Product category:
Level and tank contents instrumentation
News Release from: Emerson Process Management | Subject: TankRadar Rex
Edited by the Processingtalk Editorial
Team on 18 November 2004
Saab Rosemount saves time/money for
Bapco Refinery
The need for gauge replacement became urgent when the Bahrain Petroleum Company current tank gauge supplier announced they would stop supporting their older systems: Saab Rosemount proved themselves
The need for gauge replacement became urgent when the Bahrain Petroleum Company (Bapco) current tank gauge supplier announced they would stop supporting their older systems Saab Rosemount Tank Control suggested an efficient and elegant solution for step-by-step upgrade to reliable radar level gauging, and got the order
This article was originally published on Processingtalk on 8 Sep 2008 at 8.00am (UK)
Related stories
Emerson launches two-wire Micro Motion Coriolis
Emerson Process Management has launched a two-wire Micro Motion Coriolis transmitter, expanding the value of Coriolis to the range of applications that require loop-powered flow devices.
Emerson adds DeviceNet and PROFIBUS DP protocols
Emerson Process Management has introduced communication options for the Micro Motion 2400S transmitter.
"The emulation capability of Saab TankRadar Rex is great" says Mr Hans Joubert, Process Control and Instrumentation Manager at Bapco.
"It allows interfacing different vendors, giving us a wider option to choose without being stuck with a single vendor.
In our case the emulation resulted in reducing around 30% of the project supply and engineering cost".
Further reading
Emerson releases AMS Suite
Emerson Process Management has announced AMS Suite: Intelligent Device Manager 9.5 applications for planning and managing scalable wireless networks to support the process automation industry.
Emerson opens offshore engineering centre
Emerson Process Management has announced the opening of an engineering centre in Oslo, Norway.
Emerson improves oxygen analyser
Emerson Process Management has enhanced its Rosemount Analytical X-Stream oxygen analysers to improve efficiencies of large boilers and furnaces.
In the tank gauging area, there has been slow progress in the implementation of standardised fieldbus protocols.
Until recently, refineries and tank terminals have been unable to replace old mechanical gauges with new radar equipment from other suppliers than their current.
At least at reasonable cost and labour.
But today that's history, thanks to the Saab TankRadar Rex gauge from Saab Rosemount.
The Rex gauge can emulate mechanical gauges from all common manufacturers.
Hooked up on the existing field bus the Rex gauge acts as the mechanical gauge it just has replaced.
This means substantial savings in installation and cabling costs.
The benefits of the Saab TankRadar Rex system are becoming clear to many major refineries and oil companies.
The Bahrain Petroleum Company was one of the first examples: they have some 130 storage tanks in their export terminal and refinery.
Bapco had to decide whether to go for the new generation servo gauges, from the old supplier, or whether to upgrade to modern radar level gauging.
They decided to evaluate radar technology, in a test alongside the old mechanical servo gauge.
The implementation of the upgrade was planned in phases with minimum operation disturbance.
Thus, the most important factor was that the companies bidding for the new gauges should have the ability to interface seamlessly to the newly upgraded control and display system.
In addition to the current mechanical gauge supplier, Saab Rosemount with Saab TankRadar Rex was the only supplier in the market to qualify for the bidding.
The evaluation required qualified bidders to visit the actual installation, present references for similar applications and to conduct trials of radar gauges to demonstrate the following.
* accuracy on both fixed and floating roof tanks.
* reliability.
* ability to interface to the newly upgraded control system.
Both Saab Rosemount and the current supplier provided one radar gauge to be installed alternately on a floating roof and a fixed roof tank.
The evaluation result was the following: first, interfacing to existing system was verified for both Saab Rosemount and the current supplier.
Secondly, the Saab TankRadar Rex proved better accuracy and reliability, especially on the floating roof tank.
In addition, excellent local support was demonstrated by Saab Rosemount.
The trial gauge, a Saab RTG 3940 with a connected temperature sensor, was delivered in June 2001.
After evaluation, another 60 gauges were ordered in January 2002.
The experience of the Rex gauge and Saab Rosemount in BAPCO is satisfactory so far.
No maintenance has been required for the trial gauge.
Installation was easy, using existing stilling wells and cabling.
Today, a user of tank gauging systems has the option to mix different types of tank gauges from different suppliers without having bus incompatibility problems.
Since gradual upgrades of a tank gauging system is possible at reasonable cost, there is no reason to accept high maintenance costs and poor performance on old existing mechanical level gauges. Request a free brochure from Emerson Process Management ...
(The views expressed in this article are those of the interviewee in his personal capacity.).
• Emerson Process Management: contact details and other news
• Email this article to a colleague
• Register for the free Processingtalk email newsletter
• Processingtalk Home Page
Search the Pro-Talk network of sites
