Trump plan to ship natural gas by rail stokes ‘bomb train’ fears

[thackney]

Trump plan to ship natural gas by rail stokes ‘bomb train’ fears
https://www.chron.com/business/energy/article/Trump-Plan-to-Ship-Natural-Gas-by-Rail-Stokes-13758947.php
April 11, 2019

President Donald Trump wants to allow natural gas to be shipped in railroad cars, a move that would open new markets hungry for the fuel but could risk catastrophic accidents if one were to derail.

Trump on Wednesday ordered the Transportation Department to write a new rule permitting super-chilled natural gas to be shipped in specialty tank cars. The order follows a multiyear lobbying campaign by railroads and natural gas advocates, who argue it is needed to serve customers in the U.S. Northeast, where there aren’t enough pipelines, and making it possible to use the gas to power ships and trains.

“There are all sorts of new opportunities where you can use rail much more efficiently,” said Charlie Riedl, head of the Center for Liquefied Natural Gas trade group.

The effort, which could help offset falling rail shipments of coal, mirrors how the oil industry turned to trains to ship crude when there weren’t enough pipelines to meet demand. But a series of spills and other accidents -- including a runaway oil train that derailed and killed more than 40 people in a small Quebec town in 2013 -- have safety advocates warning against putting gas on the rails....

...LNG does not burn on its own, and it can’t ignite in its liquefied state. The risk comes if a tank car were ruptured and LNG were exposed to the air, triggering the LNG to rapidly convert back into a flammable gas and evaporate....

[thackney]

Japan started doing this in at the turn of the century.

Japex uses new method for LNG transport
https://www.ogj.com/articles/print/volume-98/issue-34/transportation/japex-uses-new-method-for-lng-transport.html
08/21/2000



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LNG is beginning to be used as fuel for rail around the world.

https://www.railjournal.com/tag/lng/

[Elderberry]

https://www.desmogblog.com/2016/10/13/lng-rail-alaska-risks-secrecy

In October 2015, the FRA granted Alaska Railroad a two-year permit allowing it to send a dozen LNG cars per train on trips across the state. After this fall's pilot run, the railroad will make a decision about whether it's worth pursuing LNG shipments as a new line of business, a company representative told the Associated Press.

“Seven more round-trips over four weeks will follow,” Tim Sullivan, manager of external affairs for Alaska Railroad told the industry publication LNG Global. “We're going to take the information that we get in terms of our efficiencies, the logistics of moving this stuff, find out where we can improve, what we can improve, and the things we can't improve, and start making decisions as to whether we can make this a line of business.”

[IsailedawayfromFR]

Liquefied gas has been imported into Boston Harbor since 1971.

Anybody heard of explosions since that began almost 50 years ago?

[Elderberry]

Liquefied gas has been imported into Boston Harbor since 1971.

Anybody heard of explosions since that began almost 50 years ago?

Other than an accident in 1944 in Cleveland, Ohio that killed 128 people, LNG has been handled fairly well.

Appendix 4. History of accidents in the LNG industry
https://www.laohamutuk.org/Oil/LNG/app4.htm