(105a) Thermal Protection Assessment on a Railcar Transporting Hazardous Material

This presentation describes a Fire Hazard Analysis (FHA) carried out in conjunction with the US Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) to evaluate the performance of a railcar’s thermal protection system in cases of pool fires that affect the rail cars when they are located in the loading and unloading terminals of chemical and oil facilities. In this analysis, DOT-117 type cars were considered, which transport low-volatile flammable materials such as ethanol or crude oil. We assess the thermal protection system using a combination of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling, thermodynamics modeling, and fire experiments. In addition to presenting the results of the assessment, this talk also discusses the importance of understanding the limitations imposed by one’s choice of inputs and assumptions in the assessment.