The Pneumatic Tanker Thread

Yea that 6in hose is a bit heavy lol

 

Do you guys pressure the rail car to offload into your trailer?

 

It depends on the product, and possibly the company you work for, I haven't been at it long enough to know if there any hard and fast rules in that area.

For plastics like in the pictures @DMAX66 posted (at least the few I have dealt with) you pull it from the rail car by reversing the blower hook up and sucking it from the rail car into the trailer with vacuum, but you don't pull a vacuum on the rail car itself. The pipe (for lack of a better term) at the valve at the bottom of the rail car where he has the hose hooked up can be opened on the opposite side also. Hook hose up to one side as shown, open cap on opposite side and install screen in opening to keep debris from getting sucked in and pellets from rail car fall by gravity into pipe where they are sucked into the trailer.

Sorry, that was probably confusing, I can know something but I am not good at trying to explain or teach anything.

Plastic is the only thing I know of that loads like that.

Starch, flour, calcium load by pressurizing rail car and blowing it to trailer.

Pebble Lime and Barley get top loaded from rail car by a conveyor.

Can't remember how Adipic Acid, Soda Ash and Lead load.

 

So the BOL only listed it as "Extra Fine Sugar".

Anyone have experience with this crap, because it kicked my ### badly. 5 hours to unload 49K.

The only way I could seem to get a steady flow was to be right at the verge of plugging, about 13PSI, but then the blower temp was topping 300 degrees. Plus I don't care to unload like that, I prefer to get a steady flow established then stand around and keep an eye on the trailer as opposed to maybe saving 15 minutes of unloading time.

Tried different blower RPMs, valve setting combinations, anything I could think of with my limited experience. The unload was 10 feet of hose to their pipe, a 45 to a 5' vertical to a 90 then approx 40 feet of horizontal to a double 90 that turned it left then up vertically about 30 feet to a double 90 into the top of the silo. I've unloaded stuff thru a lot worse.

Don't know if I'll ever have to deal with this product again but I'd like to be better armed of I ever do.

 

I think you are right but I'm really not sure. When the blower temp took off I readjusted to keep it around 240 and just dealt with the nothing wants to come out/crap now it's coming out to much and plugging up as best I could.

When I disconnected at the end the inside of the hose and piping I could see did not seem to have anything melted or discolored in them

 

Good God. Some Engineer must have had a wicked sense of humor for that.

I never did sugar, but I'd agree with @REO6205 that anything you'd unload into that kind of convoluted mess would take some time.

 

Ive only watched sugar get unloaded and their trailers dont have any aerators on them so I guess they use a combination of top air and main line air and apparently the customer, we delivery the flour, has told them to limit it to 10psi to keep from getting it too hot. Thats about all I know.

 

Anyone have any tips to get lime/cement off the top of your trailer once its been on there for a couple months? I have tried vinegar and scrubbing, it really didn't do much. I haven't had access to water were I park all winter a the truck washed will not get on top the trailer.

 

We've been using a chemical called Mudslide. I've no idea who makes it or where we get it, but it seems to work well. It works best if you spray it on the trailer when the trailer is dry but the air is damp. Let it soak overnight and hit it with a pressure washer.