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    <copyright>Copyright © 2026. National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.</copyright>
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    <managingEditor>tris-trb@nas.edu (Bill McLeod)</managingEditor>
    <webMaster>tris-trb@nas.edu (Bill McLeod)</webMaster>
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      <title>Research in Progress (RIP)</title>
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      <title>Development of Guidance on Potential Cascading Effects from Flammable Vapor Cloud Explosions</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2093142</link>
      <description><![CDATA[The project will assess the cascading effects from flammable vapor cloud explosions (VCEs) , using information retrieved as part of the historical review of VCE incidents and other studies.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 03 Jan 2023 13:53:19 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2093142</guid>
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      <title>Reducing Flammability for Bakken Crude Oil for Train Transport: Year 5</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/1945936</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Crude oil shipping by rail is a critical component of our energy security and has grown steadily with the Bakken oil boom. However, existing rail infrastructures are in a state of disrepair, which has been evidenced in recent years by several high-profile derailments of trains carrying crude oil, resulting in large oil spills. This is an especially dangerous situation in the case of Bakken crude, which is a light variety and contains significant amounts of easy-to-evaporate, easy-to-ignite light ends, and usually results is an intense fireball in the case of accidents. This research proposal considers a solution to improve fire safety during transportation: adding long-chain polymers to crude oil before shipping. Previous research done by Professor Albert Ratner’s research group under MATC-DOT sponsorship has concluded that polymeric additives improve fire safety in diesel fuels and its blends by delaying ignition, promoting flame extinction, and suppressing splashing. In Years 1-4 of the project, surrogates for the Bakken crude were identified and tested for their ability to suspend polymers and nanoparticles that will serve as fire-limiting agents. In addition, combustion behaviors such as ignition delay, combustion rate, and flame characteristics were experimentally investigated. To provide a broader understanding, testing included crudes sourced from the Bakken formation, Colorado, Pennsylvania, and Texas. Combustion characteristics were established for surrogate fuels with various polymeric additives and carbon-based nano-additives at various concentrations. Also, the stability/settling characteristics were investigated with different surrogate fuels containing nano-additives. In Year 5, the primary effort will be to study how to achieve prolonged stability for fuels with nano-additives (carbon-based nanomaterial/nanoparticles, polymers, and their mixture) because long stability periods are a prerequisite for practical application. In addition, combustion characteristics will be investigated for mixed additives (mixture of carbon-based nanomaterial/nanoparticles and polymers) for different surrogate fuels and crudes to exploit their individual, fire-safety-enhancing characteristics. These results will allow for this information to be linked with surrogate and crude properties. This information is critical for enabling adoption of this technology.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Sat, 30 Apr 2022 11:31:39 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/1945936</guid>
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      <title>Reducing Flammability for Bakken Crude Oil for Train Transport: Year 4</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/1868901</link>
      <description><![CDATA[This project examines how crude oil can be modified with the addition of nano-particles and polymers to change the oil's fire characteristics. Testing involves looking at both different kinds of oils and at simpler chemicals that mimic oil's properties. Testing simpler chemicals allows faster testing and examination of a broader range of conditions. Specific experiments involve droplet burning, droplet splashing, and other methods that are clear, reproducible, and consistent. ]]></description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 27 Jul 2021 16:06:18 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/1868901</guid>
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      <title>Reducing Flammability for Bakken Crude Oil for Train Transport: Phase III</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/1685059</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Crude oil shipping by rail is a critical component of the energy security and has grown steadily with the Bakken oil boom. Existing rail infrastructure, however, is widely understood to be in a state of disrepair, as is evidenced in the recent years by several high-profile derailments of trains carrying crude oil. These incidents lead to large oil spills, and the oil finds itself in the presence of various hot surfaces on the site (such as wheel wells). This is an especially dangerous situation in the case of Bakken crude, which is of a light variety and contains significant amounts of easy to evaporate, easy to ignite light ends, and usually the result is an intense fireball. This research proposal considers a solution to improve fire safety during transportation: adding long chain polymers to crude oil before shipping. Previous research done by Professor Albert Ratner’s research group under MATC-DOT sponsorship has concluded that polymeric additives improve fire safety in diesel fuels and its blends by suppressing splashing, delaying ignition, and promoting flame extinction. There is a strong indication that the same will be true for crude oil as well. As part of the Year 1 effort for this project, mixtures of pure organic compounds, which serve to mimic the splashing and combustion characteristics of Bakken crude, were identified and tested for their ability to suspend polymers and nano-particles that will serve as the fire limiting agents. These pure chemical mixtures act as crude oil surrogates and are necessary because of their homogeneity, reproducibility, and better optical properties. In Year 2 of the project, an experimental study of the ignition, combustion and flame characteristics was carried out for crude oil sourced from the Bakken formation, as well as oil from Colorado, Pennsylvania, and Texas. Using petrodiesel and biodiesel fuels as multi-component and single component surrogates for crude oil, similar characteristics were established for these surrogates with carbon-based nanoadditives at various particle loadings. These studies were expanded with Bakken and Pennsylvania crudes mixed with various polymeric additives and carbon-based nanoadditives at various concentrations. In Year 3 of the project, experiments will be performed to study the splashing, mist formation of the surrogate and real crude droplets on flat surfaces at various conditions. Computational studies to be begin in Year 3 and should yield tangible results in Years 4 and 5. These results will allow for this information to be linked with surrogate and crude properties by using methods developed in the aforementioned study. The polymer with the best performance and its optimal concentration for surrogates will be determined, and its performance with Bakken crude will also be evaluated. This knowledge will then be transferred to industry for implementation.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Thu, 16 Apr 2020 16:07:46 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/1685059</guid>
