NACE MR0175/ISO 15156 Parts 1 and 2 and NACE MR0103/ISO 17954

Carbon and Low Alloy Steel Materials for Sour Service

Date: TBD
Earn: 32 CPD hours


Available as In-House Training Course

This 4-day training course is only available for delivery as in-house training of your company's staff. For more information, please complete the In-House Training Request Form.

Who Should Attend

Engineers, testing lab technologists and technicians, inspectors, equipment designers, steel manufacturers, distributors, and maintenance personnel who are involved in designing, fabricating, manufacturing, supplying, operating, maintaining, repairing, and inspecting oil field and refinery equipment in sour service by using NACE MR0175/ISO 15156 and NACE MR0103/ISO 17954. This course will assist personnel performing API 579 and API RP 581 evaluations.

Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Hours

Participants will receive a digital CASTI Certificate of Completion, awarding 32 CPD hours, for attending all 4 days of the scheduled training. Note: CPD (Continuing Professional Development) hours are equivalent to PDH (Professional Development Hours).

Course Outline

General Introduction
  • introduction to NACE Material Requirements Standards
  • history of MR0175 development
  • overview of MR0175/ISO 15156 (Parts 1, 2, and 3), NACE MR0103/ISO 17954, TM0177, and TM0284 including how they work together
NACE MR0175/ISO 15156 Part 1
  • overview of Part 1 - General Principles for Selection of Cracking-Resistant Materials
  • evaluation of definition of service conditions
  • listed (pre-qualified) materials
Introduction to Carbon and Alloy Steel Metallurgy
  • introduction to carbon steel metallurgy, including terms and definitions in ASTM A941
  • using the Fe-Fe3C phase diagram in practical terms
  • using continuous cooling transformation diagrams to predict undesirable steel conditions for sour service
  • common heat treatments for carbon and alloy steels
  • classification of steels - UNS, ASTM, ASME, SAE (AISI), API, EN, and how they are used within NACE MR0175/ISO 15156
  • detailed discussion of the misnomers and slang terms used to described steels
  • review of several commonly used ASTM steel standards, such as A105, A106, A333, A516, and others
    • chemical compositions
    • mechanical properties
    • heat treatments
    • hardness requirements
    • supplementary requirements
  • material test reports
    • review of sample A105, A106, A333, and A516 material test reports
    • understanding the importance of material test report data and evaluation for meeting NACE MR0175/ISO 15156 and NACE MR0103/ISO 17954
    • using material test reports to make critical purchasing decisions
  • brief introduction to the weldability of carbon and alloy steels for wet H2S service
    • defining the weld in metallurgical terms
    • understanding the weld heat affected zones (HAZs)
    • use of carbon equivalence formulas
H2S Related Damage Mechanisms
  • introduction to H2S cracking mechanisms addressed in NACE MR0175/ISO 15156 including
    • sulfide stress cracking, stress corrosion cracking, hydrogen-induced cracking
    • stepwise cracking, stress-oriented hydrogen induced cracking, soft zone cracking
    • and galvanically induced hydrogen stress cracking
  • description of affected materials, critical factors, affected units or equipment appearance or morphology of damage, prevention/mitigation, inspection and monitoring
NACE MR0175/ISO 15156 Part 2
  • qualification and selection of carbon and alloy steels for sour service
    • defining sour service environment (H2S partial pressure vs. pH)
    • regions of environmental sensitivity (Figure 1 in MR0175/ISO 15156 Part 2)
    • determination of H2S partial pressure and pH (Annex C and D)
  • overview of Annex A
    • SSC-resistant carbon and alloy steels
    • maximum acceptable hardness values
    • applications to specific product forms (pipe, plate, fittings, bolting, etc.)
  • purchasing materials for sour service
    • information to be supplied for material purchasing (Part 2 Annex E)
    • material test reports (MTRs) - what they really mean and how they should be used to qualify and purchase steels within MR0175/ISO 15156
Hardness Test Methods and Related ASTM and ISO Standards
  • bench hardness testing
    • ASTM E10 and ISO 6506-1 (Brinell)
    • ASTM E18 and ISO 6508-1 (Rockwell)
    • ASTM E384 and ISO 6507-1 (Vickers)
    • ASTM E110 (Portable Hardness Testers)
    • ASTM E384 (Microindentation)
  • portable hardness testing
    • ASTM A833 (Telebrineller)
    • ASTM A956 (Leeb, Equotip, others)
    • ASTM A1038 (Microdur - MIC)
  • converting hardness test values to other scales: ASTM E140 and EN ISO 18265
NACE MR0175/ISO 15156 Part 3
  • Part 3 and CRAs will not be covered in this course
NACE Test Methods for Sour Service
  • overview of NACE TM0177 and TM0284
  • SCC laboratory testing for sour service (Part 2 Tables B.1, B.2, and B.3)
  • example test reports and applications of both test methods will be discussed
CSA and API Codes
  • brief introduction of navigating (locating) the sour service requirements for pipeline steels covered in CSA Z662, Z245.x, API 5L, and API 1104
NACE MR0103/ISO 17954
  • roadmap to NACE MR0103/ISO 17954 (Table 1)
  • carbon, alloy, and stainless steel material requirements, including P-No. hardness
  • nonferrous material requirements
  • fabrication requirements (welding, cladding, stamping, threading)
  • bolting requirements
  • plating, coating and diffusion processes
  • special component requirements (bearings, springs, instrumentation, etc.)
  • valve requirements
  • compressor and pump requirements
Limitations of NACE MR0175/ISO 15156 and NACE MR0103/ISO 17954
  • discussion of why hardness testing, laboratory testing, and NACE MR0175/ISO 15156 may not be sufficient to predict suitable application of materials for the intended sour service conditions
Interpretations Workshop
  • interpretation exercises will provide each participant with practical working knowledge of NACE MR0175/ISO 15156 and NACE MR0103/ISO 17954. Subsequent to each workshop exercise, the official interpretation published by ISO and NACE will be discussed in detail to better understand the intent of the

