Rotork flow control technologies specified for major petroleum storage expansion project in the UAE

Rotork electric and electro-hydraulic valve actuation and control technologies have been specified for a major petroleum storage tank farm expansion project at Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates.

The project at the Emarat Fujairah Terminal has included the construction of ten new storage tanks, increasing the site’s total capacity from 50,000 to 260,000 cubic metres. The facility is designed for the storage and distribution of gas oil, petrol and jet fuel to meet the growing regional demand for trading and bunkering. The design of the new tanks complies with the highest criteria for safety, employing control systems in accordance with international standards. Rotork valve actuation technologies make an important contribution to the successful achievement of the control and safety standards. More than one hundred Rotork IQ explosionproof intelligent electric actuators with Rotork Pakscan two-wire digital control have been installed for the majority of valve duties.

Designed for maximum reliability with enhanced functionality, IQ actuators feature non-intrusive, intrinsically safe commissioning, data-logging and predictive maintenance capabilities. Reliability is enhanced by the double-sealed IP68 watertight enclosure, whilst the ability to download and diagnose operating data enables effective asset management to be planned and implemented with the minimum interruption to plant operations.

The Pakscan two-wire digital control system was specified by Emarat and the engineering consultant Penspen for its proven reliability and flexibility for valve control in the tank farm industry. Pakscan is designed specifically for valve actuators and the spacious environments associated with tank farm installations. The Pakscan configuration provides builtin redundancy from the valve to the control room, ensuring the security of vital control command and monitoring data. In addition, data from actuator dataloggers can be downloaded over the Pakscan network for diagnostics and analysis, enabling this vital function to be performed without leaving the control room.

Rotork EH electro-hydraulic actuators provide reliable failsafe valve management for safety related and emergency shutdown (ESD) duties. Utilising Rotork IQ intelligent actuation technology and designed to SIL3 standards for safety critical applications, EH actuators can be programmed for failsafe to open, failsafe to close or lock in position on power failure or ESD signal. For the Fujairah Terminal project the Rotork actuators were fitted to valves at a local valve company and shipped to site as factory tested motorised valve (MOV) packages. Rotork’s Middle East office and UAE agent in Abu Dhabi are providing on-site and workshop support for the installed products.

The Fujairah Terminal is owned by the Emirates General Petroleum Corporation (Emarat). Main Contractor for the expansion project was Tata of India, with Albanna Engineering of Dubai responsible for the MOV installations. Systems integration has been performed by the Jebel Ali office of Larsen and Toubro.

Published: 16th September 2012