Kraig Shipley, P.E.

Kraig Shipley is skilled in thermal and stress finite element analysis (FEA) with emphasis on non-linear behavior such as buckling, contact, creep, plasticity, and large deformation behavior.  He has applied his FEA skills to pressure vessel nozzle designs, expansion joint designs, remaining life of high-temperature components, hot-to-cold wall transitions, corroded equipment, hot spots, FCC equipment (orifice chamber, reactor, regenerator, expansion joints, slide valves, etc.), and specialty equipment.

Kraig has extended equipment run times through fitness-for-service (FFS) evaluations using the rules of API 579 and FEA.  He has prevented premature replacement and justified increased operating conditions of high-temperature components (i.e., FCC orifice chamber grids, FCC reactor, FCC regenerator, heater tubes, tube hangers, etc.) through the application of high-temperature creep assessments.  The application of advanced fracture mechanics to create new minimum allowable temperature (MAT) curves for equipment and piping has allowed equipment start-ups/shutdowns to be optimized/reduced.  The development of a local post-weld heat treatment (PWHT) plan and the validation that the tower can structurally support itself during the PWHT has minimized the complexity and cost of required PWHT.  He has performed ASME B31.1 and B31.3 piping flexibility stress analyses evaluating piping failures, piping vibration, debottleneck design conditions, removal of expansion joints, and new piping system layouts.  Kraig has performed numerous pressure vessel and heat exchanger rerates using the ASME Sec. VIII Div. 1 and 2 design rules and FEA to justify metal loss or increased operating conditions.  Design and selection of expansion joints, piping components, specialty and commodity valves, and gaskets/packing are other areas of his expertise.  He is a prior chairman of the ASME B31.3 Design Task Group (SG-B) and a current active member of the ASME B31.3 Process Piping Code. 

Kraig has extensive experience with refinery capital projects from both the corporate and plant engineering roles.  He has supported major refinery capital projects as lead technical specialist through equipment design reviews, code interpretations, vendor evaluations, development of equipment specifications, bid reviews, pre-construction meetings, shop inspections, and supervision of field installation. He was responsible for the development of over 100 Refinery Engineering Specifications for piping and piping components and the development of over 200 piping classes and 1000 valve data sheets for U.S. and international petrochemical facilities.

Publications:

1. Kummari, S.R., Shipley, K.S., Macejko, B., Prueter, P.E., Evans, G., Jamal, N., “Establishing Fracture Mechanics Based Minimum Allowable Temperatures for Low Temperature Applications of ASME B31.3 Piping,” PVP2018-84797, Proceedings of the ASME Pressure Vessels and Piping Division Conference, Prague, Czech Republic, 2018.
2. Shipley, K.S., Leta, J.V., “Pipeline Metal Loss Evaluations per API-579 Fitness-For-Service,” NACE Corrosion Risk Management Conference, Paper 12095, Houston, TX, 2018.
3. Prueter, P.E., Macejko, B, Shipley, K.S., Smith, K.J., “Commentary on Recent Changes in ASME B31.3 Post Weld Heat Treatment Requirements and the Effectiveness of Weld Preheat,” PVP2017-65859, Proceedings of the ASME Pressure Vessels and Piping Conference, Waikoloa, HI, 2017.
4. Osage, D.A., Shipley, K.S., Wirsching, P.H., and Mansour, A.E., “Application of Partial Safety Factors for Pressure Containing Equipment,” Proceedings of the ASME Pressure Vessel and Piping Conference, Seattle, WA, 2000.

Publications:

1. Kummari, S.R., Shipley, K.S., Macejko, B., Prueter, P.E., Evans, G., Jamal, N., “Establishing Fracture Mechanics Based Minimum Allowable Temperatures for Low Temperature Applications of ASME B31.3 Piping,” PVP2018-84797, Proceedings of the ASME Pressure Vessels and Piping Division Conference, Prague, Czech Republic, 2018.
2. Shipley, K.S., Leta, J.V., “Pipeline Metal Loss Evaluations per API-579 Fitness-For-Service,” NACE Corrosion Risk Management Conference, Paper 12095, Houston, TX, 2018.
3. Prueter, P.E., Macejko, B, Shipley, K.S., Smith, K.J., “Commentary on Recent Changes in ASME B31.3 Post Weld Heat Treatment Requirements and the Effectiveness of Weld Preheat,” PVP2017-65859, Proceedings of the ASME Pressure Vessels and Piping Conference, Waikoloa, HI, 2017.
4. Osage, D.A., Shipley, K.S., Wirsching, P.H., and Mansour, A.E., “Application of Partial Safety Factors for Pressure Containing Equipment,” Proceedings of the ASME Pressure Vessel and Piping Conference, Seattle, WA, 2000.

Conference & Training Presentations:

1. “API 574 Piping TSTRUCT Assessment Presentation,” presented by K.S. Shipley at 2023 Spring API Conference, 2023, Seattle, WA.
2. “Update to API 574 Piping T_STRUCT Values,” presented by K.S. Shipley at the E²G 5^th Annual FFS Symposium, 2023, The Woodlands, TX.
3. “Piping Level 3 Brittle Fracture Evaluation.  Including Lessons Learned and the Use of SIMFLEX-III for Mat Assessments,” presented by K.S. Shipley at the E²G 3^rd Annual FFS Symposium, 2021, Houston, TX.
4. “Pipeline Metal Loss Evaluations – API 579-1/ASME FFS-1 Fitness-For-Service Rules,” presented by K.S. Shipley at the API Inspection Summit, 2019, Galveston, TX.
5. “Discussing Structural Tmin for Piping – Update to API RP574, Table 7,” presented by K.S. Shipley at the API Inspection Summit, 2019, Galveston, TX.
6. “Simplified Fracture Mechanics Based Piping MAT Method,” presented by K.S. Shipley at the API Inspection Summit, 2019, Galveston, TX.
7. “Bolted joint analysis & best practice” presented by K.S. Shipley at the E²G 1^st Annual FFS Symposium, 2018, Houston, TX.
8. “Pipeline Metal Loss Evaluations per API-579 Fitness-for-Service Rules,” presented by K.S. Shipley at the NACE Corrosion Risk Management Conference, 2018, Houston, TX
9. “Reformer Motor Operated Valve Fitness-For-Service Case History,” presented by K.S. Shipley, N.A. Carr, and D.J. Dewees at the API Inspection Summit, 2011, Galveston, TX.

Industry Activities:

• Chairman of the ASME B31.3 Process Piping Code Committee, Subgroup Design, 2000 – Present
• Technical support for the development of new Structural Minimum Thickness rules for API 574
• Member of the API Subcommittee on Piping, Subgroup Quarter Turn Valves, 1995 – 2000