API 510 Pressure Vessel Consulting

External / on-stream / internal inspection planning

Field inspection (UT, RT, PT, MT, PAUT, TOFD, WFMT)

Findings analysis + corrosion-rate and remaining-life calculation

Repair / alteration / rerating scope per ASME PCC-2

Findings hand-off to your Authorized Inspector + audit defence

What this page covers

What we deliver
Methodology

Key points covered

API 510 inspector services help owner-operators manage in-service pressure vessels under the API 510 Pressure Vessel Inspection Code (11th Edition 2022). Scope covers external + internal inspection, on-stream inspection planning, thickness surveys and corrosion-rate calculation, repair / alteration / rerating per the National Board Inspection Code (NBIC) and ASME PCC-2, and code-defensible inspection-interval setting.
All standard pressure vessels: reactors, separators, knock-out drums, towers, columns, heat exchangers (shell side), spheres, bullet tanks, accumulators, surge drums, atmospheric storage tanks (API 653 scope), high-pressure hydrocrackers, hydrotreaters, FCC overhead drums. Special expertise in hot vacuum towers (creep), cyclic-service vessels, sour-service vessels per NACE MR0175.
API 510 11th Edition 2022, ASME Section VIII Division 1 + 2, ASME Section V (NDE), API 571 (damage mechanisms), API 572 (inspection practices for pressure vessels), ASME PCC-2 (repair), NBIC (repair / alteration). NACE MR0175 / ISO 15156 (sour service), API 945 (amine units), API 939-C (cracking in caustic), API 938-A (carbamate corrosion).
Standard scope-of-work to first site visit is 5-10 business days. Emergency engagements (turnaround inspection planning, found-defect NDT characterisation, audit defence) closed inside 48 hours. Engagements are staffed with ASNT Level III NDT authority and API-code technical support.
No. Atlantis is not an API 510 Authorized Inspector and does not act as inspector of record. That role stays with your own API 510 Authorized Inspector or Authorized Inspection Agency.
Yes. We attend insurer audits (Aon, Marsh, AXA XL), state Jurisdictional inspector visits, NB-related audits, OSHA PSM RCA support. R-Stamp organisations supported during pressure-vessel repair work per the NBIC. Pre-audit gap closure, on-site audit attendance, NCR response, corrective-action close-out.
High-temperature vessels (hot vacuum towers, hydrotreaters, hydrocrackers): inspection technique selection and interpretation for the damage mechanisms credible per API 571. Sour-service vessels per NACE MR0175 — SSC / HIC / SOHIC susceptibility, in-service inspection technique selection (WFMT for HIC, TOFD / PAUT for through-wall cracks), repair welding metallurgy (low-Si carbon steel, hardness control).

API 510 pressure vessel inspection: what is examined and what the inspector receives

API 510 governs the in-service inspection, repair, alteration and rerating of pressure vessels. The code assigns the decisions to an API-certified pressure vessel inspector employed by the owner-user or an authorised inspection agency. The field examinations and the data behind those decisions are what Atlantis provides, with ASNT Level III review.

A usable API 510 inspection package answers three questions: how fast the vessel is losing metal, how long it has before it reaches the minimum required thickness, and what the code allows as the next internal, on-stream and external interval.

Thickness survey. UT thickness readings at each condition monitoring location (CML), compared with earlier campaigns to give long-term and short-term corrosion rates.
Remaining life and intervals. Remaining life on the governing rate, and the maximum internal or on-stream interval the code allows: the lesser of half the remaining life and ten years, with a shorter rule when remaining life is under four years.
Advanced UT. PAUT corrosion mapping where wall loss is localised, and PAUT or TOFD on welds where cracking mechanisms are credible.
On-stream inspection. Where the code permits on-stream inspection in place of an internal, the data is planned so the inspector can justify it.
Data for t-min and MAWP checks. Readings are reported in the form the inspector or engineer needs to check minimum required thickness and maximum allowable working pressure.

How often must a pressure vessel be inspected under API 510?

The internal or on-stream inspection interval is the lesser of half the remaining life and ten years; where remaining life is under four years, the interval can be up to the remaining life but no more than two years. External visual inspection is due within five years or the internal interval, whichever is sooner. Risk-based inspection can set different intervals once it is documented.

Can Atlantis sign our API 510 inspection?

No. The inspection is signed by your API-certified pressure vessel inspector. Atlantis supplies the examinations, Level III review and remaining-life reporting that support the inspector's decision.

What do your API 510 inspection services cover?

Pressure vessel inspection services planned and reported to API 510: the inspection plan, external and internal or on-stream inspection, thickness readings at each CML with corrosion rates and remaining life, the methods each damage mechanism needs, and a report the Authorized Inspector can use to set the next intervals. Repairs, alterations and rerating stay with the Authorized Inspector and the owner.

Plan the next vessel inspection

Work out the corrosion rate, remaining life and the maximum internal and external intervals from your own readings before the scope is written.