Salco Products Inc., a supplier and manufacturer of products for the freight transportation industries, announced the testing results of its improved chevron-style manway tank car nozzle gasket. Salco's 4-chevron nozzle gasket was developed to further enhance sealing on tank cars with hinged manways. The manway has been identified by the industry as the No.1 area where Non-Accidental Releases occur.
Independent third party testing of the 4-chevron gasket vs. the flat gasket in a bolted common manway arrangement was used to determine the performance of the new design. The testing concluded that the four-chevron design was found to have greater overall compression, as well as greater sealing uniformity between the chevrons and around the nozzle compared to the flat gasket. The 4-chevron gasket design allows for better compliance with non-uniform cover and nozzle forces that arise from the bolting pattern.