Emerson’s Total Solution Increases Availability and Efficiency
Emerson Process Management has recently completed the installation of advanced automation and controls for a new state-of-the-art, gantry type loading facility at the Shell Pernis chemical complex in the Netherlands. The performance of the Emerson equipment is critical and the total care maintenance contract with Vopak, the gantry owner and operator, carries penalties if availability falls below 99.7 percent.
When Shell was planning to replace one of its aging truck loading facilities with a state of the art loading gantry, it set a goal to reduce the turnaround times for the ten thousand trucks that are despatched from the refinery each year. It was therefore essential to reduce loading times to a minimum, avoid unexpected shutdowns of the loading gantry, and introduce flexibility into the system to cater for early arrivals. Shell sets its own standards for environmental performance and needed to be sure that its loading facilities meet these standards by recovering any displaced vapour.
By providing ongoing asset care and taking full advantage of the predictive and on-line diagnostics capabilities of PlantWeb® digital plant architecture and AMS™ Suite Intelligent Device Manager, together with FOUNDATION™ Fieldbus technology, Emerson could guarantee 99.7% availability of the facility. The automation portion of the new facility is on track to maintain a projected annual maintenance cost of less than 3 percent RAV (Replacement Asset Value). This figure approaches best-in-class and is well below the industry average of 6.7 percent. This figure may be considered exceptional for an automation system guaranteeing 99.7 percent availability.
The new facility has also enabled efficiencies to be made in truck loading by shortening turnaround times by an average of one hour, to less than two hours. This includes improved slot planning, to evenly space vehicle arrivals and reduce waiting times in front of the gate, relocating the gantry outside the Shell facility to eliminate manual site access procedures and pre-processing of load plans to reduce unproductive delays. The flexibility provided by the reduced turnaround times, even allows trucks that occasionally arrive early for their loading slot to be accommodated.
In order to meet Shell’s objective of eliminating the release of vapour to the atmosphere, Vopak installed an advanced processing system that captures the vapours as trucks load. This system is controlled by Emerson’s PlantWeb® digital plant architecture. The captured vapours are burned to generate enough electrical energy for the Shell grid to compensate for the new loading gantry's consumption. The energy savings and improved efficiencies from the shortened truck turnaround times have reduced operational costs by 20 percent.
Emerson Process Management has recently completed the installation of advanced automation and controls for a new state-of-the-art, gantry type loading facility at the Shell Pernis chemical complex in the Netherlands. The performance of the Emerson equipment is critical and the total care maintenance contract with Vopak, the gantry owner and operator, carries penalties if availability falls below 99.7 percent. 
When Shell was planning to replace one of its aging truck loading facilities with a state of the art loading gantry, it set a goal to reduce the turnaround times for the ten thousand trucks that are despatched from the refinery each year. It was therefore essential to reduce loading times to a minimum, avoid unexpected shutdowns of the loading gantry, and introduce flexibility into the system to cater for early arrivals. Shell sets its own standards for environmental performance and needed to be sure that its loading facilities meet these standards by recovering any displaced vapour. 
