API SIFE case studies
API SIFE · Put your knowledge to work in context.
The API Source Inspector – Fixed Equipment (SIFE) credential belongs to the American Petroleum Institute's Individual Certification Programs (ICP), the personnel-certification family API lists among its Global Industry Services. It is intended for inspectors who act on behalf of the purchaser at a fabricator's shop, confirming that pressure vessels, heat exchangers, piping, valves, and fittings are built to the governing code and to the buyer's specification before release and shipment. The exam is organised around the life of a source inspection assignment: surveillance planning and the inspector's roles and duties; materials, welding, and fabrication processes; non-destructive examination and pressure testing; the construction of fixed equipment; and codes, standards, documentation, and release of equipment. Each area carries substantial weight, so a candidate cannot pass on strength in one alone. The API SIFE case studies are 5 cases and about 3,449 words.
1Hydrostatic Test Performed With No Inspector Present
You are the owner's source inspector for a shop building 14 identical ASME Section VIII Division 1 vessels (SA-516 Gr. shell, design 300 psi at 350 F).
715 words, about 4 min2Procedure Qualification Stretched to a Thicker, Impact-Tested Shell
You are reviewing weld qualification records at a shop fabricating an LPG storage vessel to ASME Section VIII Division 1. The shell is SA-516 Gr.
718 words, about 4 min3Hydrostatic Test Run With the Wrong Gauge and Cold Water
You are witnessing the hydrostatic test of a new vertical vessel: SA-516 Gr. shell, design pressure 300 psi at 400 F, MDMT 20 F, with no impact testing required by the toughness exemption curves.
744 words, about 4 min4Leaking Tube-to-Tubesheet Joints on a New Exchanger
A shell-and-tube exchanger, TEMA type AES, is being built for a refinery. The shell is SA-516 Gr.
506 words, about 3 min5A Release Package That Does Not Agree With Itself
The manufacturer's data report package for a horizontal vessel arrives for your review before release: U-1A form, nameplate rubbing, material test certificates, WPS/PQR records, radiography reports and films, PWHT chart, and hydrotest record. You find four problems.
766 words, about 4 min