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            Performance of Tank Car Pressure Relief Devices Under Derailment Fire Conditions
      

      
  Document Series
              Technical Reports


      
  Author
          Federal Railroad Administration


      
Report Number
              DOT/FRA/ORD-22/10

  Office
              RDI-22


      Subject
                    Hazardous Materials


      
  Keywords
              Tank cars, hazardous materials, derailment fires, pressure relief devices, fire testing, crude oil, ethanol


      

      
      
              
                  
      
              
  Document
              Performance of PRDs.pdf (4.99 MB)

      
              Tank cars use pressure relief devices (PRDs) to protect the tank from overpressure situations, such as those resulting from derailment related fire exposure. However, these devices are not tested/certified under such high temperature conditions. The intent of this research program was to characterize PRD performance under these critical conditions through testing. The research team successfully conceptualized, prepared, and executed two series of fire tests, which effectively evaluated the performance of PRDs under fire conditions. The first series of tests used water as the lading, and the second series of tests used ethanol as the lading. The PRDs survived the fire and functioned normally when subjected to moderately high temperatures for 30 to 60 minutes. Recommendations for future work include extending the ability to model and predict tank and PRD behavior considering the results from these tests.
      
            
      
      
              Last updated: Monday, February 14, 2022 U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

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