Control & Operational Intelligence System automates chemical and oil storage processesFebruary 18, 2004 Irvine, CARoyal Vopak, a global provider of liquid chemical and oil product storage and value-added logistics, has chosen OAenterprise, the world’s leading component-based Control & Operational Intelligence System, to automate new storage tanks within its Vlaardingen site in the Netherlands. Vopak, which operates 71 tank terminals in 29 countries, will initially automate 53 new storage tanks with OAenterprise. This implementation will generate a significant reduction in maintenance costs and in the cost and time required for future projects through use of OAenterprise’s “Class Libraries.”Ocean tankers arrive daily at the Vlaardingen terminal to unload product while inland ships, trucks, and trains arrive to transport product to European countries. The objective of the OAenterprise implementation is to automatically load product from ships and trucks into storage tanks, to condition product in the tanks during storage, and to transport product from tanks into trucks, ships, or trains. With three OAenterprise implementations already running at Vlaardingen, Vopak is very familiar with the dependability and value of OAenterprise.The new storage tanks contain automatic temperature regulators, volume measurement systems, and a connection to a seven-pump coupling platform, which in turn connects to a multiple-arm loading station. Because these tanks share functionality, it is efficient to develop “classes,” such as a tank class, pump class, valve class, and temperature regulation class. These classes could be compared to a mould in which an endless amount of objects can be formed. A pump class has intelligence plus input and output signals required to control a physical pump. Once the class is developed and tested, objects that control specific pumps are created with one simple mouse click! Thus, the time to deploy and effort to maintain control applications is significantly less than traditional systems. These classes are then placed in a class library and are easily reused on future initiatives. About ObjectAutomation (oa.com)ObjectAutomation’s OAenterprise has been automating, controlling, monitoring, coordinating, and optimizing business processes, production operations, and equipment for global energy, utilities, and manufacturing companies since 1996. OAenterprise, which offers the world’s most advanced, open, and component-based technical architecture, allows for flexible and adaptive process modeling, and provides unlimited extensibility and scalability.
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