a bit about the API RP 687

I will begin with American Petroleum Institute (API) 687, because its first edition was just hot off the press when I joined the world of rotating equipment repairs.

I had no idea what this document was or where it came from. I had just finished school and had commenced my engineering career.

I remember hearing John East and Bob Eisenmann ruminating about it down the hallways of the engineering department.

I learned quickly that Mr. East and Mr. Eisenmann had both contributed to its contents and that this document was full of expert opinions, compromises, and even some disagreements.

Twenty years later I had the honor of being in their shoes, participating in the task force that was reviewing the second edition of API 687. That experience helped me understand much more about this work, how it comes together and what it represents.

The seed that led to the creation of the American Petroleum Institute was planted during WWI. The petroleum industry and government had joined forces to look after critical petroleum supplies to support the war effort. The API was formally established in 1919 as a trade organization following the war.

Its main interests were:

• facilitating collaboration with the government on national issues

• boosting trade in American petroleum products

• advocating for the overall interests of the petroleum industry

• advancing the professional development of its members while promoting research in the fields of natural gas and oil

Today API is the leading authority in setting standards for various aspects of the oil and gas industry, including guidelines for design, manufacture, installation, and maintenance of rotating equipment like pumps, compressors, and steam turbines.

Although API has been around for more than a hundred years, it seems they actively started publishing in 1966, or, at least, that is how far back their online catalogue extends.

Table 1 API Publications per year

Note: Created from the API digital catalogue (https://www.api.org/products-and-services/standards/digital-catalog#exploration)

The API publishes a variety of document types, ranging from Bulletins and Standards to Technical Reports and Recommended Practices. 

Table 2 API Document Types

Row Labels	Count of Type
Bulletin	20
Publication	173
Recommended Practice	287
Specification	83
Standard	99
Technical Report	72
General	160
Grand Total	894

Note: Created from the API digital catalogue (https://www.api.org/products-and-services/standards/digital-catalog#exploration)

In total, API has produced 894 publications, which are available on their online store.

Recommended practices are written by taskforces made up of professionals from API member companies. The composition of each task force varies depending on the topic or issue being addressed. Individuals are selected based on their expertise, experience, and relevance to the subject matter, while maintaining a healthy blend of perspectives by enlisting members of Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs), End Users, and Service Providers.

So, this explains why John East, a long-time member of Chevron and Jedi Master of Rotating Equipment, and Bob Eisenmann Sr., a pioneer of machinery diagnostics with Don Bently of Bently Nevada, were both working with other Industry Greats on API 687.

API 687, 1st Edition was originally published in September 2001. It constituted a “Recommended Practices” for Rotor Repairs used in turbomachinery.

As the title suggests, the topic covered was only recommended practices for Rotor Repairs.

It must be noted that this document is not a standard, nor a law, nor a strict set of rules that must be followed. It is the work of a task force of engineers that tried to harmonize a set of recommendations, and several manufacturers and service companies may make exceptions to its claims. There may be more evaluation and repair processes available in the industry, and companies may have a varying set of competencies, their own standards, and even trade secrets which they are not able to share openly.

In the end, when an equipment owner is evaluating repair alternatives through sound engineering, there should always be clear communication between all parties.

The first edition of API 687 had 479 pages and the following chapters:

Table 3 API RP 687 First Edition Table of Contents

Chapter	Title
Chapter 1	Rotor Repair
Chapter 2	Special Purpose Centrifugal Compressors
Chapter 3	Special Purpose Axial Compressors
Chapter 4	Special Purpose Steam Turbines
Chapter 5	Special Purpose Gears
Chapter 6	Special Purpose Expanders
Chapter 7	Positive Displacement Rotary Screw Type Compressors

Each chapter covers definitions and references many other documents, such as various other API publications, ASTM standards, and mil specs, to name a few.

The first chapter contains general guidelines on how to select a service partner, as well as the responsibilities for each party.

The process for how to carry incoming equipment inspections is well described and has been fairly harmonized throughout all the turbomachinery repair industry.

In each subsequent chapter, the task force dove into each equipment type.

Twenty or so years after the first edition, the task force took the challenge of reviewing the document so that a second edition could be published. The new document would also attempt to cover recommendations for repairs of stationary components, which added approximately two hundred pages and a title change to: Special-Purpose Rotating Equipment Repairs.

The current publication is missing a general table of contents for now, but is arranged as follows:

Table 4 API RP 687 Second Edition Table of Contents

Chapter	Title	starts	ends	pages
Chapter 0	Rotors And Stationary Components	8	143	136
Chapter 1	Rotors General	147	227	81
Chapter 2	Special Purpose Centrifugal Compressor Rotors	231	277	47
Chapter 3	Special Purpose Axial Compressor Rotors	281	366	86
Chapter 4	Special Purpose Steam Turbine Rotors	370	418	49
Chapter 5	Special Purpose Gears	422	451	30
Chapter 6	Special Purpose Expander Rotors	455	534	80
Chapter 7	Positive Displacement Rotary Screw Type Compressor Rotors	537	563	27
Chapter 8	Stationary Components	568	669	102

We shall dive further into these chapters in the following weeks.