Technology has removed almost all the manual tasks from the oil and gas terminal. This terminal is used to deliver oil and gas products from places where they have been processed to transportation vehicles that move them toward their use by customers. It is important for all the processes that happen in a terminal are done in a safe way. There are no “do-overs” like with other types of processing that allows for someone to re-start a process if it not going the way everyone wants. The delivery of products have to be accurate in amount and in time. It is not beneficial to load coal oil into a truck that is expecting to receive gasoline for a service station. Somebody’s head will roll on that one.
Fortunately the terminal automation does not allow for such things to happen. The task that were once done manually in a terminal are now done in an automated fashion by the terminal automation system. The controller, a computer, is controlling the processes that go on in the terminal. This includes the loading, storage, dispensing, and safe care of all products that go through the terminal. At each phase of product movement through the terminal there is a continuous eye on the safe handling of all products, especially those that are explosive or give off harsh fumes or could damage the environment. The controller in the terminal knows all the vehicles that can carry products, what are their empty weights, what are their full weights, what are their destinations, and who are their owners. As any vehicle enters the terminal to receive a load of any product, the controller knows what the disposition of the vehicle and its product are at any one moment. The controller coordinates all the movements in its area of control with ease and knowledge. The technology that drives the coordination continues to make the abilities of terminal automation more and more effective.
The oil and gas terminal is a part of the terminal system that is considered to be a major part of the delivery system of oil and gas from where these products are processed to the points where they are consumed. The transportation of these products requires very high levels of safety and control. This safety and control is provided by the terminal automation system. Some of the tasks that automation provides a terminal are metering, reporting, inventory calculation and monitoring, spill avoidance, and fire safety. Among the operations that utilize terminal automation are airports that dispense and store aviation fuel, marine loading and unloading facilities, and pipeline distribution centers.
An oil and gas pipeline terminal that is automated will have almost all of its functions attended by the system. These include total system security, pump assignment and sequencing, leak detection and line balancing. Batching of products that are shipped on the pipeline are fully scrutinized. Batches of products have the consignor and the origin point of the product controlled by the automation. Full nomination management by the automation should include the product type, the planned batch quantity, and its availability date. It should also include the destination point for the batch with its consignee and the predicted shrinkage amount. Receipt management of the batch would include the actual shipping date, the amount of product that was received at the destination, and the destination consignee.
An automated water terminal should have features that allow for automated scheduling and execution of processes such as filter maintenance and other routine, but required functions. There should automated tracking of water quality levels like PH and other chemical levels. Monitoring and control of all levels of treatment with automatic reporting of any deviation from required standards. These types of terminal systems are ideal for waste water treatment, reverse osmosis or any other water treatment or reclamation. For water treatment functions that should be included are aeration, filtration, injection of chemicals, flocculation, disinfection, and automated filter backwash management. In a waste water reclamation system automation should be available for aeration, solids handling, disinfection, and chemical feeds.
The terminals that are set up to handle the processing, distribution, storage, and shipping of bulk products are mostly completely automated. The controllers in these environments have taken all the manual efforts out of management of such facilities. Many of these operations have very little intervention from human operators while they continue to work day in and day out without any interruption or complication. The automation in these facilities controls everything from escalators to sump pumps to tunnel ventilation to plumbing and drainage.
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