Sciencemadness Discussion Board - Chemical Tanker Seen on Highway

Chemical Tanker Seen on Highway

Magpie - 31-7-2014 at 06:48

Morgan reported in another thread:

Quote:

The other day I was driving right behind a huge tanker truck of liquified N20. I just thought it kind of a funny thing to see.

I thought it would be interesting to have a thread for reporting highway chemical transport that seemed interesting. Recently I saw a tanker truck of triethylamine, and a tanker truck of silane (SiH4), neither of which had I seen before. Neither had any placards that I noticed, but the contents were clearly identified in large letters, especially for the silane. The silane was contained in long cylinders of truck bed length and 2-3 foot in diameter.

AJKOER - 31-7-2014 at 11:09

OK, your right that one may not have seen these before as I suspect they are usually transported by rail.

I heard recently on the news that their is a back log on rail shipments due to recent weather events in the US.

So, if one really needs these products to fill production orders, there is but little choice except to truck them.

My advice, sleep with your windows closed.

Polverone - 31-7-2014 at 12:35

Driving from Portland to Santa Barbara this March I passed a tanker truck carrying liquid hydrogen on interstate 5. I thought that was interesting. What sort of customer uses so much hydrogen that cryogenic storage/transport are warranted, but not enough hydrogen that it's worthwhile installing onsite production? On the drive back I saw an identical looking truck -- perhaps the same one by fortuitous timing.

Magpie, where did you see the silane truck? REC Silicon has produced silane in a Moses Lake facility since 1984, and they've expanded considerably in the last few years.

Magpie - 31-7-2014 at 12:54

I believe I saw it near Ritzville - just off interstate 90.

UnintentionalChaos - 31-7-2014 at 13:18

I saw a truck carrying tanks of BF3 in southern New York state. It was three long, relatively narrow tubes "stacked" in a triangular fashion with space between them. All this affixed to the truck bed. I guess the design was to minimize loss in an accident or maybe to cope with the pressure.

Mailinmypocket - 31-7-2014 at 13:37

I have seen silane often here. It is always coming from the Montreal direction to Kanata which has lots of high tech manufacturing and it is in long cylinders something like what unintentionalchaos mentioned except more cylinders on a truck and very long/thin.

Brain&Force - 31-7-2014 at 14:02

Not on the road, but when I was on an aircraft carrier for a week, I saw LOX carts everywhere.

Metacelsus - 31-7-2014 at 17:50

I've seen rail tankers of phosphoric acid (nothing as exotic or dangerous as silane) going past on the rail tracks a few blocks from where I live.

neptunium - 31-7-2014 at 17:53

as long as i have been driving trucks i have only seen 1 tanker of Bromine in New Mexico one time!
as dense as Br2 is its a small tanker smaller than those hauling sulfuric acide!

hyfalcon - 31-7-2014 at 21:05

We see pigs of UF6 around here all the time.

Morgan - 1-8-2014 at 04:34

I've seen trucks carrying molten sulfur from time to time.
Sulfur Information Service (Welcome to)
http://sulfur.nigc.ir/en/sulfurforms/liquidsulfur

Here's a molten aluminum truck.
http://alumnus.caltech.edu/~decker/alum.jpg
2 Die as Truck Spills Molten Metal on Car
http://articles.latimes.com/1986-10-22/news/mn-6845_1_truck-...

Molten Aluminum on the 2011 Hot Rod Magazine Power Tour
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nhvm_VOOWC0

[Edited on 1-8-2014 by Morgan]

Zyklon-A - 1-8-2014 at 05:39

I've seen molten sulfur in trucks a few times - that's how it's transferred before turned into sulfuric acid.
I've seen lots of liquefied nitrogen, carbon dioxide, hydrogen, and a few with pressurized oxygen - not liquefied though.

HgDinis25 - 1-8-2014 at 10:37

I live near a site with various chemical plants, including the famous AirLiquide and CUF. I see all sort of liquified gases in trucks around the city. However most of the scariest chemicals aren't labeled, they only have the ONU sign, IIRC.

MrHomeScientist - 1-8-2014 at 10:52

Why would you need to truck around molten aluminum? That seems like it'd be very hard to keep molten, and it's not like it's all that hard to melt on-site.

