The American Petroleum Institute (Washington, DC, USA) recently issued a new technical report to aid oil and natural gas companies in selecting the right materials for bolting.
“Proper selection of bolting materials used in oil and natural gas exploration and production is vital to the safety of workers and protection of the environment,” says Debra Phillips, vice president of the API’s global industry services division. “API’s new standard provides guidance for proper material selection for this critical component of our industry’s operations.”
API standards are developed under the association’s American National Standards Institute accredited process. This helps ensure that the standards are recognized not only for their technical rigor but also their third-party accreditation, which facilitates acceptance by state, federal, and increasingly international regulators.
Titled “Materials Selection for Bolting,” the new standard is intended to assist companies in choosing the correct materials in manufacturing low alloy, stainless steel, and nickel-based fasteners that are resistant to the effects of harsh environmental conditions faced both on land and offshore.
According to API, choosing the correct bolting based on the environment in which a company is working helps assure that the components are resilient in their operating environment.
“Understanding the failure modes and their associated barriers is critical to the proper selection of fasteners for the specific environmental conditions where they will be installed,” the publication reads.
The API bolting guidance references manufacturing standards for bolts, screws, nuts, washers, and studs best suited to the conditions where drillers and pipeline operators will be working.
The manufacturing standards recommended by the new API publication are API specifications 20E and 20F pertaining to alloy and carbon steel bolting and corrosion-resistant bolting, respectively. The guidance also includes bolting recommendations for offshore drilling in both shallow and deep water, addressing saltwater corrosion issues faced by facilities.
The publication further addresses the types of bolts required for onshore operations in desert, tropical, and arctic conditions.
According to the association, API TR 21TR1 seeks to address industry and regulatory concerns regarding connector bolts in all equipment deployed in offshore and other oil and natural gas exploration and production.
Source: API, www.api.org.