4 ways to engineer safer oil trains
Federal authorities are urging the rail industry to retrofit or replace tank cars carrying crude oil. The National Transportation Safety Board recommended this week that the cars be better engineered to withstand fire or intense heat.
The recommendations come after several derailments and explosions in the United States and Canada in recent months. Those accidents involved tank cars built to a relatively new, and supposedly safer, standard.
Greg Saxton, chief Engineer with the Greenbrier Companies, a designer and manufacturer of railroad freight car equipment, talked with MPR News' Tom Crann about four more improvements that may be coming down the pipe.
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4 safety upgrades for tank cars
1) Thicker walls. Both around the body of the car, known as the shell, and on the ends, known as the heads.
2) Steel jackets. An additional half inch of material outside the shell and the heads could prevent punctures.
3) Larger pressure release valves. If the car does start to heat up because of a surrounding fire, larger valves would allow a higher volume of gas to escape quickly, releasing pressure from the car and making an explosion less likely.
4) Ceramic thermal blankets. If a tank car derails but remains intact, it can still heat up very quickly if surrounded by an oil fire. The ceramic blanket insulates the oil inside so it doesn't expand, which could result in an explosion.