Personally I've seen a few rail car tanks of NaOH (concentrated solution, I think), near where I live.

[Edited on 8-1-2014 by MrHomeScientist]

Morgan - 1-8-2014 at 12:41

Molten aluminum transport tidbits

"To save costs of reheating the aluminium is transported in its liquid status from the manufacturers to the casting house which in this case was Daimler-Chrysler. The melting point of aluminium is about 600°C (1112°F). To allow transports of up to four and a half hours it's heated to 950°C (1742°F)."
http://forums.allaboutjazz.com/showthread.php?23053-Molten-A...

More Molten Aluminum Trucked to Car Makers
http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/cen-v043n029.p027

Train Collides With Truck Hauling Molten Aluminum
http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/1990-05-01/news/90050157...

MrHomeScientist - 1-8-2014 at 13:06

Neat, thanks for the links Morgan.

gsd - 1-8-2014 at 18:25

My company daily hauls about 200 tons of MnSO4 solution by tank trucks to customers who manufacture "Mancozeb" - a Manganese based Pesticide.

The same customers also receive CS2 and Ethylene Diamine by tank trucks.

gsd

neptunium - 10-8-2014 at 14:19

i think rail cars have a lot of interesting stuff too... molten phenol, phsophorus trichloride, sodium cyanide etc....
lots of nasties moving arround!

subsecret - 10-8-2014 at 21:26

gsd, have you thought about sneaking around and taking a liter or two of that carbon disulfide?

I saw a truck carrying some organic peroxide on the highway. I also saw silicon tetrachloride, and lots of anhydrous ammonia. Where I live, I really don't see many exotic cargoes. I saw both of the ones mentioned above when I was driving through Louisiana.

elementcollector1 - 10-8-2014 at 21:57

Seen some transport of liquid argon and hydrogen, apart from that there was nothing special.

Fenir - 11-8-2014 at 06:07

I have seen trucks carrying liquid helium and sulphur hexaflouride before.

violet sin - 26-8-2014 at 19:18

saw a refrigerated liquid CO2 tanker on I5 near artois yesterday while driving to work. nothing too special, but can't really say I have ever noticed one before. the load was in a slightly smaller tank than you would see gasoline carried in. the outer shell was similar to a gas truck, but I am pretty sure it was just an outer envelope holding insulation. as I imagine that much liquid CO2 could quickly be a bother if let out. it was probably contained in a much more rigid inner container.

vmelkon - 27-8-2014 at 09:15

Quote: Originally posted by Morgan

Molten aluminum transport tidbits

"To save costs of reheating the aluminium is transported in its liquid status from the manufacturers to the casting house which in this case was Daimler-Chrysler. The melting point of aluminium is about 600°C (1112°F). To allow transports of up to four and a half hours it's heated to 950°C (1742°F)."
http://forums.allaboutjazz.com/showthread.php?23053-Molten-A...

More Molten Aluminum Trucked to Car Makers
http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/cen-v043n029.p027

Train Collides With Truck Hauling Molten Aluminum
http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/1990-05-01/news/90050157...

That's weird but it makes sense. I have poored 1 L of molten Al into a can. It was glowing red. It was probably at 750 C.
It was liquid for quite a while.

Some Al companies have casts from the company and just poor the liquid Al directly into casts and then ship it. Imagine how much energy you save if these companies were next to each other.

Morgan - 27-8-2014 at 17:02

"The demand for thermostat metals continued to grow in the 1980's and 1990's. The 36% nickel alloy has been found quite useful for containers used to transport liquid natural gas on tankers. The alloy minimizes cryogenic shrinkage."
http://www.cartech.com/techarticles.aspx?id=1664

aga - 28-8-2014 at 13:50

I just saw a van with the attached symbol on it in the nearest village.

They were setting up racks and racks of 2' x 3" metal tubes with wires coming out of them.
A guy was stabbing a wooden stick into them all, repeatedly.

Likely to get Noisy later on.

sign.jpg - 5kB

Bert - 28-8-2014 at 17:05

Quote: Originally posted by aga

I just saw a van with the attached symbol on it in the nearest village.

They were setting up racks and racks of 2' x 3" metal tubes with wires coming out of them.

1.3G... My usual load placard.

