BP-LPG Terminal, China

BP is the largest LPG importer and operator in China, and is mainly engaged in the LPG wholesale market. Following its construction of the BP Zhuhai LPG terminal on Gao Lan Island, which is located near the city of Zhuhai in Guangdong Province, the company has financed a phase II expansion project that will bring online two new 200,000 m3 underground storage facilities. With the completion of this project, this will be China's second largest LPG terminal.

As part of this expansion project, Yokogawa successfully installed an integrated control and safety system that makes it possible for a single operator per shift to run the entire terminal. The terminal is quiet and well managed 24/7/365.

1. Operational safety

After the liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) is offloaded from a tanker at the jetty and passed through a heating process, it is stored in huge underground tanks. As LPG is a highly explosive gas, it must be handled with the utmost care. The new integrated control and safety system enhances safety by making it possible for an operator at a single human interface station (HIS) to monitor all of the terminal's operations as well as safety loops. For added safety, individual loops are configured at different safety integrity levels (SIL), up to SIL3. Yokogawa ProSafe-RS is certified to SIL3 and also meets the IEC 61508 and IEC 61511 functional safety management (FSM) standards. In addition, CCTV video surveillance systems for the new tank facilities have been seamlessly integrated with existing CCTV cameras to enable surveillance of the entire LPG terminal. All live CCTV video feeds as well as recorded video can be accessed from the CENTUM CS 3000 system. Multiple STAHL remote terminals have also been installed for truck loading. A DCS screen has also been configured to function as a backup, allowing loading operations to be controlled from the central control room if one of the STAHL terminals fails.

2. Project execution

The factory acceptance test (FAT) and all integration work was performed by Yokogawa Software Engineering (WUSI) Co., Ltd. in China. A pre-FAT was also conducted for key operations such as the truck loading and logistics. As a result of these preparations, the site acceptance test (SAT) and site commissioning went very smoothly and there were no punchlist items for Yokogawa at the project site. Everything was cleared before the SAT.

For the first time ever, this project linked ProSafe-RS and CENTUM CS 3000 systems on the same V net control network. Compared to Modbus, the response times are much faster. It was a challenge to configure and test this before the FAT.

Gong Ning, the Engineering Manager for BP China, says, “Based on our good and long term corporate relationship, we have again selected a Yokogawa solution because it works very well and exceeds our expectations.” Wang Dao, the Maintenance & Engineering Supervisor in the Production Department, says, “The Yokogawa system is very reliable. The well designed operation displays help us smoothly handle operations during each shift.” He goes on to say, “Thanks to that, we have had no interruptions in our daily shipments of LPG by ship and truck. The Yokogawa system has been a key factor in maintaining stable operations.”

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