Standards Development

Scope

This document gives general principles, specifies requirements and gives recommendations for the assessment of the stability of nonmetallic materials for service in equipment used in oil and gas exploration and production environments.

This information aids in material selection. It can be applied to help avoid costly degradation failures of the equipment itself, which could pose a risk to the health and safety of the public and personnel or the environment. This document also provides guidance for quality assurance. It supplements but does not replace, the material requirements given in the appropriate design codes, standards or regulations. This document addresses the resistance of thermosets to the deterioration in properties that can be caused by physical or chemical interaction with produced and injected oil and gas-field media, and with chemical treatment. Interaction with sunlight and ionizing radiation are excluded from the scope of this document.

This document is not necessarily suitable for application to equipment used in refining or downstream processes and equipment. The equipment considered includes, but is not limited to, non-metallic pipelines, piping, liners, seals, gaskets and washers. Blistering by rapid gas decompression is not included in the scope of this document.

This document applies to the assessment of the stability of non-metallic materials in simulated hydrocarbon production conditions to aid the selection of materials for equipment designed and constructed using conventional design criteria. Designs utilizing other criteria are excluded from its scope.

This part of ISO 23936 describes the requirements and procedures for qualification of thermoset material used in equipment for oil and gas production including short fibre filled or particle filled resins excluding continuous fibre reinforced composites. Applications for short term exposure include pump-down plugs, bridge plug components, line wiper plugs, balls, setting tools and fracking tools. Applications for long term exposure include bearings and washers.

This document excludes tubular products, tanks and similar items produced from continuous fibre reinforced materials. 

Purpose

Consider the following: Is there a verified market need for the proposal? What problem does this standard solve? What value will the document bring to end-users? See also Annex C of the ISO/IEC Directives part 1. Non-metallic materials are used in the petroleum, petrochemical and natural gas industries for a wide range of components.

The purpose of this document is to establish requirements and guidelines for systematic and effective planning, for non-metallic material selection to achieve cost effective technical solutions, taking into account possible constraints due to safety and/or environmental issues. This document will be of benefit to a broad industry group ranging from operators and suppliers to engineers and authorities. It covers relevant generic types of non-metallic material and includes the widest range of existing technical experience. Coatings are excluded from the scope of this document.

This document complements the document for metallic materials in sour service (ISO 15156 series). It differs in the form of guidance provided to the user related to the potential degradation of desired properties when used in equipment for oil and gas production environments. The ISO 15156 series provides application limits and qualification requirements for metallic materials in H2S-containing environments which are related solely to relevant environmentally assisted cracking mechanisms. This document provides general principles, requirements and recommendations for the assessment of nonmetallic materials’ comparative stability to aid selection and quality assurance. The document recognizes that a wider range of compounds and parameters influence the degradation of non metallic materials and thus provides guidance to permit selection of materials for oil and gas exploration and production applications based upon stability in appropriate test conditions. This document applies to the assessment of the stability of non-metallic materials in simulated oil and gas production conditions to aid the selection of materials for equipment designed and constructed.