Production • Processing • Handling
Wireless valve control is a perfect fit for automating tank farm
Shelley Pike looks at how a digital wireless valve control was used on a petroleum tank farm automation project in the USA.
I
n 2011, an operating division of Martin Midstream Partners (MMLP) began building a single product tank farm at the Port of Corpus Christi, Texas, consisting of six 100,000 barrel tanks and four booster pumps to serve nearby
truck and ship loading terminals. Originally, the facility was designed for a single hydrocarbon product and did not require any automated valves to isolate the individual storage tanks. During construction, MMLP decided to upgrade
and introduce the capability to handle a second product, which necessitated the requirement of isolating the tanks to avoid cross-contamination. To achieve this, MMLP specified Rotork electric
valve actuation under centralised control. Te explosion-proof Rotork IQ non-intrusive intelligent actuators are monitored and controlled by a Rotork Pakscan P3 digital system, designed specifically for valve actuation duties and the environments associated with hazardous area petrochemical plants and storage areas. Te Rotork system incorporates all appropriate interlocks which safeguard the integrity of the terminal operations. For this project, MMLP has been able to take
advantage of additional functionality and further economies through the introduction of Pakscan P3 with a wireless field network. Wireless Pakscan eliminates virtually all the costs associated with the installation of wiring, cable ducts, safety barriers and associated equipment required for network cabling, whilst enabling an increased level of information from the actuators to be communicated over the wireless network. Chris Duke, Rotork’s lead service technician on
the project, explains: “Te customer didn’t want to add a lot of new conduit and wiring to control the actuators, so the wireless Pakscan system was a perfect fit.
“Te installation consists of 16 Rotork IQ40
non-intrusive intelligent actuators, one Pakscan P3 wireless master station and three network repeaters, which are used to overcome radio black spots and ensure the redundancy of the network. As far as start-ups go, this was by far the easiest of any type of control system that I have seen.
Fig. 1. Rotork IQ40 actuators installed on the four booster pumps at the MMLP tank farm, illustrating the simplified site wiring facilitated by the wireless Pakscan network (power cabling only). Note the wireless Pakscan antennas on each actuator’s terminal housing.
“Some pre-commissioning of the wireless system was performed at the Rotork factory in Rochester, NY, prior to delivery and, once in the field, I installed the wireless antennas on each actuator and gave each unit its unique address. When this was done I powered up the master station and, as if by magic, all 16 actuators populated the network within a few minutes. Te customer was very impressed with the job done and how quickly everything came together.” Following the success of this project, the same actuation and control system will be extended to three additional tanks to be built during the second phase of construction at this facility. ●
For more information ✔ at
www.engineerlive.com/iog
Shelley Pike is with Rotork, Bath, UK.
www.rotork.com
www.engineerlive.com 63
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84