Has anyone ever encountered experts requiring the use of universal joints for unloading LNG from trucks at LNG filling stations?

This post was last edited by bfdlwolf on 2019-8-22 08:12. **Notice from the State Administration of Work Safety and the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development on Further Strengthening the Safety Design Management of Hazardous Chemicals Construction Projects (An Jian Zong Guan San [013] No. 76): (20) For the filling of flammable, explosive, toxic, and harmful liquefied gases such as liquefied petroleum gas, liquefied natural gas, liquid chlorine, and liquid ammonia, a universal-joint pipeline filling system should be designed; the static electricity grounding of the filling equipment’s pipelines, as well as the hoses used for loading and unloading, instruments, and safety accessories, must all be properly provided.**

Actually, it’s just a matter of using a loading arm; it’s just that thing is quite expensive!

**Opinions of the State Administration of Work Safety and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology on the Implementation by Hazardous Chemicals Enterprises of the \"Notice of the State Council on Further Strengthening Enterprise Work Safety\" – SGAWS No. 3 [2010] 186: 14. Attach great importance to safety management in the storage and transportation stages. Formulate and continuously improve safety management systems for the receipt, storage, loading, unloading, and transportation of hazardous chemicals, and strictly regulate the management of product receipt and storage. Based on the characteristics of hazardous chemicals, appropriate level measurement instruments should be selected to enable dynamic monitoring of the liquid level in storage tanks. Establish an efficient emergency response and rapid fire suppression system for the tank farm ； Strengthen the safety management of hazardous chemical pipelines. For those pipelines that pass through public areas, it is necessary to improve signage, clarify management responsibilities, and establish and implement a regular inspection system. Effective measures must be taken to inform all units and residents along the route about the hazards associated with hazardous chemical pipelines. Strictly prevent any occupation or obstruction of pipelines for transporting hazardous chemicals. All special vehicles used for transporting hazardous chemicals by road must have satellite positioning devices with driving record functions installed and in use by the end of 2011. In the loading process of hazardous chemical tank trucks, it is recommended to use metal swivel pipe loading systems instead of loading hoses. The use of hoses for loading liquefied hazardous chemicals such as liquid chlorine, liquid ammonia, liquefied petroleum gas, and liquefied natural gas is prohibited.

Article 16 of the Guidelines on Further Strengthening Work Safety in the Handling of Hazardous Chemicals, Document No. Anwei Ban [2008] 26, issued by the Office of the State Council’s Work Safety Supervision and Administration Commission on September 14, 2008, states: “In the process of filling hazardous chemical tankers, it is necessary to promote the use of universal filling pipeline systems instead of filling hoses; the use of hoses for filling liquid chlorine, liquid ammonia, liquefied petroleum gas, liquefied natural gas, and other liquefied hazardous chemicals is prohibited.” ”

These days, oil products may even require to be loaded in sealed containers. . .

A universal joint is necessary for filling, but it’s not mandatory when unloading, right?

Experts only offer suggestions; there is no mandatory standard. For safety, add a shut-off valve.

What do you mean by a cut-off valve? Does extreme displacement (such as a vehicle suddenly starting up during loading/unloading operations) automatically shut off the section valve and trigger tripping? Such a setup is available for LNG ship loading and unloading operations, but tank trucks have not been used in this context. Do you have any examples of how emergency shut-off devices are used in this area?