AUMA actuators automate Shell Oman Marketing terminal

AUMA has supplied 74 electric valve actuators with Modbus RTU communications and a SIMA master station control system for a tank farm operated by Shell Oman Marketing Company SAOG near Muscat, Oman.

 

The 15 tanks at the Mina al Fahal tank farm store crude oil, fuel oil, and refined hydrocarbon products. For the upgrade project, AUMA supplied SAEx .2 multi-turn actuators with ACExC .2 actuator controls. All 74 devices are centrally controlled by the SIMA master station. The actuators are installed in four main areas of the site: manifold and tank farm; sprinkler tank valves; bunker area; and pump house. The flexibility of the SIMA control system allowed AUMA to meet the customer’s requirement to group the actuators into these four plant areas. This choice of mimic views considerably facilitates set-up and control of the actuators.

 

Redundant Modbus communication on a ring network ensures that all the actuators remain accessible even in the event of a fault or cable break. To enhance safety at the tank farm, the actuators are also fitted with separate emergency shutdown (ESD) inputs.

 

Commissioning was completed on time in August 2017.

 

In March 2017, Shell Oman representatives also visited AUMA’s production site in Wenden, Germany, to witness factory acceptance tests (FAT) for the SIMA master station. The FAT process takes place on a dedicated test bench and is largely automated, with all results displayed on screen and saved for later retrieval.

 

The visitors were impressed by the modern facilities, high quality and high degree of automation in Wenden, which is one of six AUMA production facilities in Germany. AUMA frequently opens its doors to customers for factory visits and acceptance tests.