Dirty Jet Fuel

[KazakhJeff]

Our refinery ships out Jet Fuel by rail tank car. We had in recent times a shipment which was rejected by the customer, as it contained some solid material (rust). I have checked though all stages of loading, etc, and find that the Jet Fuel here is loaded to standard CS rail tank cars, which have a (thin) film of rust.
So my questions are:
1) Is it standard practise in other countries to use CS rtc's?
2) Do other companies suffer from rust contamination in their Jet Fuel?
3) Is the above seen to be a problem?

For those who are checking their insurance policies, please be aware that airports have stringent filters, checks, etc, so no solids will ever arrive at the planes. The above concerns shipping only, and I do not believe it is a real problem.
Thanks in advice for the advice
Jeff

 

[BigInch]

Yes CS rail cars are used, but not rusty ones. Are these cars normally used for crude oils?

Rail cars or any tank transporting refined products can't be left around for years then thrown into service without cleaning them first.

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[KazakhJeff]

Thank you BigInch. These rail tank cars are used all the time. Although we try to give preference to like for like, the previous shipment may have been gasoline or diesel, as well as Jet. When they return to us, they are steamed (cleaning and degassing), and I think it is the steaming which generates the majority of the rust. Looking inside the streaks of rust are evident. They are wiped down 3 times, but the surface rust is still obvious. How is this avoided elsewhere?
Thank you.

 

[BigInch]

I think you'd be better off without using steam, unless you've had some heavy crude in there. Here's some other ideas,

http://www.kmtinternational.com/english/pdf/Internal_rail_car_wash_eng.pdf

http://www.wipo.int/pctdb/en/wo.jsp?IA=WO2002002249&wo=2002002249&DISPLAY=DESC

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"What gets us into trouble is not what we don't know, its what we know for sure" - Mark Twain