More likely those tubes were HDPE or fiberglass, metal is out of fashion for anything but very heavy duty guns, which must be dug into the ground or placed in sand piles/boxes/barrels.

Fantasma4500 - 29-8-2014 at 03:36

http://business.financialpost.com/2014/08/28/crude-stench-st...

i think it may be that the oil is containing lachrymators
but they probably ship the most nasties on rail, yeah..
however i recall something about they had some huge specially built trucks for shipping nuclear materials and smaller nuclear warheads for whatever purpose around in the US

aga - 29-8-2014 at 09:44

Quote: Originally posted by Bert

More likely those tubes were HDPE or fiberglass, metal is out of fashion

Not in Spain !

Deffo metal tubes welded into some square section frame.

Safety was of utmost importance, which is why they put tinfoil over the tubes once rammed, to prevent their own cigarette ash falling in i suppose.

The police Cordon (some tape) was at least a metre from the 30 or so Katyushka batteries they had rigged up.

I was about 4 miles away when they lit the blue touchpaper.

Very Very loud indeed.

Magpie - 9-9-2014 at 15:50

Saw this on a tanker on the highway recently:

Google says this is the symbol for hydrochloric acid. I didn't see any other labeling on the tanker, but then I didn't get the chance to look closely.

I also saw this one for gasoline. Again I saw no other label but could not look closely.

violet sin - 16-9-2014 at 18:11

saw one on I5 last night on my way to work again. near artois, just had the placard 2929. didn't see any thing else, then again I was doing 75 mph in the dark, in a tiny car driving beside the beast of a semi. not much time to look about

http://environmentalchemistry.com/yogi/hazmat/erg/sl/2907|29...
this says it was some kind of poisonous/toxic flammable liquid though

Magpie - 10-11-2014 at 13:11

Just saw an FMC tanker with this placard:

The truck was labeled hydrogen peroxide.

aga - 10-11-2014 at 13:30

Do a handbrake turn immediately, screeching the tyres.

Chase the truck, and hijack it.

Sample the H2O2, and if it's 30%+, tazer the driver, then take the truck home.

If it's 3%, throw your arms in the air a lot, spit on the ground, then give the driver the truck keys back before tutting, and muttering a lot on the way back to your car.

Magpie - 10-11-2014 at 13:46

My bet is that it was 50%. It was heading right for the place I used to work. We used it in a UV/oxidation process for wastewater treatment.

aga - 10-11-2014 at 15:11

Step on it !

greenlight - 10-11-2014 at 21:21

I always see trucks full of large bags of Ammonium nitrate on the main highways near where I live.
I want to follow one one day considering how hard it is to get this chemical in Australia, maybe the driver would let me buy a sample on the sly

Have also seen smaller trucks with 60% Hydrogen peroxide and 98% Sulphuric acid containers on the back.

diddi - 11-11-2014 at 03:06

a good friend of mine drives trucks for the main munitions supplier in Australia which is about 40km from my place. he carts some nasty things at times. the factory produces 70% HNO3 onsite which he often carts in big tankers for 100s of km.

Magpie - 16-4-2015 at 15:25

Today I saw a truck and trailer going down the highway with two placards. One indicated flammable. The other just said "DANGEROUS." I thought this was rather ambiguous ie, "DANGEROUS" could indicate so many cargoes, eg, angry African honey bees, angry pit bulls, black widows, rattlesnakes, etc. I suppose the placard is still useful. The truck was labeled petroleum wastes for recycle.

[Edited on 16-4-2015 by Magpie]

MrHomeScientist - 22-4-2015 at 09:40

Driving I-75 in Florida this weekend I passed a tanker truck with an Oxidizer-2426 placard. A quick search reveals it is "Ammonium nitrate, liquid (hot concentrated solution)". Under synonyms on this site, it suggests this is between 45% and 93% concentration. Fun!

Morgan - 16-8-2015 at 05:42

This truck carrying liquid aluminum just crashed on the autobahn
https://www.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/3h6r2e/this_truck_car...

j_sum1 - 16-8-2015 at 20:31

Quote: Originally posted by Morgan

This truck carrying liquid aluminum just crashed on the autobahn
https://www.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/3h6r2e/this_truck_car...

