Intertek offers corrosion testing for crude oil shipments

June 25, 2014

Intertek has added UN Corrosion testing required by the recent emergency order issued by the Department of Transportation (DOT) mandating proper classification and testing of crude oil offered for transportation in the United States. This impacts tank truck and rail tankcar shipments of crude oil.

The US DOT released an Emergency Order in February 2014 requiring the testing of crude oil for corrosivity to steel and aluminum. Although the method for testing was not specified in this order, the NACE TM0172 method has been widely accepted as a useful test for corrosivity determination.

In March 2014, the DOT released an amended emergency order and a Q&A that clarified the corrosivity method requirement. The DOT Q&A states that the testing of crude oil for corrosivity to steel and aluminum should be conducted according to UN section 37. The UN method determines the corrosive properties of liquids and solids that may become liquid during transport as dangerous goods of Class 8, packing group III and ensures the proper classification of hazardous materials.

“In light of recent incidents in North America involving the transportation of crude by rail, the quality of the crude oil and the integrity of the rail cars have been placed under close scrutiny,” says Jeff Kaylor, Intertek vice-president Central USA. “No crude oil is the same and it’s imperative that the crude oil is tested accordingly and classified per the DOT rulings to ensure that railcars are equipped to carry the crude.”

Intertek’s Chicago IL laboratory is equipped with the specified steel and aluminum test specimens required for UN corrosion testing. Furthermore, Intertek uses samples of the TC-128 rail car tank alloy for performing rail-car specific alloy corrosivity testing and machines them to meet specimen requirements to ensure accurate and reliable testing.

Learn more about Intertek’s Crude Oil Rail Car Corrosion Testing: www.intertek.com/petroleum/railcar-dot-corrosion/