Bulk storage facilities play a critical role in the oil and gas supply chain. They receive products from refineries and gas processing plants and distribute the products through many different means such as trucks, rail, ship, pipeline, or a combination of these.
Key challenges that tank terminals and depots continuously face are: minimise losses, reduce operating costs, increase throughput, ensure smooth processes and increase safety and security.
Any losses in handling the transfer of these products at terminals and depots significantly affect the income of those involved across the value chain. For instance, if a depot receives 10,000 litres of fuel, manages to sell 5,000 litres and is left with 4,000 litres it simply means it has lost 1,000 litres.
The loss might have been as a result of changes in temperatures, leakages, meter errors, faulty devices, pilferage, and human errors. Therefore, an inability to accurately measure volumes of products results in the deviation leading to either a loss or gain in income and stock reconciliations.
Carrying out terminal operations manually is very risky. If not correctly managed, it likely results into the following: errors in data compilation increases, human intervention in data processing, movement in a hazardous area by operators to collect data, reduced process efficiency, product contamination or losses, increased chances of accidents, amongst others.
How can terminals and depots increase efficiency and profitability? Moving a product through the facility is what generates income, and movements need to be measured precisely.
With proper inventory, it is possible to manage fluctuations in products’ demand and lead time and eventually benefit a good control of stock and money because the data collected makes it possible to make accurate, timely decisions and more time saving for the operations.
However, many times, various players in the sector have multiple solution providers. This means that the plant staff becomes the integrators. Implementing and managing the terminal becomes costly when it comes to planning and scheduling, security, accounting, loading control, and safety.
Terminals and logistics management are becoming essential to terminal and depot operations while increasing inventory turnover and reducing safety risk thus, the need for continuous improvements in both precision and operational efficiencies. Automating the terminal can help achieve this.
According to the Market Research Future (MRFR)’s latest report, operational efficiency is becoming a key focus for industry leaders. This is because of the increasing complexities of industrial equipment have opened avenues of growth opportunities for the market participants.
As a result, as terminals strive to deliver on their schedules, handle an increasing number of transfers, and manage a wider range of products and modalities, it is important for the terminals to be flexible in product lineups and delivery schedules.
With an effective terminal automation system, it becomes the terminal’s cash register and bookkeeper, recording all flows in and out including custody transfers and product movements. All the data comes from the facility’s instrumentation through the process control system.
The field instrumentations that are typically used are accurate wireless automatic tank gauging, custody transfer grade metering systems, machinery health vibration diagnostics, automatic high-level alarms with integrated motor operated valves systems, access control, pump control, CCTV and safety systems.
In addition, our terminal automation system automates every stage of product movement through a loading terminal: receipt, inventory and dispensing. It measures, records and reports all transfers and exchanges throughout the product movement.
Automation systems minimize lineup errors that cause delivery delays saving average terminal millions of dollars a year in revenue, improving customer satisfaction in addition to improving safety and regulatory compliance.
At Burhani Engineers, we can help our customers on the journey of Terminal Automation to bring sanity to the issue of losses and gains.
As part of our strategies to provide clients with end to end value solutions, we have four divisions of innogrative solutions namely: Electrical, Instrumentation, Civil, and Mechanical.
Since 2004, we have been providing innogrative end-to-end engineered solutions in the oil and gas, mining and process industries throughout the Eastern African region.
We always ‘create different’ as a core value where besides creating and implementing new ideas that deliver impact, we remove complexity and drive simplicity.
Together with our global business partners, our solutions connect the information and activities in the field directly to the enterprise through business and automation solutions.
With global expertise and local support, Burhani Engineers have a broad portfolio of solutions to support terminal operations that help you achieve superior order-to-cash performance, customer communication excellence, and real-time accounting accuracy.