Catastrophic failure of RRCar while being steamed (Excess temp leads to exotherm runaway)

Steaming railcars and tanker trucks is a very common practice in many industries; however, the hazards of doing so it not widely known nor understood.  Much like we cover “TOO MUCH TEMP” in our process hazards analysis, a similar analysis may be called for to analyze the practice of applying a heat source (e.g. steam or hot oil) to a railcar and/or tank truck.  We should consider the transportation container in the same light as we see our process vessels.  This article will demonstrate the hazards and potential outcome of applying a heat source to transportation container.  The shear magnitude of destruction from an OVERPRESSURED railcar will surprise many, but if you have railcars on your property, the hazard EXIST so take heed and learn from these mistakes.  The NTSB determined that the probable cause of the rupture of the railcar was overpressurization resulting from a runaway exothermic decomposition reaction initiated by excessive heating of a hazardous waste material.