Pump users and consultants often formulate their own specifications for the purchase of centrifugal pumps for refinery and petrochemical projects. These specifications are normally prepared with supplements or addenda to the widely used ANSI/API 610 standard1 published by the American Petroleum Institute (API).
Such additions can restrict the selection choice, resulting in the purchase of a pump with a higher life cycle cost (LCC) and changes in plant piping layout. The rejected manufacturers find their offers are rejected for no sensible technical reasons. The drawbacks of some of the frequently used additions are discussed with suggested resolutions.
The typical cases discussed indicate that some of the additions to the basic API 610 standard1 can ultimately prove costly to the user.
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