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U.S. Department of Transportation
Pipeline and Hazardous Materials
Safety Administration
Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration
Office of Hazardous Materials Enforcement
2009 COHMED
Conference
Mesa, AZ
Anhydrous Ammonia in Nurse Tanks
Terry Pollard
OHME Central Region
Hazardous Materials Investigator
PHH-43.8
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U.S. Department of Transportation
Pipeline and Hazardous Materials
Safety Administration
Anhydrous Ammonia
In non-specification cargo tanks also known as nurse tanks
by Terry Pollard, Investigator
Special thanks to Arthur Fleener FMCSA
and Ted Turner PHMSA
OHME Central Region
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U.S. Department of Transportation
Pipeline and Hazardous Materials
Safety Administration
Nurse Tanks in Rural America
OHME Central Region
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U.S. Department of Transportation
Pipeline and Hazardous Materials
Safety Administration
173.315(m)
•
Private carrier for agricultural use only
•
No packaging specifications required if;
•
Minimum design pressure of 250 psig
•
ASME code tank and is marked accordingly
•
Equipped with a safety relief valve per CGA pamphlet S1.2
•
Painted white or aluminum
•
Has a capacity of 3,000 gallons or less
•
Is loaded to a filling density of no more than 56 percent
•
Securely mounted on a farm wagon
•
Conforms with Part 172 except no shipping papers and need not be
marked or placarded on one end
OHME Central Region
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U.S. Department of Transportation
Pipeline and Hazardous Materials
Safety Administration
For Agricultural Purposes
OHME Central Region
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U.S. Department of Transportation
Pipeline and Hazardous Materials
Safety Administration
Name (Data) Plates
OHME Central Region
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U.S. Department of Transportation
Pipeline and Hazardous Materials
Safety Administration
Nurse Tank Trivia
• Nationally it is estimated there are 200,000 nurse tanks in
use
• The estimates are that 25% to 45% are missing name
plates
• Anhydrous ammonia is corrosive to steel even with 0.2%
water added as required by DOT
• This causes stress corrosion cracking
OHME Central Region
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U.S. Department of Transportation
Pipeline and Hazardous Materials
Safety Administration
More Info
• Ammonia has been around since the early 1950’s, so it is
not uncommon to see nurse tanks 40 years old
• Since these tanks are not specification, they are not
required to be tested
• As these tanks age we are beginning to see tank failures
OHME Central Region
PHH-43.8
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U.S. Department of Transportation
Pipeline and Hazardous Materials
Safety Administration
Calamas Iowa accident, April 2003.
Tank was loaded, the driver was hooking the tank up to a
pickup, tank ruptured for no apparent reason. This rupture
caused one fatality and one very serious injury.
The arrow shows the location of the tank at the time of the
rupture and the hole that was blown in the ground as the
result of the release of the gas.
OHME Central Region
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U.S. Department of Transportation
Pipeline and Hazardous Materials
Safety Administration
The release from this 1,500 gallon tank blew the driver into the tailgate of the
pickup, the guy on the loading rack assisted him onto the loading platform and
they both got into the water tank.
OHME Central Region
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U.S. Department of Transportation
Pipeline and Hazardous Materials
Safety Administration
This picture shows that the sudden release of the gas blew a hole 36”
deep.
OHME Central Region
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U.S. Department of Transportation
Pipeline and Hazardous Materials
Safety Administration
The welded seam split open about 4.5 feet long, along the bottom
of the tank.
OHME Central Region
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U.S. Department of Transportation
Pipeline and Hazardous Materials
Safety Administration
The total length of the opening is approximately 4’6”
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U.S. Department of Transportation
Pipeline and Hazardous Materials
Safety Administration
Catastrophic Head Failure
November 21, 2007, Silver
Lake, Minnesota
Rear head failed on a tank
transporting anhydrous
ammonia as vehicle was
traveling down a local road.
Driver suffered chemical
burns to his lungs
OHME Central Region
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U.S. Department of Transportation
Pipeline and Hazardous Materials
Safety Administration
The rupture was across the rear head of the tank. The force of the
escaping gas pushed the pickup and trailer into a farm field,
eventually ripping the tank off of the running gear, with the tank
coming to rest along the field.
OHME Central Region
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U.S. Department of Transportation
Pipeline and Hazardous Materials
Safety Administration
The rear head was removed from the tank and tested at a
laboratory. The cause of the failure is stress corrosion
cracking.
