TNS Asia Pacific Pte Ltd

Overview

An automated oil tank monitoring system is designed to gather information, including oil level and temperature and handle the security system at an oil tank farm. The system is centralized, which means that less manpower is required and it is much easier to manage and collect information.

Since the system is set up to provide real time management, the operators can enjoy a higher level of security and ensure a much faster reaction time in case of emergencies. In addition, since monitoring is more accurate, oil companies can avoid the oil waste generally inherent in storage and transmission.

Application Requirements:
•    ULC1D2/ATEC Class I Zone II
•    IP65 protection
•    STP/RSTP
•    Over 2 km communication distance

Solution

Several sensors are used to gather information from each oil tank, with the sensors connected through a Foundation Fieldbus network. In order to use standard Ethernet for communication, a Foundation Fieldbus gateway converts Foundation Fieldbus data to standard Ethernet format.

Other security systems, such as fire alarms and a surveillance systems are also connected via Ethernet. Wireless is used for the communication system between each oil tank and control center. Because of concerns about reliability, dual wireless networks transmitting through different frequency bands are used, with redundancy implemented by standard
IEEE 802.1w RSTP protocol.

Since the distance between oil tanks is anywhere between 500 m and 1 km, long distance communication using special antennas and a mesh standard such as WDS is necessary.

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