Union Tank Car's Sheldon, Texas, facility combines manufacturing and coating capabilities to meet customer's unique insulation requirements. Formaldehyde is a hot commodity -- at least when Hoechst Celanese ships it to customers.

"It is loaded at a temperature of 135 to 165 degrees F, and delivered to customers in the range of 125 to 160 degrees, depending on their requirements," explains Ray Mooney, team leader at the company's Bishop, Texas, manufacturing plant. "The temperature is critical, because if the product cools too much, it can solidify." With tank car shipments that extend into northern and eastern snow belts, insulation on the cars is important, to say the least. After much testing, Hoechst Celanese decided to use a combination of 3" thick foil-backed fiberglass insulation (compressed to 1"), topped by 2-lb.-density urethane foam injected over the fiberglass after the car is jacketed.

Since Hoechst Celanese had already established a quality partnership with Union Tank Car, group coordinator/railcar services Jacquie Collins approached Western region sales vice president Don Flowers about building 57 new formaldehyde cars with the unique insulation configuration. Collins requested that the cars be built at the recently-opened UTLX manufacturing facility in Sheldon, Texas, because of its proximity to the Bishop plant. "Sheldon had just recently been tooled for producing standard insulated and jacketed cars. We threw a specialty project at them pretty quickly," group specialist/railcar services Charlie Steele admits. "But we trusted Union Tank Car because, through past experience, we knew that their people understand our requirements and would do what it takes to meet them."

"It was definitely a challenge," agrees Don Frageman, a Union Tank Car project engineer who worked with Hoechst Celanese to adapt the unique insulation requirements to Sheldon's manufacturing process. "The customer set very specific requirements, which included absolutely no contact between the urethane foam and the steel tank." Extra precautions began by coating tank exteriors with Thermabond, a water-based protective primer, at Sheldon's repair shop. Then, foil-backed fiberglass was compressed and wrapped around each tank. All joints were taped and sealed with a pliable compound, and carefully checked before a car received its jacket and urethane foam. The end product received a thermograph test to assure that the foam was evenly distributed. In a short time, the cars have prompted a literally warm response from Hoechst Celanese and its customers.

Even in winter transportation in areas including the U.S. snowbelt region, shipping executives report that the cars are performing very well, and maintaining product temperatures as anticipated. At the loading rack, Mooney pronounced the new formaldehyde cars a success both inside and out. "Because Bishop is only a few miles from the Gulf of Mexico, we've had some problems with car finishes in the past. But, Union Tank Car's standard Aqua-Epoxy¨ exterior paint has held up well in the salty atmosphere," he says. He also likes the fact that the new, larger 22,500-gallon cars will each carry an extra 2,500 gallons of formaldehyde to Hoechst Celanese customers.

All of which help Hoechst Celanese maintain its position as one of the world's largest producers of formaldehyde. "Quality workmanship is one of our top priorities, and Union Tank Car is our preferred supplier because they have always delivered superior products and service."