API Standard 610

(Centrifugal Pumps for Petroleum,

Petrochemical and Natural Gas
Industries)

Presentation by:
Mohsen Eshaghi
 • What is Standard and why we need standards?
• Scope of API 610
• Types of Pumps
• Basic Design
Table of • General
• Pressure Casings
Content • Rotors & Vibrations
• Bearings, Lubrication, Material, Nameplate & Arrows
• Accessories
• Drivers, Coupling & Guards, Baseplates
• Instrumentation, Piping
• Inspection, Testing, Shipment
What is standard & why
we need it?
• Standard is an agreed documented way of
doing something, made by refined wisdom of
people with expertise in subject matter
• They provide reliable basis for people to share
same expectation about a product/service that
helps facilitate trade and resolve conflicts

Scope of API 610

API 610 standard covers the minimum design,
testing, dynamics, and metallurgical
requirements for mechanically sealed centrifugal
pumps and hydraulic power recovery turbines
Types of Pumps
General Design
• Service life 20 years
• Purchaser will specify operating conditions in data
sheet (Annexure-N) including process fluid that
could be corrosive/erosive
• Pump shall be operatable at normal and rated
Operating Conditions
• 5% head raise attainable by changing impeller dia.
• Pump can operate at max sync. speed
General Design
• Vendor will tell NPSH at < 50c and
rated flow & speed
• Stable H/Q pumps are preferred.
• Compliance to sound level as per
ISO-3740 etc.
General Design
• Method of cooling to be agreed b/w vendor
and purchaser (fan cooling will be given
priority)
• Min. temp of cooling water inlet > ambient
air temp.
• Provision of jacket cleaning
• Provision of drain and vent cooling system
• Equipment, piping, auxiliary arrangement
should be joint decision
• Arrangement shall support space for safe
O&M.
 Pressure Casings
• Pressure casing shall operate without
leakage
• Maximum discharge pressure shall be
max. suction plus diff. pressure
• Casing’s minimum corrosion allowance
shall be 3mm
• Jackscrew be provided to facilitate
disassembly of casing
• Internal bolting be corrosion resistant
Pressure Casing
• No contact between rotary and stationary
part
• Tensile strength of casing be less than or
equal to 0.25*ultimate-strength or
0.67*yield-strength
• Radially split casing be provided in any of
these conditions
✓ Operating Temp > 200c
✓ Relative Density < 0.7
✓ Rated discharge gauge Pressure > 10 MPa
 Rotor
• Rotor shall be a single piece (forged, casted etc.)
• Impeller should not be pinned to shaft but keyed
• Shaft should be machined/finished throughout
the length to keep TIR < 25 µm
• Shaft’s vibration sensing probe be
✓ concentric with bearing journal
✓ Free from surface discontinuity
• Shaft shall be demagnetized as per ANSI 670
• Melting point of impeller’s material should be
✓ Greater than 260c for cast-iron casing
✓ Greater than 540c for cast-steel casing
 Vibration
• During performance test, vibration be
measured b/w 50Hz-1000Hz and plotted
• At any speed > max. cont. speed, vibration
shall not exceed 150% of vibrations at max.
cont. speed
• Vibration measuring points are shown in
standard for different types of pumps
 Bearing and Bearing
Housing
• Each shaft shall be supported by two radial
bearing and one double acting axial (thrust)
bearing
• If water cooling is required, cooling coil are
preferred, coils shall be of non-ferrous material
or austenitic stainless steel. Tubes should have
minimum 1mm thickness and 12mm outside
dia.
• Bearing housing shall be designed to prevent
moisture contamination and foreign particle
ingression without requirement of internal
service
• Bearing housing shall be equipped with
replaceable labyrinth or magnetic end seals. Lip
seal shall not be used. Seal should be of spark
resistant material
Lubrication
• Unless otherwise specified, bearing and bearing
housing shall be lubricated using mineral oil
• The O&M manual shall specify how lubrication
system works
• If specified, rolling element bearing shall be grease
lubricated in accordance with:
✓ Grease life be specified by manufacturer
✓ Don’t use grease lubrication if grease life is less
than 2000 hrs.
✓ For grease life b/w 2K to 2.5K hours, provision
be made of regreasing the bearing and
effective discharge of old grease as per the
greasing interval told by manufacturer
Materials
• Purchaser will specify material class for pump
parts. Table G.1 (attached) tells appropriate
material classes for various services
• Material specs. of all gaskets and O-rings
exposed to liquid shall be mentioned in
proposal
• Vendor shall specify optional tests and
inspection procedures, that are necessary to
