RAILCAR INDUSTRY COATINGSYSTEMS: SELECTING AND

SOURCING

A JPCL eResource

jpclP A I N T S Q U A R E . C O M J O U R N A L O F P R O T E C T I V E C O A T I N G S & L I N I N G S

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Railcar Industry CoatingSystems: Selecting and

SourcingA JPCL eBook

Copyright 2013 byTechnology Publishing Company2100 Wharton Street, Suite 310

Pittsburgh, PA 15203

All Rights Reserved

This eBook may not be copied or redistributed without the written permission of the publisher.

Introduction

The Crude Truth about Lining Tanks for Oil Transportby Michael McGlamry, Hempel USA

Coating System Guide for the Railcar Industry

Coating Company Profiles

Contents

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SPONSORED BY

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ContentsHEMPELCoatings

www.hempel.uswww.hempel.com

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Introduction

Introduction

This eBook consists of a feature published in the Journal ofProtective Coatings & Linings (JPCL) on protecting railcars foroil service, as well as JPCL Buying Guide material on selectingand specifying coatings for railcar applications in various exposure environments.

The Buying Guide is organized by various exposure types,such as Linings for Steel Railcar Interiors, Bulk Solids. Then,coating manufacturers are listed in alphabetical order, witheach companys preferred system named in both proprietaryand generic terms. Finally, contact details are given for all thecompanies.

This collection is designed to provide general guidance on selecting and specifying coatings for railcars, and then to givesources for acquiring the appropriate systems. Information inthis eBook is based on the original dates of publication of the materials.iStockphoto

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Editors Note: This article appeared inJPCL in September 2013.

By Michael McGlamry,Hampel USA

The Crude Truth about Lining Tanks forOil Transport

Photo courtesy ofHempel USA

I n the past, tank cars carrying crude oilhad no protective linings for corrosionprotection. Cargoes of light sweet crude(containing less than 0.5% sulfur) have a passi-

vating effect on the steel of the cars, and very

little corrosion was ever identified during rou-

tine inspections. Why is there now significant

concern about corrosion in rail cars, when the

industry has a track record (pun intended) of

over 100 years with very low corrosion rates

in unlined cars? What has changed? Is crude be-

coming more corrosive? Are fracking chemicals

mixing with the oil and corroding our steel?

Before we answer these questions, lets con-

sider some numbers about the rail business con-

cerning crude shipments from a May 2013

report from the Association of American Rail-

roads: The 2013 report noted that whereas five

years ago (2008), U.S. Class I railroads origi-

nated just 9,500 carloads of crude oil,1 the

number of carloads originated had increased to

234,000 in 2012, and in the first quarter of

2013, the number was 97,000. Given the 2013

first quarter number, the report predicted an-

other large increase in carloads of crude origi-

nated by U.S. Class I railroads.1

Given the above numbers, maybe we are see-

ing more corrosion on tanker cars just because

we have a whole lot more steel exposed. Or

maybe we are carrying crude thats not only

crude. The answer to our problem can be found

by understanding oil production and the con-

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stituents in crude. For this discussion, we are

focusing on the developments in the unconven-

tional onshore oil market in North America,

which is pushing the overall rail crude oil tank

requirement capacity.

We must understand that there are several

advanced completion techniques within the un-

conventional market, including, to name a few,

traditional welling/fracking, in situ mining,

steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD), and

cyclic steam stimulation (CSS). For this article,

we will focus specifically on the fracking com-

pletion technique.

There has been a lot of discussion in the un-

conventional oil and gas market and in the

media about fracking, so we wont go into great

detail here, but the fact is, there are corrosive

chemicals used in the fracking process.

The presence of corrosive chemicals in frack-

ing raises a question about transporting oil:

When those chemicals are pumped into the for-

mation, do they return to the surface with the

oil extracted and with enough corrosion poten-

tial to cause problems? The answer is No.

While the chemicals can be found in the pro-

duced crude, the concentrations are so low that

they are not seen as problematic. Its important

to note that with traditional extraction meth-

ods, crude oil also contains water, chlorides,

oxygen, and up to 0.5% sulfur for sweet crude

or higher for sour crude.

