Technology

Material Selection in Oil & Gas Industries A Rational Approach

With every operator closely monitoring bottomlines it is fairly easy to fall into the trap of using inferior materials to construct facilities and machinery. However, structural failures can lead to much higher costs, both financially and otherwise. This article explains how the materials selection process should be carried out.

ith the recent material failures in the oil and gas industry around the world, the role of a material and corrosion engineer for the selection of suitable material had become more complex, controversial and difficult. The task had become more diverse, since now the modern engineering materials offer wide spectrum of attractive properties and viable benefits. In the earlier years or late Seventies, the process of material selections that had been confined exclusively to a Material engineer, a Metallurgist or a Corrosion Specialist have widened to day, to encompass other disciplines like process, operations, integrity etc. The material selection is no more under a single umbrella but had been an integrated team effort and multidiscipline approach. The Material or Corrosion Specialist in todays environment had to play the role of negotiator or a mediator between the conflicting interests of other peer disciplines like process, operations, concept, finance, budgeting etc. With this as back drop the current article presents various stages in the material selection process and offers a rational path for the selection towards a distinctive, focused and structured holistic approach.

the most cost effective material option for the specified operating life of the asset, bearing in mind health, safety and environmental aspects and sustainable development of the asset, technical integrity and any asset operational constrains envisaged in the operating life of the asset.

Stages of Material Selection in Oil and Gas Industries

The stages involved in material selection process can be outlined as follows: Material Selection during concept or basic engineering stage Material Selection during detail engineering stage Material Selection for failure prevention Lessons learned

What is Material Selection in Oil and Gas Industry?

The material selection in oil and gas industry by and large is the process of short listing of technically suitable material options and materials for an intended application. Further to this options , it is the process of selecting

Material Selection during Concept or Basic Engineering stage Material Selection during Concept stage basically means the investigative approach for the various available material options for the intended function and application. In this stage key factor for the material selection is an up-front activity taking into consideration operational flexibility, cost, availability or sourcing and finally the performance of the material for the intended service and application. Material and corrosion engineers specialized expertise or skills become more important as the application becomes critical like highly sour conditions, highly corrosive and aggressive fluids, high temperature and highly stressed environment etc.

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It is at this stage imperative that the material selection process becomes a inter discipline team approach rather an individualistic material and corrosion engineers choice. However some level of material selection must be made in order to proceed with the detailed design activities or engineering phase. The number and availability of material options in todays industry have grown tremendously in recent times as such the selection becomes more intricate than about few decades back. The trend with the research and development in the materials sciences will still grow and may make the selection much more complex and intriguing. It should be understood that at concept design stage the selection is broad and wide. This stage defines the options available for specific application with the available family of materials like metals, non metals, composites, plastics etc. In case an innovative and cost effective material choice is to be made from available family of options it is normally done at this stage. At times material constrains from the client or operating company or the end user may dictate the material selections as part of contractual obligation. Sourcing, financial and cost constrains at times may also limit and obstruct the material selections except for vey critical applications where the properties and technical acceptability of the material is more assertive and outweigh the cost of the material. Materials availability is another important criterion on the material selection which impacts the demanding project schedules for the technically suitable material options. Also different engineering disciplines may have different and specific requirements like constructability, maintainability etc. However a compromise shall be arrived at this stage between all the disciplines concerned to arrive at a viable economic compromise on the candidate material.

nitic Stainless Steels, Maretensitic Stainless Steels, Cast materials, Forged materials, etc. Depending on the criticality of the application at this stage the material properties, manufacturing processes, quality requirements, will be addressed to more precision level and details. Sometimes this may involve extensive material testing programs like corrosion testing, high temperature testing, simulated heat treatment testing, proof testing etc. From the Concept to Detailing stage is a progressive process from larger broad possibilities to screening to a specific material and supply conditions. At times the selection activity may involve a totally new project (Greenfield) or to an extension of existing project (Brownfield). In case of existing project, it could be necessary to check and evaluate the adequacy of the current materials and it may be necessary at times to select the material with enhanced properties. The candidate material shall normally be investigated for more details in terms of cost, performance, fabricability, availability and any requirements of additional testing etc in the detail engineering stage.

Material Selection for Failure Prevention Lessons Learned

Material selection and the sustainability of material to prevent any failure during the life of the component is the final selection criterion in the selection process. Failure is defined as an event where the material or the component that did not accomplish the intended function or the application. In most of the cases the material failure is attributed to the selection of wrong material for the particular application. Hence the review and analysis of the failure forms very important aspect in the material selection process to avert any similar failures of the material in future. The failure analysis or the Lessons Learned may not always result in better material and may at times study and consider the steps to reduce the impact on the factors that caused the failure. A typical example would be to introduce the chemical inhibition system in the process to mitigate corrosion of the material or to carry out a post weld heat treatment to minimize the residual stresses in the material which has led to the stress corrosion cracking failure.

Material Selection during Detail Engineering Stage Materials selection during the Detail design stage becomes more focused and specific. The material selection process narrows down to a small group or family of materials say Carbon Steels, Stainless Steels, Duplex Stainless steels, Inconels or Incoloys etc. In the detail design stage it singles down to a single material and others conditions of supply like Auste-

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IF EVERYTHING SEEMS TO BE GOING WELL- YOU HAVE OBIVIOUSLY OVERLOOKED SOME THING .Murphys Law

An exhaustive review and study of the existing material that failed , inadequacy checks, quality levels imposed on the failed materials is required before an alternate and different material is selected for the application. The importance of the failure analysis cannot be undermined in view of the spate of many failures in recent times in the oil and gas industries. The results of failure analysis and study will provide very valuable information to guide the material selection process and can serve as input for the recommendation in the concept and design stages of the project. It strengthens and reinforces the material selections process with sound back-up information.

Conclusion
There had been ever growing necessity for review and analyze the new and suitable materials, process designs, and new technologies in the oil and gas industries. Advances in material sciences and material processing had offered wide range of material choices which are erstwhile not available to the industry. This had made the process of material selection more complex, diverse and challenging. A careful study, review and analysis is much more important for proper material selection meeting the demanding situations and perform well. To maintain the integrity of the asset and provide a safe, healthy working environment in the industry it is always a welcome event to have the material selection as holistic team approach rather than individualistic metallurgist s or corrosion specialPP ist s choice.

Material Recommendations for Pipelines

Some of the relevantly used materials for the pipelines in the Middle East region are indicated for information and guidance In the Table below. The recommendations are general in nature and each project or the pipeline is to be studied in detail case by case as regards the operating conditions, fluid compositions etc before any final selections. Also other considerations like the total length of the pipeline, above or below ground installation, nature of the pipeline like export line or processing line etc to be taken into consideration during the detail engineering phase.

This publication thanks Mr. Nalli. K, Tebodin & Partners LLC, Oman, for providing this article.

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