Pipe-in-pipe, containment pipe, double-wall pipe ?

Greetings again gurus. As I continue to learn Revit, I feel more and more like it's just messing with me for fun...

But my question isn't so much about the program right now, it's about a piping type. I'm working on a data center project with a lot of fuel oil piping between fill stations and generators. This will be containment piping, with two concentric pipes. Assuming I want to properly identify this rather than just faking it with an insulation thickness (because I still need to insulate it)... How do I represent this? Do I create an entirely new "Pipe" family? I don't see enough flexibility within the pipe types dialogue to really create this kind of thing. I need to be able to specify inner pipe diameter (not ID, but the diameter of the pipe in the center of the other one) and outer pipe diameter, as well as materials, thicknesses, welded vs. flanged, etc.

Any help would be appreciated - your fixes or work-arounds, "industry standards," etc.

Much obliged! :beer:

I'm surprised no one has tackled this one.

I didn't know the answer myself, so I did a little experimenting and here's what I've found:

No, Revit does not have a double-wall pipe tool.

I was able to simulate a double-wall pipe by inserting two pieces of pipe directly on top of each other (concentric) and adjusting the sizes as needed. In plan view (double line) the inner pipe shows as hidden line while the outer containment pipe shows solid, much like you would see on a lined duct. In section it shows as one pipe inside of the other.

This method would allow you to have your different materials (i.e., black iron service line with PVC containment), but they would each be seen by Revit as separate pipe runs.

The other potential limitation that I see is tagging the pipes in plan view....both pipes can be tagged, but the leaders attach themselves to the center-line of the pipe making it near impossible to differentiate which pipe the tag is referring to. This could be overcome with detached leaders or plain text if need be.

In summary, it looks to me like it can be done....with some workarounds. As long as the workarounds aren't counterproductive for you I think you can achieve your goal.

Thanks a ton for the reply. My only hang-up with doing it that way is the fact that clash detection is going to generate a few pages of conflicts. But, maybe I will make a fuel-oil workset and just not run detection on these.

Thanks again for the insight!

Ahhhh.....good point. I hadn't considered the clash detection issues.

At any rate, when a job comes up with containment pipe, that's how I plan to approach it. It's not perfect, but it should do the trick. If you come up with any tricks or pitfalls dealing with double-wall pipe, I for one would love to read about them here!

Why not show outer wall as insulation? that is what I've been doing for years, and it works well.