Automated tank monitoring systems can be critical for your assets, but why are they so important?
What Is Tank Monitoring?
Fluid storage, whether it’s freshwater, produced water, crude oil, or waste constantly shifts its content volume as fluid flows in and out of the tanks. Managing the exact volume within the tank can be difficult.
This can make it hard to know how much fluid has moved through the tank or through the facility. Not knowing how much fluid is contained within the vessel can actually be dangerous.
Not knowing the amount of fluid in a tank at a given time can have disastrous consequences. For example, if a tank is too full it could overflow causing not only a loss of valuable product (in the case of crude oil) but also the environmental consequences associated with a spill and costly cleanup.
Overflows are not the only problem you can run into without automated tank monitoring systems. Depleting a tank can also lose you revenue and increase running costs. Running a tank dry can also cause issues, from pipe cavitation to wasted pump energy and lost efficiency.
These systems provide much more than just data to your company. Although this data is unrefutably valuable, they are also important in creating a positive customer service experience by allowing your company to proactively respond to the needs of your customers.
Tank monitoring solutions solve these problems by using a sensor network to allow systems and managers to avoid catastrophes.
Automatic Tank Gauge System
To better understand tank level monitoring we must first look at its parts, one of the most important parts of tank level monitoring is the tank gauging system. A tank gauge will measure the volume of water in a vessel and indicate that volume by either ascertaining the proximity to the top or bottom of the tank or by some other means.
The system works by using a series of probes within the tank to measure the liquid level. The sensors, or floats, within the tank communicate with a console or computer to let you know exactly what is going on inside the vessel.
Automatic tank gauge systems (ATG) allow users to control the actions of pumps feeding even a remote tank. This then allows companies, municipalities, and owner/operators to not only monitor their tank levels but make actionable decisions that avoid issues.
In addition to remote control of the tanks, ATGs will monitor the tank level to ensure there are no leaks. These leak detection systems are extremely sensitive. In fact, some of them will let your operators know if any liquids are detected near the outside of the vessel.
Other features of automatic tank gauge systems will let you know exactly what is going on inside the tank, including temperature, volume, fuel level, water level or volume and can even give your operators warnings when the level is too high or too low.
Tank Monitoring in Oil & Gas
Small oil & gas companies have the most to gain by automating their fuel tank monitoring. These systems are often especially important for companies that operate stripper wells or marginal wells.
In these cases, many wells may contribute to a single collection point. This means that understanding product level in the tank is even more important. By knowing the exact product level in real-time, you can reduce waste and avoid expensive spills.
Municipalities Need Automation Too
Tank level monitoring has applications that go beyond industrial uses. Government entities that manage water and fluid systems for towns, cities and counties also need automated systems to monitor tank levels.
However, they often lack the budget for larger SCADA systems that cost hundreds of thousands of dollars and can shut down production for extensive installation. Instead, they rely on smaller, simpler automated tank level monitoring systems that can assist in cash-strapped municipalities that have a need for these important infrastructure measures that will fit into their budgets. These systems are also extremely valuable for areas using underground storage tanks that are not easily accessible.
Reign RMC offers automated tank level monitoring along with its POC product that can give the detailed information management teams need, for a fraction of the cost of a full SCADA system.