Learning Outcomes

Participants will be able to gain an understanding of general principles for selection of cracking-resistant materials used in H2S-containing environments in oil and gas production where the failure of such equipment could pose a risk to the health and safety of the public and personnel or to the environment as described in NACE MR0175/ISO 15156 and for refineries as described in NACE MR0103/ISO 17954. This will be achieved by clarifying the responsibilities of the equipment user, manufacturer, and supplier as defined in NACE MR0175/ISO 15156 and NACE MR0103/ISO 17954 aided by studying basic steel metallurgy, H2S related damage mechanisms, hardness test methods, steel standards. To assist with these objectives, a brief introduction to H2S-environment cracking test methods NACE TM0177 and TM0284 will be covered.


Learning Assessment

Learning self-assessment is performed through discussions, problem solving exercises, and workshops.

Required Code Documents

All participants must have a copy of NACE MR0175/ISO 15156 and NACE MR0103/ISO 17954.

Course Notebook

A digital course notebook will be provided to all participants by CASTI (printed hardcopy not available).

About the Instructor

John E. Bringas, P.Eng. is the President and Founder of Codes and Standards Training Institute (CASTI) and CASTI Publishing Inc. He is a professional engineer who has practiced metallurgical and materials engineering, and inspection since 1975. He has also been certified as an API 510, 570, 653, 571, 577, and 580 inspector, an AWS Certified Welding Inspector, an Alberta In-Service Pressure Vessel Inspector and Welding Examiner, and CGSB certified NDE examiner in UT and RT. He is a long-time committee member of ASTM A01 Steels, A05 Coated Steels, B02 Nonferrous Alloys, E04 Metallography, E28 Mechanical Testing, F42 Additive Manufacturing, J01 ASTM/NACE Committee on Corrosion, NACE STG 31 Oil and Gas Production—Corrosion and Scale Inhibition, STG 32 Oil and Gas Production-Metallurgy, STG 34 Petroleum Refining and Gas Processing, STG 35 Pipelines, Tanks, and Well Casings, STG 39 Process Industries—Materials Applications and Experiences, and past Canadian Representative on ISO TC 17-SC 4 (Steels). He is the author of the ASTM Handbook of Comparative World Steel Standards, ASTM Handbook of Steel Data: American and European, ASTM Passport to Steel Database, and the CASTI Metals Data Books. Mr. Bringas has engineering work experience in the steel making, foundry, consulting (failure analysis), inspection, NDE, refinery, pipeline, and petrochemical industries.