ensure material is satisfactory for service.
Purchaser shall specify if any additional tests
are needed
• Coating type shall be agreed b/w vendor &
purchaser shall be applied to impellers and
wetted parts
 Materials
• If reduced hardness materials are
specified, following component, as
minimum, shall have reduced hardness:
Pressure casing, shafting, mechanical
seal components, wetted bolting, bowls
• Surface of casting shall be cleaned by
any method to meet visual requirement
of MSS SP-5
• Welding and weld repair shall follow the
standards of table 11 attached
Nameplate & Arrows
• Nameplate securely attached at readily visible
location
• Rotation arrows shall be cast/attached to each
major rotating equipment
• Name plate shall be stamped with following
info. in units consistent with the data sheet
✓ Purchaser’s item no., vendor size & model
no., pump serial no., bearing manufacturer
no.
✓ Rated flow, head, speed, casing hydrostatic
pressure, MAWP
 Drivers
• Driver shall meet max. OCs and should
accommodate process variations such as:
pressure, temperature, liquid properties
• Purchaser shall specify type of motor, its
characteristic, accessories including starting
conditions, casing, sound level, IEC area
classification, temperature detector,
vibration sensor etc.
• Steam turbine drivers shall be sized to
deliver cont. 110% of pump rated power at
normal steam conditions
 Coupling & Guards
• Coupling & Guard b/w driver & driven shall
be supplied and fixed by vendor
• Coupling’s flexible element shall be of
corrosion free material
• Coupling guard shall be removeable
without disturbing the coupling element
 Baseplates
• Single piece drain-pan baseplates shall be
furnished for horizontal pumps
• Baseplate shall extend under the pump and
drive train components so that any leakage
is contained within the baseplate
• Transverse and axial alignment jackscrew
be provided for drive train component >
225kg
Instrumentation &
Auxiliary Piping
• For equipment with hydrodynamic bearing,
provision shall be made for mounting two radial
vibration probes in each bearing housing, two
axial vibration probes at thrust end of each
machine
• Temperature indicator and pressure gauge shall
comply with ISO-10438 and accelerometer shall
comply with API-614
• Auxiliary system piping includes cooling water,
lubricant, process-liquids, steam line, drain, vents,
flushing lines, external fluid injection lines,
balance lines
• Piping components shall have pressure-temp
rating at least equal to MAWP and shall have
corrosion/erosion resistance
Special Tools
• If special tools/fixtures are required to
assemble, disassemble or maintain the unit,
they shall be included in quotation and part of
initial supply
• For multiple unit installation, quantities of
special tools/fixtures be agreed b/w vendor and
purchaser
• If special tools are provided, they shall be
packaged in separate, rugged metal boxes and
marked “special tools for (tag/item number)”
Inspection & Testing
• If shop inspection and testing have been
specified, the purchaser and vendor shall
coordinate manufacturer’s hold points and
inspector’s visits
• Equipment, material and utilities for the
specified inspections and tests shall be provided
by vendor
• Vendor shall keep following data available for 20
years. Material certifications, test results, quality
control tests, as-build running clearances etc.
• If specified, at least six weeks before first
running test, vendor shall submit to the
purchaser the test procedures for review and
comments
Inspection & Testing
• Mechanical seals should not be used during
hydrostatic test, but should be used during all
running and performance tests
• All pressure casing components shall be
hydrostatically tested as assemblies at 1.5*MAWP
• Hydrostatic tests shall be considered if no
leakages/seepage occur with in 30 min. test. Any
areas machined after this test shall be identified on
hydrostatic test report
• Vibration values shall be recorded at all test points
except shutoff
• If pump is disassembled for any reason, previous
test shall not be acceptable, new test to be done
Shipment
• Domestic shipment preparation shall make
equipment suitable for outdoor storage for at
least 6 months
• Rotors shall be blocked if necessary and blockage
be identified by corrosion resistant tags
• Bearing assembly shall be fully protected from
entry of dust/moisture
• Crated equipment shall be shipped with duplicate
packing list, one inside and one outside of
container and copy of installation manual
• Suitable rust preventatives shall be oil-soluble
and compatible with all pumping liquids