Certification of API gauges

NPL is the authorised UK agency for the calibration and certification of reference master gauges conforming to American Petroleum Institute (API) specifications, used by suppliers to the oil industry. NPL have recently developed a dedicated automatic measuring machine for API gauges and are willing to provide measurement services to organisations in other EUROMET countries. PTB have accepted this offer, will cease work on certifying API gauges and redirect their customers to NPL.

LNE have also accepted the offer and, with effect from 1st November 1989, will cease API gauge certification and redirect customers to NPL.

Final Report 2019-09-27

Back in 1989, in one of the earliest traceability projects within EURAMET, NPL (which is the authorized UK agency for the calibration and certification of reference master gauges conforming to American Petroleum Institute (API) specifications) had recently developed a dedicated automatic measuring machine for API gauges and was willing to provide measurement services to organisations in other EURAMET countries. PTB and LNE accepted this offer and both NMIs had ceased API gauge calibration by 1 November 1989.
Since then, the situation has continued, with NPL operating a range of services for API gauge calibration, with the necessary traceability to the master gauges at NIST. NPL has developed further equipment and processes for this calibration work including some programs for measurement of API gauges on a Coordinate Measuring Machine.
Furthermore, NPL regularly sends an expert scientist on API calibrations to the relevant API standards meetings.
Although the traceability route continues and we foresee no further changes, the activity of transferring the calibrations from PTB and LNE to NPL has no further actions. Since this was the basis of the original EURAMET (at the time EUROMET) project, the project has effectively ended.