Emerson Exchange 365

New York Terminals operates a bulk liquid terminal in the New Jersey/New York harbor area that stores asphalt, diesel, lubes, chemicals, biofuels, and No. 6 oil in its 39 existing storage tanks. Because the independently owned company needed to stay competitive in a changing market, while meeting New Jersey administrative codes for preventing and controlling discharges at major facilities, it sought to increase efficiency by controlling costs and maximizing the utilization of its capacity, as well as enhance overfill safety and optimize performance.

During the 2016 Emerson Exchange Americas in Austin, Texas Craig Royston, with New York Terminals, and Lance Berry, with Emerson, discussed how the company was able to boost operational safety and performance by implementing a new system for tank gauging and overfill prevention.

By utilizing modern 2-in-1 radar tank gauges, high-accuracy temperature measurement, and an SIL2-rated overfill prevention system, New York Terminals eliminated manual tank climbing and hand gauging. “Because there is no need for frequent hand dipping and the radar tank gauging keeps workers off of the tank roof and ladders, the personal safety of our workers has significantly increased, since climbing tanks can be risky,” Royston said. Also, with a fail-safe overfill alarm system connected to the radar tank gauging system and overfill alarm panels located close to the groups of tanks, safety is enhanced by another layer.

The tank gauging system allows for more rapid barge turn-around, due to higher pump rates, which reduces transfer time and saves barge dock time and costs. It also saves the company 25 percent in work hours compared to manual gauging. Furthermore, due to the increased safety and reliability, it is now possible to utilize more of the tank space by raising the maximum fill levels, which means increased revenue.

“We have experienced significant productivity improvements since implementing the automatic radar gauging,” Royston added. “In the past, when unloading barges, we used two workers in the beginning stages, and three workers before finishing — one at the dock, one near the valves, and one at the top of the tank. Now, we only use one worker at the dock, conduct tank monitoring from the office, and add one additional worker for valve closing. This has saved eight man hours per barge, with more than 100 barges per year, making a total saving of 800 man hours per year.”

The company used to rely on manual hand gauging to obtain tank readings. But now, a quick glance at a display enables operators to see all the information and the automatic tank gauging customers need. With online customer access to tank data, customers can log into their own web page and access reports and changes with ease.

By implementing the Rosemount tank gauging system, the company reduced operating costs, raised transfer rates, improved capacity utilization, and achieved better overfill safe guarding. In addition, New York Terminals improved administrative productivity.