Wow! Dramatic.
I am surprised that liquid Al was allowed to be transported by road.
On the grand scale of things however, there are many things that could be worse: provided no one was injured in the original crash. A bit of liquid Al is going to solidify reasonably quickly, cool quickly also and be able to be picked up pretty much intact without a huge amount of hazard. I am just glad I wasn't the car travelling behind it. A slosh of 800° metal would not be much fun if it got on your car.

Hawkguy - 16-8-2015 at 21:10

I was in a Rockies town for awhile that interesting rail cars would go through. Hydrogen Halides, Sulfuric Acid, and something else l can't recall. I know it was cool though, because I remember the experience like Christmas, seeing a virtually unobtainable chemical in such huge amounts. Maybe I'll look through vacation photos to see what it was or something lol.

violet sin - 4-10-2015 at 21:21

stopped for a bite to eat and drove past this! totally cool

walked over and snapped a pic really quick before grabbing dinner. couldn't help it, just glad no one threw a fit.

The Volatile Chemist - 5-10-2015 at 13:01

That's really cool

A medical site?
I've seen Hydrazine transported, I think to Ashland chemical. It was in a 'tanker': about 15 very long, thin tubes running the length of the truck in a hexagonal pattern. Something like one might imagine how fuel rods, hang, but on its side. I also saw some liquid ammonia, though that's rather common. 'Bonded Chemical' trucks drive around all the time, but they're all box trucks, so I can't see inside

violet sin - 5-10-2015 at 20:01

this was at a holliday inn I think... trucker sleeping. My brother said he has seen things like this a fair amount as there is a power plant near by. He spends a good deal of time in that area during crab season. I found it fascinating.

after a bit of reading, wish the orange label above left of the placard was legible... better idea of what it was for sure. big enough I seriously doubt it was medical. the container was big and strapped to a flat bed 18 wheeler taking up about 2/3 of the trailer length.

it was just that it was already dark out and I didn't want any one to think I was up to no good there. hard to explain you are just a science geek while snapping pics of radioactive trucks in the dark lol. the dinner we had across the street was great too! win win.

The Volatile Chemist - 11-10-2015 at 12:11

Haha, yeah, that'd be tough to explain. Indeed, win win! Too bad you didn't bring the gieger counter! (lol, spell-check wanted me to change that to ginger counter

Gingers are cute, but I'm fairly certain I can count them myself...)

cool tool for placards

Biblos - 17-10-2015 at 03:07

Hi,
I'm a long time lurker but thought I'd log in to tell you about a fairly cool app called HazRef2008. It has most, if not all, of the DOT placards in it with info about response if there is a spill.
I have the paid one but there is also a free one as well.
I'm a retired first responder and when my wife is driving I like to look up all the placards we see on the road.. interesting stuff out there...

Love the board, wil probably lurk some more now.
D

violet sin - 17-10-2015 at 03:44

2762 : Organochlorine pesticides liquid, flammable, toxic, flash point less than 23 degrees C

A new one for me, seen Friday morning. But I do live around a LOT of agriculture, so...

Magpie - 17-10-2015 at 09:27

I recently saw a string of railroad tankers sitting on a rail spur. Many had the following placard (anhydrous ammonia) without the little tank:

anydrous ammonia.gif - 2kB

It is fertilizing season, after all.

The Volatile Chemist - 24-10-2015 at 12:18

Huh. I know it's silly, but we should make a list, or use an online map program to keep track of the more interesting ones and where they're seen. Perhaps like that one map website someone has in their sig. for writing where home chemists are.

Magpie - 3-6-2016 at 08:46

I saw a new placard on the highway yesterday on a ss tanker:

hypochlorite placard.jpg - 9kB

This is for hypochlorite solutions.

Sparklehorse - 3-6-2016 at 09:41

I saw a semi pulling a tiny tank of heptafluoropropane on I 57. It really was a tiny tank, like one of those AA tanks you see in a corn field once in a while

Also see liquid nitrogen trucks once in a while

Trevor9424 - 3-6-2016 at 10:30

On the highway between Alabama and Tennessee and saw two different trucks:
(Sorry about the quality of the second picture, it's supposed to say 1203 but for some reason the image resolution seems to decrease upon adding it to a post)

Some googling shows that 2209 is formaldehyde and 1203 is gasoline. I wonder if the formaldehyde is being sent to a biology/chemistry lab or if it's for industrial use.

