A complete guide of loading TDI

onboard a chemical tanker

Written by Capt Rajeev Jassal on June 19, 2016

TDI is the short form for toluene Di isocynate. Loading, carrying

and discharging this cargo is not a childs play. And there is a
reason that I say this.

TDI reacts with moisture and water. It comes under cynide group
of cargoes and is highly toxic. It can ingest through skin. And not
the physical contact but even its vapors can ingest through the
skin.
And after all these, TDI may require heating as its melting point
is high. So many dangerous elements in one cargo and thats why
it is important to handle it carefully.

But in spite of being so dangerous there are hardly any cargo

specific guidelines for carrying this cargo on ships. There are
some extensive guidelines for handling TDI ashore but not for
carrying on board ships.
So I am hoping this guide can fill that gap. Lets begin our voyage
to carry TDI on board a chemical tanker. Lets embark on a
journey from loading and discharging a cargo of TDI.

Receiving Voyage orders

On receiving voyage orders to carry TDI onboard, first thing to
check is if we can carry this. By that I mean if the ship is
designed to carry this cargo.

This is not only with TDI but every cargo loaded on chemical
tanker need to be checked if we can carry that.

To check this, take out the cargo list attached to the certificate
of fitness of the ship. Certificate of fitness (COF) lists all the
cargoes the vessel can carry. The name of the cargoes mentioned
are the IMO names and are listed alphbatically.

Below is the section of actual COF cargo list of a chemical tanker.

As we can see Toluene Diisocynite is there in the list. So this
chemical tanker can load TDI.
As we can see that on this ship, TDI can only be loaded in group
A tanks and has some pre-conditions for loading TDI. While
deciding if we can load TDI, we must satisfy these conditions.

Preparing stowage plan for TDI

There are few things which chief officer need to keep in mind
before he plans stowage for TDI cargo.

1) No water near to TDI cargo tanks

As TDI reacts with water, there cannot be any ballast adjacent to
cargo tanks containing TDI. We need to check all stages of
loading and unloading of each grade. We need to be sure that at
no stage trim and list are so uncontrollable that we need to take
ballast near to TDI tanks.

2) TDI stowed as far as possible from accommodation

area
We already discussed this. And we saw that as per COF, we can
load TDI only in group A tanks. But even in group A, we should
try to stow TDI as forward as possible. This is to avoid any
exposure of TDI vapors inside the accommodation. Usually we
should try to stow TDI in tanks which are midship or forward of
the midship.

3) No uncompatible cargo to stow near to TDI

This is obvious but is worth mentioning. TDI comes under USCG
compatibility group 12 and as such is not compatible with many
cargoes. Stowage plan must ensure that we do not stow any of
these uncompatible cargoes adjacent to TDI.
Preparing for arrival load port

Before arriving at load port, you need to have made following

arrangements
1) Heating coils disconnected from the steam heating
Again as the TDI reacts with water, we cannot heat it with steam.
Instead thermal oil heater is used for heating the cargo. Steam
heating is the most common heating system on board chemical
tankers. In that case, charterer will provide a portable thermal
heater to heat the cargo, if required.

This heaters pump is run by the ships hydraulic power pack. So

connections from the main and return hydraulic line will be given
to the portable heater pump.

Ships steam will heat the thermal oil. So connection from main
and return line of ships steam system will be connected to
portable heater.
Finally, the thermal oil outlet from the thermal heater will be
connected to tanks steam inlet line. From return line of the tank,
a hose will be connected to the thermal heater inlet into the
thermal oil tank.

The idea is to heat the thermal oil with ships steam and send this
heated thermal oil into the cargo tanks heating coil.

2) To blow heating coils with nitrogen

Before we connect the thermal oil heater with the tank coils, we
need to blow the coils with nitrogen. This is to remove any traces
of water as well as to remove moisture from the heating coils.

