Document g7MQygw3w6JQ0vjvGNEz0RBa

fconoco interoffice Communication To John Friend, Lake Charles VCM Plant rr')m Data Subject John P. Pinkman, Supply and Distribution, Houston May 17, 1977 Requirements for EDC Ships F<4 U>//(,/? ? I received a copy of your letter to Bob McPherson and was happy to have a clarification on what your requirements are for ships chartered for EDC transport. I would like to offer the following comments. 1. The only other company that I know of requiring nitrogen purging is Dow Chemical, and Dow, I understand, is the largest shipper of EDC. For what it's worth, my understanding is that when a ship comes in to Dew's dock, they do the following: a) Blow the lines with compressed air. In addition, if the tank has coils, the coils are blown with compressed air and then blinded. b) After the tank has been inspected, they sweep it with nitrogen, using 95 pound pressure with a 2-inch hose, after which they pro ceed with the loading of EDC. c) There is, I am told, no requirement for blinding off any of the lines other than the steam coils. 2. In item 5, you indicated that the use of the ship's inert gas generator ^nfliis not acceptable. Fcr my own information, I would like to know why you are ruling out inert gas purging. Most of the gas ships carry inert gas generators, but I don't believe very many of the chemical parcel tankers JUp,a~~w /97+ are equipped with inert gas generators. However, for discussion with the shipping companies, I would like to know what your objection is. 3. In item no. 7, on ships arriving with other cargo aboard (EDC or otherwise), we would blind off all lines, vapor or liquid, that con nect loaded tanks to the tanks to be inspected. Most of the new chemical parcel tankers (and by that I mean ships built within the last three, perhaps four, years) are now being built with totally independent systems; that is, each tank has its own pump loading and discharge lines that are not common to the rest of the ship. I assume that wherever this is the case, there would be no requirement for blind ing. On older slips that hr m the conditions yon. refer to, we will attempt co insert this requirement , as ycu requested. I think all siiculd be 0 aware, however, that vs c ould run into trouble with this. Depending on the piping lay-out cf the ship, the ship owner may a) refuse to do this for the marcel v;e have, and to a large degree his refused will be vve 00019393 John friend - Lake Charles 7CM Plant May 17, 1977 Page 2 based on the size of the cargo. For 1,000 tons or less, this may be a difficult thing ho obtain. t>) The chip owner may agree, but there may be a substantial economic penalty which would have to be reviewed in light of the net-back required for the particular shipment. I realize that these requirements are being set forth in the interest of maintaining the highest personal safety and protecting product quality and these certainly have to be our main considerations; but for those who have the responsibility of accepting EDO shipments, these increased re quirements will require longer lead times in order for us to find suitable vessels capable of meeting these requirements. Therefore, it will be very important that we have as much flexibility as possible in establishing shipping dates. John F*. John F. Pinkman mn ccy JAD:WVH:TJG:TSR:WRH:KC:CB:CL:CK:KDG:RHC:RWM VVC 000019399