Automatic Tank Gauging

The next generation of automatic tank gauging will reduce installation costs

By Tony Mills, General Manager, Tank Gauge Group, OPW Fuel Management Systems

Automatic tank gauging plays an important role today for marketers and fleet managers in the management of their fueling operations. It’s a prerequisite for complying with environmental regulations and effectively managing their fuel inventories.

Traditionally, the installation of tank gauge systems required dedicated wiring from devices to controller and dedicated conduit for intrinsically safe devices, resulting in numerous home runs of wiring commensurate with the number of monitoring devices at a location. When the installation is an upgrade of a location, it requires concrete to be broken, trenches to be dug out and conduit installed and wiring pulled back for the various types of probes, sensors and line leak detection devices.

And this is just for one site. When you throw in the hundreds of thousands of fuel-dispensing locations in the country—from retail to government agency to commercial to aviation and marine operations—you are talking about thousands of sensors and probes and millions of feet of wiring.

To top it off, many of these systems have been in place for close to a decade now, or since the EPA-mandated leak-detection compliance deadline of December 1998. Since 10 years of reliable service from commercial electronic systems is about the average, it would stand to reason that many of the sites that were installed during the height of the mandate frenzy are ripe for replacement.

This leaves the site operator with a dilemma: The systems offered today by most of the leading suppliers are based upon the exact technology that is used in the systems that are up for replacement. Do I really want to use technology that was cutting edge nearly 15 years ago - technology that may be tried-and-true but fails to embrace many of the innovations in performance and technology that have developed over the past decade? Is there something new and improved that will make the tank-gauging and monitoring process easier and more efficient, and if there is, am I willing to discard my old system in favor of this new offering?

This begs another question: If the site operator were considering new technology, what would a wish list of can’t-live-without components in this new system contain? It’s not a stretch to say that with the wide array of communications technology available today that the wish list might include a system that can send data to multiple fax or e-mail recipients, or via SMS to a cell phone, provide a log of alarms and other exception events, and then create the records that are necessary to meet regulatory demands in a concise, easily accessible method.

To simplify the process, a “dashboard” could allow operators to monitor all of their operations from a single computer screen. You would also have separation of the field wiring from the console, putting the information right at the point-of-use rather than the wiring closet, and access to all system information from anywhere and immediate notification of events on your cell phone or PDA - all features that make it easier for fueling operation owners to run their businesses. Additionally, standard browser compatibility will allow data to be viewed from any PC so equipped, be it in the office next door or from another continent. No longer will proprietary communication software be required from a specific supplier.

[Editor’s Note: For a run down of the latest tank gauge technology from OPW and other companies, look to the August issue of NPN Magazine.]

Tony Mills is the General Manager, Tank Gauge Group for Hodgkins, Ill.-based OPW Fuel Management Systems. The company specializes in the design and manufacture of tank gauges, tank level monitors; tank, sump & monitoring well gauges, and sensors & systems for liquid level monitoring & leak detection, and automated fuel control systems. OPW-FMS is a business unit of OPW Fueling Components, the leader in commercial and retail fueling solutions worldwide. Tony Mills can be reached at (708) 485-4200 or tmills@opwfms.com.