Seal Fuel-Tank Ruptures
Saddle-tank ruptures or other liquid-tank discharges in the trucking industry are so common that a former Canadian police officer and volunteer firefighter felt the urge to find a solution. And now there’s a new patent-pending technology that’s been designed specifically to stop leaks while protecting the environment and your bottom line.
The RuptureSeal is a handheld device that is inserted into the rupture and is claimed to seal the leak in seconds. It consists of a steel pin inserted into the tip of a nylon locking tie. The tie goes through a semi-spherical ball of specially formulated silicone that sits in a nylon cap. The locking mechanism is incorporated into the cap. At the other end of the tie is a ‘T’ handle.
The RuptureSeal is said to be an “incredibly easy” product to use: with one hand you flip the pin from the perpendicular position so that it’s parallel to the tie, insert it into the rupture, and with the other hand hold the plug in the rupture; with your free hand you pull on the handle until the clicking stops. The silicone is compressed into the rupture and takes its shape whether it’s smooth or uneven.
Glenn Cox, the inventor of the RuptureSeal, responded to a tanker accident with diesel fuel leaking from a 2-in. rupture several years ago on Vancouver Island, but found that neither the police nor the fire department had anything to stop the leak. Provincial environment officials arrived more than two hours later, he says, and plugged the hole with putty and a piece of plywood that was propped in place with a shovel. That was more than 15 years ago but Cox realized in 2009 or so that leak-sealing technology had not advanced in the meantime. So he invented the RuptureSeal, predominantly to meet the specific needs of first responders, but it has an obvious place in trucking shops and maybe trucks themselves. Canadian users include Wes Armour of Armour Transport and Donnie Fillmore of Atlantic Pacific Transport, Cox reports.
The RuptureSeal has actually been sold in Canada since early 2012 and is now sold in the spill response industry in 33 countries around the world. In February of 2013 it was introduced into the recreational marine market for sealing through-the-hull ruptures in boats.
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