Robustness, reliability, flexibility and enhanced safety are key benefits that electric actuators offer for valve automation in tank farms. This is illustrated by four recent projects in Fujairah, United Arab Emirates, that use electric actuation technology from AUMA.
In a project known as Black Pearl, operator Vopak Horizon Fujairah is adding 500,000m3 of crude oil storage at the Port of Fujairah. More than 80 AUMA SAEx .2 multi-turn and SQEx .2 part-turn actuators with ACExC .2 intelligent controls are used to automate gate, butterfly and double block and bleed (DBB) valves. Safety is maximised by four SIMA master stations in a hot standby configuration, providing supervisory control and redundant communication.
“The compact modular design of AUMA allows maximum flexibility and interchangeability on site, apart from fast communication speed which is crucial for valve operation,” said a spokesperson from Vopak Horizon Fujairah.
In a second project for Vopak Horizon Fujairah, plant safety is ensured at multiple levels: AUMA supplied 48 actuators and two SIMA master stations for a matrix manifold linking the Vopak terminal to other storage at the port. A global emergency shutdown (ESD) command can be transmitted via the SIMA to a predefined set of actuators. In addition, each actuator includes a separate, hard-wired ESD function and can thus be controlled individually.
AUMA also recently supplied 142 actuators to Brooge Petroleum and Gas Investment Company for its new shipping terminal at Fujairah, and a further 36 actuators to the Port of Fujairah for its VLCC Jetty 1 project.
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