittings, …)

Instruments/ Valves Up-stream/ Down-stream Considerations

Access Ways

For this part of activities, the I&C Team shall coordinate simultaneously with Electrical and PIPING Teams (as mentioned before for cable routes design and plant layout boundaries and allocations).

Also for this part of the activities, it may need close coordination with the Electrical team for preparation of relevant material take-off and procurement cycles.

A2) Automation Systems Requirements

The system requirements include:

I/O Type Definition & Assignment

Safety Trip Signals

Remote I/O Configuration or Interposing Relay Panel (IRP) Design

Analog Signals (Analog Speed Setpoints & Load Current Feedback Indications)

For this part of the activities, the I&C Team shall coordinate with the Electrical Team for exact signal interfacings (types and quantities) for MCC cells.

A3) Control Room

The control room activities include:

Control Room Layout & Arrangement Design

Space Reserving & allocations for Electrical Panels/ Cabinets/ Equipment

For this part of the activities, the Electrical Team shall inform and coordinate with the I&C Team for required spaces.

A4) Consumer Lists

The consumer lists include:

Systems (cabinets & panels) and Instruments UPS Power Consumer List.

Systems (cabinets & panels) and Instruments Non-UPS Power Consumer List.

UPS (& Non-UPS) Distribution Panel Arrangement.

For this part of the activities, the I&C Team shall inform and coordinate with the Electrical Team for required UPS and non-UPS power feeder estimations.

A5) Instrument Earthing Requirements

The instrument earthing requirements include:

I&C Earthing Requirement definitions (Instrument/ System/ Safety Earth + Primary/ Protection Electrical Earth)

For this part of the activities, the I&C Team shall inform and coordinate with the Electrical Team for the required types of Earth sources with defined path resistances.

A6) Analyzers Heat Tracing

The analyzer heat tracing activities include:

Process & Analyzers (Instruments & Routes) Steam and Electrical Heat tracing Considerations.

For this part of the activities, the I&C Team shall inform and coordinate with the Electrical Team for required Electrical Heat Tracing on specified sections.

A7) Communications

The communication-related activities include:

Communications (Hardware and Serial Links) for all Systems (which their signals shall be monitored in DCS and /or Higher Levels).

For this part of the activities, the Electrical Team shall inform and coordinate with the I&C Team for required communication (links) hardware and considered communication (signal) lists.

A8) I&C Requisitions

The instrumentation and control systems related requisitions include:

Activities and Documentation for Design and Engineering related to Providing Requisitions, Proceeding Procurement Cycles, and Vendors Document Checkings.

I&C Requisitions include Systems, (DCS, ESD, PLC, …) Instruments, Cables, Bulk materials,….

Systems (cabinets & panels) and Instruments Non-UPS Power Consumer List.

For this part of the activities, the I&C Team shall inform and coordinate with the Electrical Team for any action required or any items (including power and cables) that shall be supplied by the Electrical Team.

EL Team shall inform the I&C Team of any probable Instruments (or other items) that can be supplied by the I&C Team.

A9) Other I&C Activities & Documentations

The miscellaneous instrumentation activities include:

All other I&C Team Activities and Documents that shall be produced by them in Design + Engineering phase (like Control Philosophy Implementation, Logic/ Interlock Diagram, …).

For this part of the activities, the I&C Team shall inform and coordinate with the Electrical Team for any required actions.

A10) Instrument Packages Design Activities

The instrument package design activities include:

Technical Supports and assistances to other Disciplines (Package Originators) on providing Specifications and Requirements (Philosophy) Definitions for packages.

I&C Team shall help for Signals and Hardware Design Requirements according to Project Requirements (including Instrumentations, Control philosophies, Interlocks, communication Lists, Cables, Panels, JB’s, Tubes and other accessories, Hook-ups, Routes, …).

For this part of activities, the I&C Team shall inform and coordinate with the Electrical Team further to coordinate with Package Originators for required actions including finalizing Signal Lists and Interlocks further to MCC Interfacings.

Again it shall be repeated that the mentioned definition of duties is done and categorized in such a way that interactions between I&C and Electrical Teams can be better appeared (details of I&C activities and documentation can be followed in reference articles).

Figure-3: I&C and Electrical Teams have some similar activities like Cabling (In Detail Design Engineering Company)

B. Electrical Team Duties (Responsibilities and Concerns)

Some of the Electrical Team activities are similar to I&C Team activities like cabling (see Figure -3) but they differ in some format or capacity size (as an example Electrical Team Cables usually have larger sizes and are more routed underground or in cable trenches).

However, the below-mentioned duties are categorized to better understand the Electrical and I&C Teams Interactions.

