CONTENT ENHANCING SAFETY AND EFFICIENCY IN TANK FARMS
INTRODUCTION In tank farms, a safe and effjcient handling of highly valuable liquids is the highest priority. Important > Avoid product spills by ensuring operational focusses are on: > fast loading and unloading operations correct routing of manual valves > safe and clean operations > Improve your plant safety by ensuring > high asset availability correct valve switchovers Netherlocks solutions enable effjcient operation and > Reduce manual valve operating time proper maintenance of the vast network of pipelines and valves in a tank farm. With our solutions we help you to offer a continuous high level of quality to your customers.
CONTENT Ensure correct alignment of manual Ensure pigging safety by eliminating valves using valve position indicators the risk of incorrect valve operation Business case: Early detection of Avoid incorrect pump start-ups misalignment avoids wrong loading and related clean-up expenses Ensure correct alignment of manual Safe maintenance by temporary valve valves using valve interlocks lockout Ensure safe switchover of parallel relief Reduce operating time of large valves manual valves
Ensure correct alignment of manual valves using valve position indicators Challenge Valve position indicators instantly Features & benefjts signal manual valve positions to the Correct alignment of manual valves is critical > VPI is mounted on top of a manual multiturn control room to avoid incorrect (un)loading, product spill or valve even equipment damage. A VPI is permanently mounted on top of a > Integrated sensors detect valve position manual valve. Without hindering the normal valve operation, the VPI detects when a valve > Valve position is transferred to DCS Correct valve alignment helps you to: reaches its fully open or closed position and > ensure that a pump is aligned to the correct instantly signals the position to the control > Signal is transferred wired, or wireless via a vessel and loading arm room. transmitter > product is not contaminated by mixing with With the VPI you assure full real time other product knowledge about individual valve positions. This helps you to avoid or timely discover > isolation valves are in correct position before misalignment, thus strongly reducing the risk of fjlling high costs due to product spill or loss. Valve position indication for multi turn valves
BUSINESS CASE: Early detection of misalignment avoids wrong loading and related clean-up expenses Client: A large Spanish refjnery operates its own tank farm Dedicated position indicators for multi-turn valves for petrol storage. The tanks contain various types of Large Spanish refjnery are hard to come by product. Gasoline of various qualities and compositions Finding alternative ways to get position feedback of is stored in separate tanks. their manual, mostly multi-turn valves proved diffjcult. Although 90° switchboxes are readily available, reliable Challenge: Incorrect valve alignment had resulted in the loading solutions for multi-turn valves are hard to be found. Avoid contamination during loading of wrong product In the past, misalignment of manual valves resulted in Thorough testing proved VPI to be the best position operations from their tank farm the loading of the wrong product quality into a barge. indicator available Since this was only discovered after the ship left, it had After an extensive search, several alternatives were to return to be emptied, cleaned and refjlled, resulting in piloted, for a period of over 2 years. By the end of that Solutions evaluated: avoidable clean-up costs. period, the Netherlocks Valve Position Indicator proved 1. actuators to be the most reliable position indicator available in To avoid such mistakes, a solution was required for the market. With VPI, the company found a highly cost 2. position indicators 1.100+ manual valves effective but state of the art alternative. By installing the The company sought for a way to eliminate the risk VPI on all manual valves in the tank farm, the refjnery to such events. A common solution would be to add avoided a 4x higher investment in actuators. With this, Results: actuators to the valves. These can be programmed the position of each manual valve became visible in > 75% savings in CAPEX such that misalignment is impossible and clearly the control room, giving the operators a good overview indicate the position of a valve. An additional benefjt of the alignment of the many valves in the fjeld before > Timely signalling of misalignment of actuators, that operators should no longer go into starting loading operations. > Avoiding of unanticipated clean-up the fjeld to operate the many valves manually, was irrelevant to this customer. Company policy required VPI offered 75% CAPEX savings compared to costs manual valve operation in many cases. Nevertheless, actuators the costs of equipping 1.100 + valves with an actuator Quite soon after installation VPI proved its worth. It are very high. enabled the operators to timely discover an accidental valve misalignment. Loading was timely canceled, avoiding delays and unexpected costs.
Ensure correct alignment of manual valves using valve interlocks Challenge Interlocks ensure authorized operation Features & benefjts of valves The slightest quantity of incorrectly loaded > Valves are locked for operation without use product may cause critical contamination. of dedicated key The detection of operating keys offers your Slight mistakes thus result in large product control system reliable, wireless position > Operating keys are stored in a key cabinet in indication of your manual valves. losses and high costs. Any unauthorized and the control room incorrect operation of valves must be avoided. Valve interlocks regulate the operation of manual > Key presence in the cabinet indicates valve valves with the use of unique operating keys. Operators can only operate a valve with the use status in the fjeld of its dedicated key, taken from a key cabinet in the control room. > The cabinet communicates presence of individual keys to DCS > Fully wireless solution for valve position indication More about mechanical valve interlocks
Ensure safe switchover of parallel relief valves CONTENT Challenge By interlocking all in- and outlet block Features & benefjts valves, you avoid that all relief valves Parallel relief valves should never be isolated at > At least one PSV is always online are isolated simultaneously. the same time. For a safe changeover between > One PSV must be put online fjrst, before relief valves you want to ensure that operators Valve interlocks, permanently mounted on another one can be isolated cannot accidentally close all inlet valves the in- and outlet block valves, enforce that one inlet valve is to be opened before another > Outlet block valves can not be closed when simultaneously. one is closed. inlet valve is open Valve interlocks ensure safe change overs of critical equipment like relief valves by eliminating the risk of human error. They can be applied to systems with any number of parallel relief valves. Valve interlocks for pressure relief valves (PSV)
Ensure pigging safety by eliminating the risk of incorrect valve operation Challenge Interlocking the closure door with Features & benefjts vents, drains, main valves and kicker During pipeline pigging, operator mistakes > The vessel closure door can only be opened line valves eliminates dangers from could lead to very dangerous situations. High when incorrect valve operations. - pressure is relieved through the vent pressure and toxic gasses seriously threat - residu is removed through the drain operators’ lives. By interlocking all critical block valves that - vents and drains are shut are involved in a pig launching and receiving - main line is closed procedure, the correct operating procedure is enforced. Commonly, the vessel door is > The throttle valve can only be closed when interlocked with block valves to the vent, drain, the main valves are open main and kicker lines. This way operators are guided through a safe operating procedure, > MOV’s are included in the interlock system without any chance on dangerous mistakes. with a specifjc locking solution Often MOV’s are part of a pigging operation. Various solutions are available to include these valves in the pigging interlocking sequence. Valve interlocks for pigging Pigging infographic
Avoid incorrect pump start-ups Challenge Interlocking the electrical pump switch Features & benefjts with suction and discharge valves Pumps are isolated by suction and discharge > Pump can only be started with suction and avoids damage to your equipment valves. When starting up or shutting down a discharge valve in the correct position pump, these valves and the pump must be The pump switch is equipped with a special > Pump is protected against damaging operated in the right order to avoid serious locking mechanism and the related valves overpressures are also interlocked. Operation of the switch equipment damage. is unlocked only after a key is inserted. This > Pump operation can be authorized by key is only available to the operator after he controlled key handout has performed the required valve operations. Hence pumps can only be started with the valves in the correct position. Electrical Switch Lock
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