There also have been, until very recently, no published guidelines from the American Petroleum Institute (API) for procuring or specifying AM materials. This creates a digital inventory challenge similar to the current physical inventory one that O&G operators are already dealing with. What’s more, a print file set up on one AM machine cannot be used on another machine - sometimes, even if both machines are the same make and model - without user intervention the result can be an ever-changing file based on individual machine calibration. Additionally, data from throughout the printing process is often unavailable, and it can be critical in assessing the finished quality of a part. Often these systems also require parts to be significantly re-designed in order to be printable. Most of the established metal-AM technologies require extensive knowledge of printing parameter development, which can be a labor-intensive process and may result in challenges to adapt efficiently and rapidly to changing geometries and design features. Still, there remain some significant obstacles to widespread adoption of AM in the O&G industry. Not surprisingly, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to the industry also are looking to AM as, along with their operator-customers, they evolve to achieve more efficient, cost-effective solutions to inventory and geographic roadblocks. O&G operators have become increasingly open to considering metal additive manufacturing (AM, aka 3D printing) as an answer to such challenges. How can you reliably and quickly provide critical parts to distant and remote locations unless you have stockpiles of inventory at every one?ĪM potential… and obstacles. As a result, reliability problems continue and, in some cases may worsen over time.Ĭompounding these issues, many sites are located in remote or difficult-to-access locations - offshore, the Arctic - that make service and field support problematic. Opportunities to upgrade a component design or materials as operating requirements change, or next-generation designs are introduced, are limited at best. Historically, O&G operations have had to implement expensive inventory programs because average manufacturing lead times are incompatible with operational needs, to avoid the risk of an extended shutdown: parts needed from inventory often are the same ones selected when the operations was first designed, and replacements may no longer be available from the manufacturer. Critical process-control components inevitability fail under the stresses of the high pressure, severe service conditions in the O&G environment. Keeping oil-and-gas processing operations running smoothly is widely acknowledged to be among the toughest challenges in any industry.
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