Product category:
Level Sensors and Leak Detectors
News Release from: Emerson Process Management | Subject: TankRadar Rex
Edited by the Engineeringtalk Editorial
Team on 07 March 2003
Bapco upgrades to radar gauges
The need for gauge replacement became urgent when the existing tank gauge supplier to the Bahrain Petroleum Company (Bapco) announced it was to stop supporting its older systems.
The need for gauge replacement became urgent when the Bahrain Petroleum Company (Bapco) current tank gauge supplier announced it was to stop supporting its 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
"The emulation capability of Saab TankRadar Rex is great", says 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".
In the tank gauging area, there has been slow progress in the implementation of standardized field bus 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 fieldbus 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 the major refineries and oil companies.
The Bahrain Petroleum Company is one example, which has some 130 storage tanks in their export terminal and refinery.
When the existing supplier announced it would stop supporting its older systems, Bapco upgraded the control and display system to the latest technology.
Bapco also had to decide whether to go for the new generation servo gauges, or upgrade to modern radar level gauging.
The company decided to evaluate radar technology.
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 supplier, Saab Rosemount with Saab TankRadar Rex was the only supplier in the market to qualify for the bidding.
The next step of the evaluation was to invite the 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; and the 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 as follows.
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 installed 12 months ago.
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.
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