Molten Sulphur Trucks? Help A Teacher, Please

In the U.S. recovered sulfur is mainly kept in liquid form from production to usage at a temperature of approximately 275 degrees Fahrenheit. Because of the temperature requirement, the sulfur industry uses specialized equipment to store and transport molten sulfur.

http://www.martinmidstream.com/martinsulphur.html


Pertaining to rail cars: They're insulated and have heating coils too so when it arrives to the destination they shoot steam through so it turns back into molten form.

http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=326654

Insulated truck, rail car, and barge are the most common shipment methods. In all handling operations, precautions must be taken against both inhalation of the hydrogen sulfide gas and ignition at the 478/sup 0/-502/sup 0/F flashpoint.

http://www.osti.gov/energycitations/product.biblio.jsp?osti_id=6921287

The only sulfur truck photos I could find involved wrecks. The inhalation hazard did not cause injury at these wrecks as far as I know. The temperature of molten sulfur is similar to that of many liquid products in insulated tankers. I have hauled hot liquid asphalt components in tankers. Molten aluminum at 1600 degrees in crucibles is the really hot stuff. I have photos of that.

 

I've been side by side with Sulphur trucks as they are unloading, and they are standard hi temp tank trailers. They may have some specific requirements for pop off fvalves for pressure relief, or some other modifications to the trailers, but they are standard smooth bore tankers. Despite the fact that it is a nasty chemical to be around, it doesn;t require really specialized equipment to handle. The drivers do wear faceshields, rubber aproms, and rubber gloves while handling the product, but that's the same safety equipment they use for a variety of chemicals.

The trailers he is referring to are the ones Heyns is talking about, set up to handle containers of molten aluminum and other materials at very high temps. There is an aluminum foundry near one of our bakeries that ships product in the heated containers, and they set the product on the trailer in the container, and it remains molten until arrival at the destination.

 

Molten aluminum, on the other hand, is hauled in ceramic and fire-brick lined crucibles on chassis. The crucible weighs 20,000 lbs and holds 30,000 lbs of aluminum for a 50,000 lb load concentrated in the center of the chassis. Shipping temperature is typically 1600 degrees. The temperature is created with natural gas flame throwers, although the GM casting plant at Bay City heated their furnaces electrically. A few drivers are trained to unload molten metal with ceramic lined troughs. The drivers wear leather welders gear including jacket, chaps, spats and long sleeved gloves. I will try to include a photo of the truck I drove under Matlack authority. The photo was taken at the Reynolds smelter in Benton Harbor formerly owned by Michigan Standard Alloys.

 

^ Screw the normal pics, I would like to see pics of the accidents with those.

 

Trust me, you do not want to see the aftermath of an accident with one of those. We had one about 2 years ago here in Michigan, and the driver did not make it.

Most of the trailers doing that are dropped in the center to get the genter of gravity down lower. Straight trailers like the picture are fairly rare beasts to encounter.

 

Burk, how hot do these wagons get? It seems that a load of anything that is kept at 1600 degrees F will give off a lot of heat. I assume these wagons are double hulled and/or well insulated above and beyond those that are used to carry asphalt. The ceramic crucibles is what I think they'd have to be, and even then they'd give off some hotness.

 

Actually, because of thgeir well insulated design, they pose no danger to passersby from the heat. It's so well insulated that the heat is all retained inside and there is very little escapage. since the container weighs close to 10 tons, there is a lot of insulation there to protect the passersby, though their safety is not the primary concern. If it isn;t kept up to temp, then it becomes ingots rather than liquid and the entire process would change anyhow.

You are in much more danger of getting burned walking by my truck when I am unloading in the summer. I have thin aluminum piping exposed on the trailer, and am frequently pushing air at temps as high as 325 through it. Grab the wrong spot, and you will get burned. It's one of the things we all know as drivers.