3) Ask for spill equipment

Handling TDI spill require certain chemicals. We need to make
sure that we have these chemicals ready before we start loading.
Before arrival loading port, make sure you have ordered all the
materials required to handle TDI in unfortunate event of any spill.
Before loading starts, we need to have these chemicals mixed
and kept standby.
4) Check no leak in the framo pump cofferdam
Well this is routine for all the cargoes but it is even more
important with TDI. The pump cofferdam should not be leaking. If
it is leaking then we must renew the cargo seal (or Hydraulic
seal) whichever is leaking.

5) Fill the pump cofferdam with DOP

With TDI inside the tank, we would not even allow the air (and
moisture) to be inside the pump cofferdam. Yes, we need to be
that particular about this cargo.

We need to first blow the cofferdam with nitrogen and then fill
the cofferdam with a chemical called DOP.
To fill the cofferdam, we need to remove the air inlet and outlet
pipes to the cofferdam located on the pump stack. We can then
fill the DOP with funnel. Continue filling DOP until we get DOP
from the outlet of purge pipe.

6) Have the antidote on board before loading

Well actually speaking there is no antidote for TDI exposure. Only
the effects of exposure to TDI can be treated by the available
antidote.
Before we can start loading, we must have this antidote for TDI
available on board. If not already available on board, We must
request the antidote kit first thing after receiving the first voyage
order. The antidote is only available in south Korea and few other
countries. So it would take some time to arrive in US if you are
loading TDI in US.

7) Make sure dew point meter will be on board before

loading
As TDI reacts with moisture, the tank will be purged with dry
nitrogen to bring the dew point of the tank below -40 C.

But to measure the dew point, vessel need to have a dew point
meter on board. Charterer will provide this meter but we need to
make sure that arrangements are in place.

8) Test the tank for vapor tightness

This is one action which will take out much of your troubles
during carriage of TDI to discharge port. And I must say even if
vapor tightness was done few months back, it will be worth to do
it again for TDI tanks. You need to make sure that tanks can hold
the pressure.

9) Make sure you have enough Nitrogen bottles

If your tanks are absolutely vapor tight, you would hardly need
any nitrogen to fill in the tank. But we need to be ready for any
unforseen situations. Ideally 10 Nitrogen bottles for one tank are
considered enough. But if your tanks are not vapor tight, any
amount of nitrogen may not be enough. That is why I stress that
vapor tightness of the tank is very important.

8) Train the crew

Finally conduct a training session with the crew before arrival.
Conduct the training session with particular reference to TDI. At
 the end of the training session each crew must be able to answer
at least following questions

Why TDI is dangerous ?

What action to take in case of small spill like during hose disconnection

What action to take in case of major spill like overflow

What action to take in case of fire

What action to take if exposed to TDI vapors

What action to take if in physical contact with TDI.

Hose connection/Disconnection will be done wearing full chemical suit. So the
training also need to include wearing of chemical suit and SCBA.

Particular emphasis to be made on the practice of shower under emergency

shower Before removing chemical suit. This is to remove any traces of TDI from
the suit and so to avoid exposure with TDI.

Oh well, you are ready to arrive at load port.

Loading of TDI

Usually TDI is loaded as a small parcel. Most of the times only in one or two
tanks. It is advisable not to load TDI concurrent with any other operation including
loading of other cargoes.

Before the loading operation can start, as I said tanks need to be purged to dew
point below -40 C . This is what we call drying of the tanks.
Hose connection has to be done after donning full chemical suit and SCBA set.
The loading rate need to be as less as possible. Usually TDI is loaded with loading
rate of not more than 300 m3/Hr.

Sampling need to be closed sampling. In spite of closed sampling, persons

involved in sampling need to be in chemical suit and SCBA set.
Because of high toxicity, Manifold samples are not allowed for TDI cargo.
However this sometimes could be allowed on case to case basis. You must follow
company manual about your company requirements for sampling of toxic cargoes.
You can seek clarification from the company for if manifold samples need to be
taken for TDI cargo.

Carrying TDI to dischrage port

The only issue you need to be worried about during the voyage is the vapor
tightness. Off course you also need to measure dew point daily. But if the tanks are
vapor tight, you would not need to worry about any thing else.

