Vopak Chemical Logistics has made a safety upgrade of their 34 tank Mussalo terminal near Kotka in southern Finland. By combining high precision TankRadar Rex gauges with Rosemount 5400 radar level transmitters, they get state-of-the-art independent overfill protection.
Each tank, both fixed and floating roof tanks, is equipped with one Rex radar gauge plus one Rosemount 5400. The 5400 transmitter gives alarm output to the separate emergency shutdown system.
Before, the terminal used mechanical level switches. The on-off switches could only be tested at irregular intervals, and a major drawback was that you only knew they worked at the time of testing. As the terminal stores different products with varying properties in each tank, mechanical equipment with moving parts has reliability problems due to condensation and product build-up. In addition, many of the tanks are heated, and have thermal insulation making them generally unsuitable for equipment with moving parts.
By using a reliable level measurement device such as the 5400 as independent overfill alarm, on-line proof-testing during normal operation is now possible.
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