As a typical mechanical equipment in petrochemical plant, reciprocating compressor is mainly used for pressurizing the gas for delivery through piston reciprocating motion. Due to the intermittent working way, vibration inevitably happens in the piping system of compressor and the suction and discharge lines connected. Therefore, a reasonable piping layout and piping support design can effectively reduce the vibration to an acceptable level, thus guaranteeing the safe operation of the whole system. Based on the characteristics of equipment and piping layout and piping support design for reciprocating compressor, this paper compares and analyzes the differences between vertical and horizontal cylinder compressors in equipment layout, piping layout and maintenance characteristics.