Lessons Learned from a Crude Oil Train Derailment

Due to increasing energy demand, shale gas exploration has accelerated in the recent years. As a result, rail transportation of crude oil has become an important safety concern. Derailment incidents such as Lac Megantic and Mount Carbon have generated public, regulator and industry wide discussion. Questions arise whether the crude oil source and its associated physical properties can dramatically change the fate of a derailment incident. To address this question, current state-of-the-art modeling techniques were used to simulate various scenarios leading to hazardous consequences. In this presentation, various physical phenomena that can lead to catastrophic derailment incidents are analyzed and compared with the Mount Carbon train derailment incident that happened in 2015.