Pumps are another area to consider for an upgrade, though not necessarily from an automation standpoint. Pump technology has come a long way, and rebuilding that decades-old pump one more time might not be the best option even it is saves a few dollars up front. New pump designs provide enhanced capabilities that improve reliability, energy efficiency and make maintenance easier, when required.
For example, the Blackmer® NP Series Sliding Vane Pumps feature the company’s sliding-vane-technology principles, which guarantee consistent volumetric-output performance, even after significant in-service time.
The Griswold™ 811 Series centrifugal pumps features open impellers with two times the wear area of a closed design, which optimizes the performance of the pump’s open impeller and allows renewable performance.
Gorman-Rupp manufactures a full line of pumps specifically designed to safely and efficiently pump petroleum products in critical applications at bulk plants, tank farms, barges, tank cars and fuel trucks. For bulk operations, its Roto-Prime® series provides dependable, positive priming and re-priming, along with safe handling of volatile fluids.
Product loading
Loading racks, loading arms, couplers and ancillary rack equipment might or might not be core to an automation solution, but advances in technology make loading safer and more efficient than ever.
OPW offers a complete line of loading arms and loading-rack equipment for bulk loading and unloading requirements. A recent innovation was the company’s Kamvalok Dry Disconnect Couplings are used at liquid transfer points where product loss could occur.
Emco Wheaton offers a range of high-quality loading arms and supporting products. Its E2304 Bottom Spring Loader is well suited for an existing terminal that is being converted from top loading to bottom loading, where space is limited.
With nearly eight decades of practical field experience in the petroleum and bulk fill industry, OILCO Liquid Handling Systems developed the Safe-T-Lift®. It features a traction balance assembly to provide a simple and effective balancing system to increase operator safety and ease of use.
OSHA data indicates that more than 80% of falls come from climbing and descending. Saferack develops engineered systems that provide a full range of customized loading and unloading capabilities at the rack. A particular niche for the company is providing a safe loading and unloading environment. For example, the company can design a rack featuring safety cages and a built-in tool box so for top-fill applications like railcars. The person doing the fueling does not have to carry a heavy load of tools while climbing up to the top of the rack, and simply walks across and gangway into a safety cage to begin work.
From another safety perspective, Scully provides equipment that helps ensure proper grounding when filling a truck. The Scully Groundhog is a self-proving grounding system that monitors the ground connection throughout the loading operation for maximum safety. The rack mounted control monitor can operate in conjunction with existing Scully overfill prevention systems or as an independent control unit.
With all of the options available for to upgrade, does it make more sense to do them all at one, or individually? “That really depends on your budget, and your appetite for change,” said Verhagen. “We’ve had customers upgrade everything from the rack to the automation system, and everything in between. And there are others that said we are going to do it piece by piece. It really is dependent upon the customer. Obviously, if funds were unlimited it would be great to do everything all at once, but that is not the reality especially now with the crude prices going up and down. Everybody’s budget seems to have gotten a lot tighter over the last six months. And of course you have the downtime to consider as well.”