OHME Central Region
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U.S. Department of Transportation
Pipeline and Hazardous Materials
Safety Administration
The tank was approximately 85% full of liquid at the time of
the fialure. Anhydrous ammonia has an expansion ratio of
850 to 1. One gallon of liquid will expand 850 times as a
gas.
OHME Central Region
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U.S. Department of Transportation
Pipeline and Hazardous Materials
Safety Administration
Minnesota 2005
OHME Central Region
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U.S. Department of Transportation
Pipeline and Hazardous Materials
Safety Administration
Tank failed hydro test in Canada
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U.S. Department of Transportation
Pipeline and Hazardous Materials
Safety Administration
OHME Central Region
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U.S. Department of Transportation
Pipeline and Hazardous Materials
Safety Administration
Note the weld penetration
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U.S. Department of Transportation
Pipeline and Hazardous Materials
Safety Administration
OHME Central Region
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U.S. Department of Transportation
Pipeline and Hazardous Materials
Safety Administration
OHME Central Region
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U.S. Department of Transportation
Pipeline and Hazardous Materials
Safety Administration
Note welding job
OHME Central Region
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U.S. Department of Transportation
Pipeline and Hazardous Materials
Safety Administration
OHME Central Region
PHH-43.8
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U.S. Department of Transportation
Pipeline and Hazardous Materials
Safety Administration
Angle beam ultrasound testing equipment. This equipment can find cracks in the tanks at are not visible
from the outside of the tank. Most of these cracks are the result of stress corrosion cracking.
OHME Central Region
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U.S. Department of Transportation
Pipeline and Hazardous Materials
Safety Administration
Identifying a Crack
The spike on
the screen
indicates a
crack
OHME Central Region
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U.S. Department of Transportation
Pipeline and Hazardous Materials
Safety Administration
1981
OHME Central Region
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U.S. Department of Transportation
Pipeline and Hazardous Materials
Safety Administration
OHME Central Region
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U.S. Department of Transportation
Pipeline and Hazardous Materials
Safety Administration
Indicates a crack
in the head
OHME Central Region
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U.S. Department of Transportation
Pipeline and Hazardous Materials
Safety Administration
Crack marked,
found at or
around vapor
line
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U.S. Department of Transportation
Pipeline and Hazardous Materials
Safety Administration
Major crack at
the top of the
head in vapor
area at other
end of the tank
OHME Central Region
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U.S. Department of Transportation
Pipeline and Hazardous Materials
Safety Administration
This report is for two
nurse tanks tested at
another location. Both
tanks show multiple
cracks in the head. The
tester indicated that these
cracks were at and above
the vapor line. No date of
tank manufacture was
indicated on the report.
OHME Central Region
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U.S. Department of Transportation
Pipeline and Hazardous Materials
Safety Administration
Vapor Line
OHME Central Region
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U.S. Department of Transportation
Pipeline and Hazardous Materials
Safety Administration
DOT SP-13554
• Allows tanks to be used without name plates
• Testing is required; external visual (V), thickness (T), and
hydrostatically (P) with water only every five years
• Tanks must be marked as required in Part 180, with a unit
number, and DOT – SP 13554
• Welded repairs are forbidden
• A current copy of the SP must be maintained at the loading
facility, but doesn’t have to be in possession of the carrier
• There is party exceptions for The Fertilizer Institute and their
members
OHME Central Region
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U.S. Department of Transportation
Pipeline and Hazardous Materials
Safety Administration
Heads Colliding During Transportation
OHME Central Region
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U.S. Department of Transportation
Pipeline and Hazardous Materials
Safety Administration
Unauthorized Attachments
OHME Central Region
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U.S. Department of Transportation
Pipeline and Hazardous Materials
Safety Administration
PHMSA and FMCSA
• PHMSA and FMCSA conducted a joint strike force to address
eight complaints on companies in southeast Nebraska,
southwest Iowa, northwest Missouri, and two companies in
Kansas
• Five teams, two persons per team
• Serious violations were discovered resulting in enforcement
cases
• This was the reason PHMSA released Safety Advisory Notice
for nurse tanks
• http://www.phmsa.dot.gov/hazmat then Safety Advisory
OHME Central Region
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U.S. Department of Transportation
Pipeline and Hazardous Materials
Safety Administration
Thank You
Terry Pollard
Hazardous Materials Investigator
U.S. Department of Transportation
Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration
Office of Hazardous Materials Enforcement
Central Region
2300 East Devon Avenue
Des Plaines, IL 60018
[email protected]
(847) 294-8580
Fax (847) 294-8590
OHME Central Region
PHH-43.8