And no, I am not the one driving the car.

Mailinmypocket - 6-6-2016 at 07:19

Das helium, on the 401 outside Toronto

violet sin - 6-6-2016 at 10:57

Saw one a few weeks ago, 1824, 1836 & 18??. All three placards were on the same tanker grouped like a black n white 3 block pyramid. Only got a quick couple glances but Im sure about first two numbers, the third was either a repeat or a combination of numbers from 24 / 36.. as I didnt recognize it as a separate numbers.

Highway 101 by willits ca. Looked it up, 1824 : sodium hydroxide sol, 1836 : thionylchloride. Odd, considering it was one large tank, not visibly partitioned

Morgan - 18-7-2016 at 13:15

High pressure gas cylinders seen on the highway. Old news.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJ-fBgzwikA

[Edited on 18-7-2016 by Morgan]

carrant - 18-7-2016 at 16:32

Not really a tanker but an interesting license plate -

Velzee - 18-7-2016 at 22:11

There's an even more updated app, almost identical in terms of content, to HazRef Lite, called "Placard Finder." It's free, too. I found it after becoming very interested in this subject. I didn't think those numbers on the symbols meant anything—I thought it was a permit or something. I will be on lookout for any trucks, now!

[Edited on 7/19/2016 by Velzee]

hyfalcon - 19-7-2016 at 08:09

Quote: Originally posted by Trevor9424

I wonder if the formaldehyde is being sent to a biology/chemistry lab or if it's for industrial use.

Plastics industry probably.

[Edited on 19-7-2016 by hyfalcon]

The Volatile Chemist - 22-7-2016 at 11:47

Quote: Originally posted by Velzee

There's an even more updated app, almost identical in terms of content, to HazRef Lite, called "Placard Finder." It's free, too. I found it after becoming very interested in this subject. I didn't think those numbers on the symbols meant anything—I thought it was a permit or something. I will be on lookout for any trucks, now!

[Edited on 7/19/2016 by Velzee]

Downloading now. Interesting. I used to just write it down to google at home or on my phone, but I suppose getting an app for it is in order with my 'style'...

Argentum - 15-8-2016 at 10:44

Crossing from Argentina to Chile through the Andes I saw a bunch of trucks in the Frontier carrying containers of calcium carbide, calcium oxide, toluene, methyl tert-butyl ether, petroleum distillates, bunch of different kind of fuels from a nearby petrochemical plant, also potassium arsenite (I think I misread the number) and a tanker with the number 1253 that placards couldn't identify.

Plate hunting is more addictive than pokemon go.

The Volatile Chemist - 15-8-2016 at 14:19

Quote: Originally posted by Argentum

Crossing from Argentina to Chile through the Andes I saw a bunch of trucks in the Frontier carrying containers of calcium carbide, calcium oxide, toluene, methyl tert-butyl ether, petroleum distillates, bunch of different kind of fuels from a nearby petrochemical plant, also potassium arsenite (I think I misread the number) and a tanker with the number 1253 that placards couldn't identify.

Plate hunting is more addictive than pokemon go.

Did you see the whole '#RealTimeChem' edition Pokemon Go thing on twitter? Should totally be a thing.

And I'll Bet the Chemst Liscence plate guy has glassware at his home in texas...

carrant - 16-8-2016 at 18:47

Quote: Originally posted by The Volatile Chemist

And I'll Bet the Chemst Liscence plate guy has glassware at his home in texas...

The timing of the picture was near perfect!

I snapped the pic while at a stoplight in Dallas, TX on my way to checkout some lab equipment I saw on craigslist.

Morgan - 10-9-2016 at 13:09

Not a tanker on a highway but it seems like an unexpected whoosh bottle effect.
Fireball catches cleanup crew by surprise
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIU3r3T59Vc

mayko - 27-7-2017 at 17:30

Molten sulfur transport by rail, Durham 2012

mayko - 12-9-2021 at 08:46

not me but:

"Tell me not to tailgate without telling me not to tailgate."

UN 2977 is uranium hexafluoride