New API/ASME Standard on In-Service Inspection

An effort is currently underway to create a new code for in-service inspection and maintenance of pressure equipment in the hydrocarbon process industry. The API Committee on Refinery Equipment (CRE) and the ASME Board on Pressure Technology Codes & Standards (BPTCS) have agreed to explore the idea by putting together a joint task group that would report to both organizations. That group will be meeting soon to put together a set of committee operating procedures and the scope/objective of the document for approval by the API CRE & ASME BPTCS. Once the charter/scope and operating procedures are approved by both societies, a committee will be assembled to accomplish the task.

The purpose of this effort is to create one premier, global standard for the in-service inspection and maintenance of pressure vessels and piping systems that can be applied within the refining and chemical industry worldwide. It’s expected that the new code will be of such quality that it will eventually displace most of the multiple rules/regulations that are in effect in various countries of the world. The new code will aim at achieving true excellence in pressure equipment integrity and not just compliance with some minimum rules and requirements.