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      <title>Reducing Flammability for Bakken Crude Oil for Train Transport – Phase II</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/1581014</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Crude oil shipping by rail is a critical component of our energy security, and has grown steadily with the Bakken oil boom. Existing rail infrastructure, however, is widely understood to be in a state of disrepair, as is evidenced in the recent years by several high-profile derailments of trains carrying crude oil. These incidents lead to large oil spills, and the oil finds itself in the presence of various hot surfaces on the site (such as wheel wells). This is an especially dangerous situation in the case of Bakken crude, which is of a light variety and contains significant amounts of easy to evaporate, easy to ignite light ends, and usually the result is an intense fireball. This research proposal considers a solution to improve fire safety during transportation: adding long chain polymers to crude oil before shipping. Previous research done by Dr. Albert Ratner et al under MATC-DOT sponsorship has concluded that polymeric additives improve fire safety in diesel fuels and its blends by suppressing splashing, delaying ignition, and promoting flame extinction. There is a strong indication that the same will be true for crude oil as well. As part of the Year 1 effort for this project, mixtures of pure organic compounds, which will serve to mimic the splashing and combustion characteristics of Bakken crude, were identified and have been tested for ability to suspend polymers and nano-particles that will serve as the fire limiting agents. These pure chemical mixtures will act as crude oil surrogates and are necessary because of their homogeneity, reproducibility, and better optical properties. In year 2 of the project, experiments will be performed to study the splashing, mist formation, and ignition characteristics of the droplets in the presence of hot surfaces. Effects of various polymers in various concentrations on these characteristics will be studied for the surrogate mixtures. Computational studies to be conducted in years 3 and 4 will allow for this information to be linked with surrogate and crude properties by using methods developed in the aforementioned study. The polymer with the best performance and its optimal concentration for surrogates will be determined, and its performance with Bakken crude will also be evaluated. This knowledge will then be transferred to industry for implementation.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Thu, 31 Jan 2019 08:12:32 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/1581014</guid>
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      <title>Alternative Aviation Fuels Fire Safety</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/1392188</link>
      <description><![CDATA[United States (US) firefighters were challenged with the introduction E85 fuels in 2008 as a large number of material and tactical changes were necessary by the fire service to ensure that interactions with synthetic fuel combustion and typical firefighting foams did not lead to dangerous situations for firefighters. The variety of drop-in aviation fuel blends with synthetic pathways introduces significant opportunity for similar differences negatively impacting the safety of the public and first responders. The Federal Aviation Administration Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighting (FAA ARFF), due to the nature of short time and extreme urgency of effective response to preserve lives, will require characterization of the response challenges and training to provide incident commanders with awareness of the changes needed to make timely, effective and safe adjustments to tactical response. Recent advancements in alternative jet fuels and unleaded aviation gasoline replacement candidates have brought to our attention the need to investigate the efficiency of currently utilized fire extinguishing agents at the airports and aircraft. Firefighting foam has been the most commonly used extinguishing medium in the past years. Still, there are multiple varieties in the types of concentrates applied as well as the standards by which the foams get approved. International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), FAA (Mil-F-24385), and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) all have their test protocols for evaluating the capability of these foams. This results in multiple issues with technical variations. Thus, there is a need for evaluating the current certification protocols and specifications to alleviate compatibility concerns. The situation is further complicated by the recently approved alternative aviation fuels as the chemical differences are expected to impact the foams’ firefighting properties. With FAA’s goal of “1 billion gallons of sustainable drop-in jet fuel per year by 2018” in mind, Purdue research team will tackle this imminent challenge. The research will be executed concurrently between three teams of researchers. Dr. Kilaz’s team will be responsible for analyzing the alternative fuels (gas turbine and piston engine) to determine the chemical and physical properties that affect the performance and burn characteristics. The focus of the second team of researchers led by Dr. Qiao will be to determine the flammability limits, minimum ignition energy, and rate of fire spread of traditional and alternative aviation fuels. These properties are critical for fire safety predictions of fuels in ground handling and flight storage. Dr. Gore and Dr. Lucht will lead the third portion of this investigation towards developing an experimental fire facility at Purdue University which is capable of studying aviation fuels fire safety under a broad range of environmental conditions including ambient temperature, humidity, wind speeds and wind directions.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 19 Jan 2016 16:02:55 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/1392188</guid>
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