Electrical Cabling
Electrical Drives Requirements
Power Buildings
Consumer and Load Lists
Earthing Design
Electrical Heat Tracing
Power Distributions
Electrical Requisitions
Other Electrical Activities & Documentations
Electrical Packages Design Activities

B1) Electrical Cabling

The electrical cabling activities include all activities, concerns, and documents relevant to hardware supports for transferring power and (Local Control Station or Local Panels) signals including:

Cable Route Design (Trenches and Underground Routes, Cable Trays/ Ladders, Supports/ Accessories, …)

Transformer Yards Design

Cables & Bulk Material Take Off (Junction Boxes, Cable Trays/ Ladders, Cable Glands, …)

Field Hand Switches or Warnings (like Electrical Siren)

Lighting Designs

Access Ways Considerations on Electrical Consumers

For this part of the activities, the Electrical Team shall coordinate simultaneously with the I&C and PIPING Teams (as mentioned before for cable routes design and plant layout boundaries and allocations).

Also for this part of activities, it may need close coordination with the I&C team for preparation of relevant material take-off and procurement cycles.

However Electrical team shall get all special plant lighting requirements other than standard designs

B2) Electrical Drives Requirements

The electrical drive requirements include:

Motor Control Philosophy (Start, Stop, Running, Fault, Trip, Remote/ Local, Forward/ reverse, …)

MCC Design (Different types of feeder panels)

Variable Speed Drives + Special Drive Items

For this part of the activities, the Electrical Team shall coordinate with the I&C Team for exact signal interfacings (types and quantities) for MCC cells and VFD/ VSD Drives.

B3) Power Buildings

The electrical power buildings include:

Substations Layout & Arrangement design

UPS & Battery Rooms Design

Diesel Generator Location

For this part of the activities, the I&C Team shall inform and coordinate with the Electrical Team for required spaces (for I&C Panels/ Cabinets/ Equipment).

B4) Consumer and Load Lists

The electrical consumer and load list activities include:

Systems (cabinets & panels) and Instruments UPS Power Consumer List.

Systems (cabinets & panels) and Instruments Non-UPS Power Consumer List.

UPS (& Non-UPS) Distribution Panel Arrangement.

For this part of the activities, the I&C Team shall inform and coordinate with the Electrical Team for required UPS and Non-UPS Power feeder estimations.

B5) Earthing Design

The electrical earthing design activities include:

Plant Earthing Philosophy and Design.

Earthing (Implementation) Layout.

For this part of the activities, the I&C Team shall inform and coordinate with the Electrical Team for the required types of Earth sources with defined path resistances.

Accordingly, the Electrical Team shall provide different Earth Bars due to considered designs.

B6) Electrical Heat Tracing

The electrical heat tracing subject includes:

Electrical Heat Tracing Design.

Material take-off (Power, Cable, Distribution, JB, …).

For this part of the activities, the I&C Team shall inform and coordinate with the Electrical Team for required Electrical Heat Tracing on specified sections.

B7) Power Distributions

The electrical power distribution subject includes:

Electrical Load/Consumer Lists + Motor List

Power Distribution Control System (PDCS) Design

Load Controls (Load sharing + Load Shading)

For this part of the activities, the I&C Team shall inform and coordinate with the Electrical Team for required UPS and Non-UPS Power Consumer lists.

B8) Electrical Requisitions

The electrical requisitions subject includes:

Activities and Documentations for Design and Engineering related to Providing Requisitions, Proceeding Procurement Cycles, and Vendors Document Checking’s.

EL Requisitions are including Switchgears, Transformers, MCC Panels, Local Control Stations, Cables, Bulk materials, ….

Motors and Motor Drives.

UPS Purchasing.

For this part of the activities, the I&C Team shall inform and coordinate with the Electrical Team for any action required or any items (including power and cables) which shall be supplied by the Electrical Team.

EL-Team shall inform the I&C Team of any probable Instruments (or other items) which can be supplied by the I&C Team.

B9) Other Electrical Activities & Documentations

The miscellaneous electrical engineering activities include:

Lighting Circuits + Electrical Power Consumers/ Sockets (Design + List + Distribution Diagram+ …)

All other Electrical Team Activities and Documents that shall be produced by them in Design + Engineering phase (like Control Philosophy Implementation, Logic/ Interlock Diagram, …).

For this part of the activities, the I&C Team shall inform and coordinate with the Electrical Team for any required actions.

B10) Electrical Packages Design Activities

The electrical package design activities include:

Technical Supports and assistances to other Disciplines (Package Originators) on providing Specifications and Power/ Motors Requirements for packages.

EL Team shall help for available voltages and Earthing Connections, and field feeders and distribution arrangement (Cables, Panels, JB’s, Routes, …).

For this part of activities, the Electrical Team shall inform and coordinate with the I&C Team further to coordinate with Package Originators for required actions including finalizing MCC Interfacings, and Motor & Consumer Lists.

Summary

I&C and ELECTRICAL Teams are essential two parts of a collection of technical teams for Industrial Process Plant Projects, which their activities and documentation have very close relations to each others.

In different Engineering (or Manufacturing) companies we may find some different definitions for the main duties (responsibility scopes) of I&C and Electrical Teams but mainly we may find the main activities and interactions of these two teams as summarized in Figure-2 model.

References: