Kelso Technologies Inc., a North American railway equipment supplier specializing in hazardous material handling, recently announced that the company has completed development of its new rail tank car bottom outlet valve (BOV). The new BOV features ceramic components that are designed to increase valve life and reliability. Kelso has received the approval from the Association of American Railroads (AAR) for the field service trials of this unique BOV design.
The ceramic BOV is an evolution of Kelso’s current stainless steel BOV design. Most general service tank rail tank cars carrying non-hazardous and hazardous commodities, including crude oil and ethanol, are equipped with a bottom outlet valve through which the tank car is emptied. Current BOV designs utilizing stainless steel components have well-known shortcomings, specifically in transport services where the commodity is abrasive or has corrosive characteristics that are detrimental to the materials from which the BOV is made.
Kelso has incorporated ceramic technology to overcome these shortcomings. This ceramic technology exhibits superior chemical resistance and mechanical strength which are both vital to the performance of a rail tank car bottom outlet valve.