If you are sure of the vapor tightness of the tank, you can be sure there will not be
much of trouble during your voyage. If your tanks are not able to maintain the
nitrogen pressure on your voyage, there are few things you can do.

1) Find the source of leak

And you would agree that there can be many sources. The pressure might be
dropping from the butterworth hatches, tankdome packing or PV valves. It is
possible that all these are contributing in a small extent to have a larger impact on
pressure drop.

Any way, you should never use the soap solution method to find the leak.

2) Arrest the source of leakage

If you think you have found some source of nitrogen leakage, you should try to
correct it.

For example if the leakage is from butterworth and tank dome, you may try to
tighten the covers.

if the leakage is from PV valves, there is hardly anything that can be done at this
stage. Some companies fix rupture disks in PV valves of the TDI tank to avoid any
leakage from PV valves.

These rupture disks are designed to rupture at PV valve lifting pressure (mostly 20
KPa). The PV valves has a metal to metal sealing. Over the period, these metal
surfaces develop pittings, which allows the leakage. The rupture disks ensures
better sealing and thus no leakage. These rupture disks are fitted temporarily for
cargoes such as TDI.

If fitted, the rupture disks need to be approved one and suitable with the PV
valve fitted on board. Also it is important to have a tell Tale Gauge also fitted
between rupture disk and PV valve.
In any case, you need to have enough nitrogen bottles to top it up as the pressure
goes down.

Discharging of TDI cargo

Discharging will be with vapor return line. And as with all discharging operations
with vapor return line, you need to ensure that tank pressure is not too high or too
low.

The stripping need to done with the nitrogen.

After the discharging is complete, you need to make arrangements for washing the
tank with chemical supplied by the shore. The process is similar to prewash but
with two differences

i) Prewash is for MARPOL purpose and for prevention of pollutants into the sea.
Cleaning of TDI tank with chemical is for better after cleaning of the tank as TDI
is insoluble in water.

ii) Prewash is usually done with water where as this cleaning is done with a
chemical called PCE. TDI is soluble in this chemical and that is the reason of using
this chemical.

The process of cleaning will be as follows

 Around 5 m3 of PCE is put into the tank through the manifold. The chemical is
then recirculated for atleast 30 minutes.

If there are two TDI tanks, this solution can be transfered to the second tank.

After recirculation, the chemical will be given back to the terminal.

The process is repeated with fresh stock of 5m3 chemical.

If you have fixed tank cleaning machines, the recirculation will be much easier.
But if you need to lower portable machine, every effort should be made to avoid
crew exposure with the TDI vapors.

Tank cleaning of TDI tank

The tank cleaning after discharging TDI is then a routine chemical tanker
operation. As you are aware that Miracle and Milbros are two very good softwares
for tank cleaning guide.
For example for finding out how to clean the tanks after TDI, open Milbros
software
Click on From/To cleaning and search/choose the present cargo as Toluene
diisocyanate. Choose the next cargo and click on View results.

This will give the tank cleaning procedure for cleaning the tanks that contained
TDI.
 The tank cleaning involves hot sea water wash for 2-3 Hours and then rinsing with
fresh water.

Preparation for Next cargo

Finally after the TDI tanks are clean and you are ready to load next cargo, there are
few thing that need to complete.

Flush thermal oil from the heating coils of the tank. For this, we can remove the
inlet hose from the steam coil and blow nitrogen or air into the coils. Connect a
hose to the outlet and take out the thermal oil into empty drums.

Disconnect the Hydraulic system from the portable thermal oil heater.

Purge the cofferdam to remove the DOP from the cofferdam. Person purging the
cofferdam must be wearing chemical suit during purging.
Conclusion

TDI is one of the most dangerous cargo carried on chemical tanker. Any exposure
to TDI can have immidiate or long term health complications. Apart from health
complications, if TDI is not handled in the way it warrants, serious accidents can
result. However if handled correctly and as per guidelines, TDI is just like any
other chemical carried on chemical tankers.