Molten Sulfur Tanker


N

NWP Dave

Well-Known Member
I have never seen one of these in the UP yard before.
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Molten sulphur is a pale yellow crystalline solid and smells like rotten eggs and as Ken stated is hauled around 290°F to prevent solidification. Causes severe thermal burns to skin on contact.
It's mainly used in sulfuric acid production, petroleum refining, and pulp and paper manufacturing.
The car in the picture is empty going by the suspension, and has also been purged going by the lack of placards.
 
Rico said:
Molten sulphur is a pale yellow crystalline solid and smells like rotten eggs and as Ken stated is hauled around 290°F to prevent solidification. Causes severe thermal burns to skin on contact.
It's mainly used in sulfuric acid production, petroleum refining, and pulp and paper manufacturing.
The car in the picture is empty going by the suspension, and has also been purged going by the lack of placards.
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While I already knew everything you stated in the first two sentences, the third one added to my knowledge today. Thanks for the insight.
 
Rico said:
The car in the picture is empty going by the suspension, and has also been purged going by the lack of placards.
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Not necessarily purged and cleaned as it has all the lettering and the orange "2448" rectangles permanently painted or affixed onto the tank body. Those should be covered up if the car is clean.

Most of the sulphur cars I've seen only just have these "placards" permanently painted on the body and don't actually have anything in the placard holders.
 
cv_acr said:
Not necessarily purged and cleaned as it has all the lettering and the orange "2448" rectangles permanently painted or affixed onto the tank body. Those should be covered up if the car is clean.

Most of the sulphur cars I've seen only just have these "placards" permanently painted on the body and don't actually have anything in the placard holders.
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Ah Chris, that may be true for a dedicated car, been awhile since I’ve dealt with it.

Here’s a funny thing, I live by the Lakeline Railway which is home to the whisky train. (Diagio distillery in Gimli Mb)
The line recently put in a long siding for storing cars, a lucrative business these days.
Currently there are fifty some LPG cars stored on the line which people keep telling me are full of whisky because they are placarded. Well first off wrong placards, secondly wrong type of car, and thirdly why would they let millions of dollars of booze sit by a highway. 😝

edit: just looked it up and domestic shipments do not always require placards if the UN number and contents are stenciled. Ah!
 
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NWP Dave said:
So how do they keep it at 290 degrees in the tanker?
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I'm not so sure it would KEEP it at 290 degrees in transit...

The car is heavily insulated; the visible exterior of the car is not actually the tank body, but a thin jacket covering a layer of insulation.

The car will be loaded hot, and while the insulation will keep things fairly stable, in the days or weeks of travel, the temperature most likely drops.

On arrival for unloading, the industry will connect a steam line and pump steam into heating coils that line the body to heat up the contents to molten again for unloading.
 
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