Anyone know what this is? "Massive mystery machine on I-40 near Asheville"

[G_j]

http://www.citizen-times.com/article/20110919/COLUMNISTS09/309190066/Answer-Man-Massive-mystery-machine-40-?odyssey=mod%7Cnewswell%7Cimg%7CFrontpage%7Cp
Massive mystery machine on I-40 near Asheville? Answer Man investigates

A motorist snapped this photo of the mystery load that was heading west on I-40 on Aug. 31. It's listed as a "reactor vessel" on the DOT's permit, but little other information is available. / Special to the Citizen-Times

Written by
John Boyle Filed Under
Staff Columnists

Man, it’s been kind of chilly here in the “Cesspool of Sin” lately.

(note from G_j: politicians have been referring to gay friendly Asheville, as a "cesspool of sin"
see, http://www.citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2011309130018)

Question: So I'm driving on I-40 back to Asheville on Aug. 31 at 3:45 p.m., and as I pass Exit 27 (Waynesville Exit) I see a car with a large pole attached and flashing lights on the other side of the interstate. It’s going real slow. A hundred yards behind is the humongous vehicle. It was checking the height of the overpass before this thing goes under it. There are five-plus support vehicles behind it telling those behind they may not pass. What is it? Possible answers are it’s some thingy going to Oak Ridge (Tenn.) to do nuclear stuff, a real big light saber, pieces of a windmill, plumbing parts, parts of a space craft going to a museum, alien tooth, giant steel bug...

My answer: Dude, I do not want to meet the creature that uses that toilet. Seriously, all I can figure is it’s part of the “Cesspool of Sin” sump pump.
Real answer: This little query has emerged as one of the more intriguing mysteries I’ve tried to solve, and ultimately I’ve failed, at least partially.
First, I asked the N.C. Department of Transportation what it was, as they have to permit these things.

“The load in question was issued a permit for a reactor vessel traveling from Winterville, N.C. to the Tennessee state line on I-40,” said Ed Green, division maintenance engineer with the Asheville DOT office. “This load is considered a super load, and is not divisible. The company issued the permit and hauling the load is Barnhart Crane and Rigging Co.”
Barnhart Crane was less than helpful, referring me to a couple different offices whose employees aren’t real big into promptly returning phone calls.

As the load came from Winterville, I searched on “reactor vessels” and “Winterville” and hit on The Roberts Co., which indeed is based in that town and “provides fully integrated engineering, fabrication, construction and plant services for heavy and light industrial clients.” The company also offers “unlimited steel plate fabrication services specializing in custom complex ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineers) code pressure vessels and heat exchangers.”

<snip>

[Why Syzygy]

1. google knows

http://www.google.com/search?q=%22reactor+vessel%22&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a

[lumberjack_jeff]

2. A fractional distillation column for a refinery.

I think.

[petronius]

6. That was my first thought as well... (nt)

[HopeHoops]

3. Sarah Palin ordered a new "personal stimulation device" from Adam & Eve.

The bastards were supposed to deliver it in an unmarked brown paper wrapping.

[lumberjack_jeff]

5. Heh. +1

[RKP5637]

8. LOL!!!

:rofl:

[BobbyBoring]

4. I think it's a

DEATH RAY GUN!

[jberryhill]

7. It looks like a fairly mundane distillation column

[MicaelS]

9. A pressure vessel, most likely for a petrochemical plant

I think.

[Javaman]

10. "these are not the driods you are looking for" nt

[Manifestor_of_Light]

11. A cracking tower. That's what my daddy the pipefitter told me.

Separates different weights of nastomers. Smelly isomers.

[Xithras]

15. And with a little digging, it looks like you're the winner.

That does indeed look like a cracking tower. A few minutes of Googling revealed that there is a single major oil refinery in Tennessee, which is located in Memphis up I-40. That refinery experienced a major fire and explosion in August 5th.

Maybe it's a replacement part?

[G_j]

19. good call nt

[Yo_Mama]

20. DU does good work

Yup. That's what it looks like.

[kentauros]

22. One of many tens of thousands of replacement parts, most likely.

If the fire was big enough that they're having to replace a cracking tower, then they probably lost a whole "unit" in that refinery. A unit is usually a section of a plant that does one thing, such as in this case, cracking crude oil into its lighter substances. After that, each cracked substance goes on to further refinement in a separate unit.

Refineries are massive, complex, and almost city-sized machines. I don't think most people ever think of them that way, and the media certainly doesn't, even in cities where it's a primary industry.

[Xithras]

24. Here's video

This news article includes what looks to be a cam-capture of some security camera footage. It's too fuzzy to tell for sure, but you can actually see one of the towers being blasted completely to the ground.

http://www.abc24.com/news/local/story/Explosion-At-Valero-Oil-Refinery/kEQbblaBqkKLigVvKmIZpw.cspx

[kentauros]

26. Wow!

I'm glad no one was hurt or killed. If anyone had been around the base of that thing when it went, well, they'd be a casualty now.

I know the news media likely won't report it, but I'd love to see the report on how and why this happened when their investigations are done. Now I'm wondering what the people in the control-room were seeing before the explosion...

[FSogol]

12. Hey, What's the International Space Station doing in Asheville?

:shrug:

[HappyMe]

13. Teabagger mind control device? nt

[petronius]

17. An MC device for 'baggers would only need to be about the size of a calculator

;)

[L. Coyote]

14. Wind generator?

I've seen the blades transported and they are immense.

[Shagbark Hickory]

16. Looks like part of a tunnel boring machine.

But what do I know?

[geardaddy]

18. Mystery Machine? You mean this thing?

[Nye Bevan]

21. And they'd have gotten away with it too

if it hadn't been for those meddling kids.

[geardaddy]

27. Damn straight!

[Safetykitten]

23. Perry Ego Containment Vessel. The PECV.

[trumad]

25. From the comment section.

That my friends is a nuclear reactor vessel. The vessel is where the uranium rods are held. Here's a link for Westinghouse's new AP1000 unit. Not the same as this one but you can see the similarities. All those stubs sticking out from the side are where the coolant pumps are attached. Interesting that TVA denied knowledge of it since they are in the middle of a 4.5 year plan to finish Unit 2 of the Watts Bar nuclear power plant.

[bananas]

30. That could be it - That pdf is for an SMR-200 small modular nuclear reactor, not an AP-1000

That very well could be what this is, which would explain the secrecy.
This nuclear reactor is designed to be built in a factory, trucked to the site, and buried in the ground.
The pdf in that comment gives the size of the SMR-200 reactor vessel: http://www.westinghousenuclear.com/smr/fact_sheet.pdf

Reactor Vessel Size
Outer Diameter: 11.5 ft
Height: 81 ft

Here's some images from http://nextbigfuture.com/2011/02/westinghouse-has-new-200-megawatt.html

[yellowcanine]

28. I don't know but I was on that road a couple of weeks ago on my motorcycle.

I would hate to get between that and the Jersey barrier. OTOH maybe I could ride my MC under that baby!

[mfcorey1]

29. Looks like part of a machine that has been sent in parts to Miami Florida for them to

dig a tunnel under the Port.

[Ian David]

31. It's The Phoenix