When it comes to the API, its name is definitely famous worldwide. The API refers to the American Petroleum Institute. Founded in 1919, it is the first national business association in the United States and one of the earliest and most successful standards-setting chambers in the world. As an international standard, it has long been engraved in the hearts of every steel practitioner.
Its main contents are:
1. Specifies the grade, steel grade and delivery status of API 5L standard steel pipes;
2. Procurement information that the buyer needs to submit;
3. The manufacturing process of steel pipes, including various welding processes, cold sizing and cold expansion, heat treatment, etc.;
4. Acceptance limits, mainly including chemical composition of steel pipes, tensile properties, hydrostatic pressure test, bending test, flattening test, guide bending test, impact test, surface defects, dimensional deviation, etc.;
5. Inspection of steel pipes;
6. Marking, etc.
There are a wide variety of API standards, including pipes, fittings, and steel components. The API SPEC steel pipe is roughly two parts: oil casing pipe and line pipe. API 5L generally refers to the implementation standard for pipeline steel pipes, which are pipes used to transport oil, steam, water, etc. from the ground to oil and gas industrial enterprises. It includes two types of seamless steel pipes and welded steel pipes. The welded steel pipe pipes, which was commonly used in oil pipelines in China, are spiral submerged arc welded pipes (SSAW), straight seam submerged arc welded pipes (LSAW) and electric resistance welded pipes (ERW). Steel pipes are generally used when the pipe diameter is less than 152 mm.
API seamless steel pipe manufacturing process:
Hot rolling (extrusion) seamless steel pipe: round billet → heating → perforation → three-roll cross-rolling, continuous rolling or extrusion → pipe removal → sizing (or reducing diameter) → cooling → billet Tube → straightening → hydrostatic test (or flaw detection) → marking → storage.
Cold drawn (rolled) seamless steel pipe: round tube billet → heating → perforation → head → annealing → pickling → oiling (copper plating) → multi-pass cold drawing (cold rolling) → blank tube → heat treatment → straightening → Hydraulic test (inspection) → mark → storage.
Application field of API 5L seamless pipe:
1. Structural seamless pipes are seamless pipes used for general structures and mechanical structures.
2. The seamless pipe for fluid transportation is a general seamless pipe used to convey fluids such as water, oil, and gas.
3. Seamless pipes for low and medium pressure boilers are carbon structures used to manufacture superheated steam pipes, boiling water pipes for low and medium pressure boilers of various structures, superheated steam pipes for locomotive boilers, large smoke pipes, small smoke pipes and arch brick pipes Steel hot-rolled and cold-drawn (rolled) seamless tubes.
4. Seamless tubes for high-pressure boilers are carbon steel, alloy steel and stainless heat-resistant seamless tubes for the heating surface of water tube boilers for high pressure and above.
5. High-pressure seamless pipes for chemical fertilizer equipment are carbon structural steel and alloy steel seamless pipes suitable for chemical equipment and pipelines with a working temperature of -40~400°C and a working pressure of 10~30Ma.
6. Seamless tubes for petroleum cracking are seamless tubes for furnace tubes, heat exchangers and pipes in petroleum refineries.
7. Steel pipes for geological drilling are steel pipes used by geological departments for core drilling. According to their uses, they can be divided into drill pipes, drill collars, core pipes, casing pipes and sedimentation pipes.
8. Seamless tubes for diamond core drilling are seamless tubes for drill pipes, core rods, and casings for diamond core drilling.
9. Oil drilling pipe is a seamless pipe that is thickened internally or externally at both ends of oil drilling. There are two types of steel pipes: threaded and non-threaded. The threaded pipes are connected with joints, and the non-threaded pipes are connected with tool joints by butt welding.
10. Carbon steel seamless pipes for ships
China Classification Society Material and Welding Rules - China Classification Society (CCS)
Det Norske Veritas (DNV) Rules - Det Norske Veritas (DNV)
Lloyd's Register (LR) Specifications - Lloyd's Register (LR)
Germanischer Lloyd (GL) Specifications - Germanischer Lloyd (GL)
American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) Specifications - American Bureau of Shipping (ABS)
Bureau Veritas (BV) Rules - Bureau Veritas (BV)
Italian Register of Shipping (RINA) Regulations - Italian Register of Shipping (RINA)
Nippon Kyokai (NK) Specifications - Nippon Kyokai (NK)
It is a carbon steel seamless pipe used in the manufacture of Class I pressure-resistant piping systems, Class II pressure-resistant piping systems, boilers and superheaters. The working temperature of the carbon steel seamless pipe wall does not exceed 450°C, and the working temperature of the alloy steel seamless pipe wall exceeds 450°C.
11. Seamless pipes for automobile half-shaft casings are hot-rolled seamless pipes of carbon structural steel and alloy structural steel for the manufacture of automobile half-shaft casings and drive axle casing shaft pipes.
12. High-pressure oil pipes for diesel engines are cold-drawn seamless pipes used to manufacture high-pressure pipes for diesel engine injection systems.
13. Precision inner diameter seamless tubes for hydraulic and pneumatic cylinders are cold-drawn or cold-rolled precision seamless tubes with precise inner diameters for the manufacture of hydraulic and pneumatic cylinders.
14. Cold-drawn or cold-rolled precision seamless tubes are cold-drawn or cold-rolled precision seamless tubes with high dimensional accuracy and good surface finish for mechanical structures and hydraulic equipment. The use of precision seamless pipes to manufacture mechanical structures or hydraulic equipment can greatly save machining hours, improve material utilization, and help improve product quality.
15. Structural stainless steel seamless pipes are hot-rolled (extruded, expanded) and cold-drawn stainless steel pipes and structural parts and parts widely used in chemical, petroleum, textile, medical, food, machinery and other industries. (rolled) seamless pipe.
16. Stainless steel seamless pipes for fluid transportation are hot-rolled (extruded, expanded) and cold-drawn (rolled) seamless pipes made of stainless steel for fluid transportation.
17. Special-shaped seamless pipe is a general term for seamless pipes with cross-sectional shapes other than round pipes. According to the shape and size of the cross-section of the steel pipe, it can be divided into special-shaped seamless pipes with equal wall thickness (code-named D), special-shaped seamless pipes with different wall thickness (code-named BD), and variable-diameter special-shaped seamless pipes (code-named BJ). Special-shaped seamless pipes are widely used in various structural parts, tools and mechanical parts. Compared with round pipes, special-shaped pipes generally have a larger moment of inertia and section modulus, and have greater bending and torsion resistance, which can greatly reduce the structural weight and save steel.
18. Seamless steel pipes for low-temperature pipelines are seamless steel pipes for low-temperature pressure vessel pipes of -45°C to -195°C grades and low-temperature heat exchanger pipes.
Go here to learn more about " ASTM Standards for Steel Pipes, Tubes and Fittings"