What about bitumen produced from mining

oil sands? Oil sands are a naturally occurring

mixture that typically contains 1012% bitu-

men, 8085% minerals (clays and sands), and

46% water. Bitumen is a mixture of large hy-

drocarbon molecules containing sulfur com-

pounds (equivalent to up to 5% elemental sulfur

by weight), small amounts of oxygen, heavy

metals, and other materials.

Now that we are starting to get a clear picture

of the composition of the cargo, we should take

a closer look at the water, sulfur, and oxygen.

When we do, the ah-hah moment comes. Bi-

tumen is extremely viscous at ambient temper-

atures, but crude can be just as viscous in ex-

tremely cold temperatures, such as those

occurring in North Dakota winters. In an effort

to make the bitumen or crude flow into the tank

cars, it is heated. This heating causes the water,

sometimes with high levels of chloride, to natu-

rally separate from the oil and sink to the heel,

or bottom, of the rail car. So, weve created an

environment that contains sulfur, high chloride

levels, and hot water, an environment ideal for

supporting corrosion. To put this environment

into perspective, even at ambient temperatures,

wet elemental sulfur has been shown to corrode

mild steel up to 1 mm/yr (0.04 in./yr), with lo-

calized pitting rates of up to 7 mm/yr (0.27

in./year). With the addition of chlorides, the

corrosion rates have been shown to double and

even triple, in research conducted by Fang,

Young, and Nei.2Now that we have a better idea of what were

fighting, another question arises: How do we

protect the interiors of tank cars carrying crude

oil or bitumen from oil sands? Well need an in-

terior lining that must be resistant to high tem-

peratures, and, since high-pressure steam is

often used during the cleaning of the tank cars,

with steam temperatures that can be as high as

330 F (166 C), the lining also must be resistant

to thermal shock. In addition, during crude load-

ing in the winter, the steel temperature could be

-40 F (-40 C), while the crude temperature will

be around 160 F (71 C). This condition leads to

an immediate 200-degree F (111-degree C) tem-

perature swing, resulting in thermal expansion

of the steel as well as the lining material. So the

lining will also need to have some level of flex-

ibility to cope with the flexing of the tank car

during loading and unloading operations, as

well as the general movement associated with

transportation. This is a tall order, even before

adding the chemical resistance requirements of

hot chloride water and the low pH environment

associated with sulfur compounds.

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The good news is that advanced technology

phenolics and thick-film epoxy novolac linings

on the market can withstand the environment.

Coating manufacturers focused on the rail in-

dustry have long, successful track records for

this type of service. The real question becomes,

should you risk an unscheduled release and loss

of an asset because the tank car wasnt lined?

References1. Association of American Railroads, Moving

Crude Oil by Rail, May 2013,

https://www.aar.org/keyissues/Docu-

ments/Background-Papers/Crude-oil-by-

rail.pdf

2. Haitau Fang, David Young, and Srdjan Nei,Elemental Sulfur Corrosion of Mild Steel at

High Concentrations of Sodium Chloride, 17th

International Corrosion Congress, Paper

#2592, Las Vegas, NV, October 610, 2008.

About the authorMichael McGlamry is theAmericas Protective Prod-uct Manager for Hempel,USA. McGlamry is highlyexperienced in the coat-ings world, with almost 20years in the Protective andLining Segments. He hasworked in a variety ofroles including Product Manager, Lining TechnicalManager, Technical Service Manager, and Up-stream Offshore Engineering Sales. He is NACELevel 1 certified and also holds an internationalcertification for Project Management.

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ABRI IndustriesIronBond 111Inorganic Zinc/Epoxy/Urethane

Arma CoatingsArma Polyaspartic Spray PolyureaPolyurea Pure (1, 2, or 3 Coats)

Bowers IndustrialGulf Coast PaintEpoxy (1-2 Coats)/Urethane

Carboline CompanyCarbothaneEpoxy (1-2 Coats)/Urethane

Corrocoat USA Inc.Polyglass ZipcoatPolyester/Polyester/Polyester

CorrosealCorroseal Rust ConverterOther

Cortec CorporationVpCI-384/382Urethane/Urethane

Cote-L Industries Inc.Durabak 18/Durabak