It can be a long road, and the sky is unlikely to fall
Some issues were resolved with relative ease. The stakeholders unanimously agreed that girth welds in high-pressure pipelines in class 3 and class 4 locations require 100% volumetric inspection and that testing should follow state-of-the-art guidance, including fracture testing to ASTM E1820 under representative conditions and at the correct loading rate. Other issues, such as determining the maximum allowable hardness level and the need for testing according to ASTM E1681, were more contentious and took many months of discussion and revisions.
Perhaps the most significant change involved transitioning from the qualification options A and B in ASME B31.12 to a low and high-stress design approach. The latter employs an Engineering Critical Assessment (ECA) to ensure a safe and practical design, allowing the use of higher-strength grades that are already employed in natural gas and sour service pipelines.
Socrates once said, “The wisest man is the man who knows he doesn’t know everything.” Recognizing the use of ASME B31.8 across North America and around the world and acknowledging the efforts completed and progressing elsewhere, we sent the draft document to other stakeholders outside the immediate EFI team. This included members from the Future Fuels Cooperative Research Centre in Australia, the European Pipeline Research Group, API 1104 and API 5L hydrogen task groups, the ASME B31.12 international working group, and many more. After six months of work, we were proud of the draft – only to receive over three hundred comments. Initially disheartening, I soon realized this was not a failure, and the sky was not falling; it was an opportunity to refine and improve the document. The feedback – challenging technical content and suggesting structural or language changes – allowed us to enhance the guidance’s clarity, flow, and usability, which are crucial for industry codes.
Patience: Not my superpower, but a valuable skill
The project presented numerous opportunities to practice patience. As project lead, I often felt like the “chief cat herder,” trying to bring together experts with diverse views on the best approach. It is amazing how much discussion can be had about acceptable hardness levels and how many times we flip-flopped on what the value should be – we landed on 275 HV10. The project tested my patience (as I am sure it did others), but fortunately, the collaboration was so exciting and the technical content so interesting that keeping energy levels high was not a problem. We delivered the remit on time, even if I had to be a little more patient than usual.
Collaboration bridges gaps
It was clear that no single individual holds all the answers, even within a team of experts. Even with a large group of exceptional minds, finding a perfect solution may not be possible. Collaboration plays a key role in advancing the industry and fostering learning. We can still learn from others even when we are experts in certain areas. Everyone can bring something to the table. Our European colleagues shared their advanced experience building hydrogen infrastructure, something we did not have in the US. Through wide-reaching collaboration, we were able to develop consensus guidance on critical issues such as material testing for new and repurposed pipelines and weld procedure qualifications. As I write this, we are still resolving challenges with fatigue crack growth curves and the inclusion of residual stress in fatigue analysis. But with patience and continued collaboration, we will get there.
These collaborations are critical for building networks across operators, service providers, research institutions, and regulators. They open endless opportunities for the industry to work together in the future. As we continue to collaborate, we build a web of contacts that can help solve problems more effectively. In the future, when faced with a challenge, I might be able to reach out to dozens, even hundreds, of experts through these networks.
If you would like to read more and look at the Consensus Engineering Requirements, they are available on the PRCI website for free at PRCI.
ROSEN would like to thank all the collaborators who worked tirelessly on the PRCI project and ASME submission. Without the combined energy of all involved we would never have got this far.