Tank Gauging Solution

NK Engineering provides a comprehensive tank management solution: Inventory Monitoring and Custody Transfer Tank Gauging. It optimizes the supply chain, enhances operational safety, prevents losses, and ensures regulatory compliance.

Overview of Intelligent Tank Management Solutions

In industrial production operations, tank inventory monitoring remains a significant challenge, directly impacting operational planning and supply chain efficiency:

- Insufficient Inventory: Leads to the risk of production disruption due to raw material shortages, causing delivery delays and damaging the company’s reputation.
- Excessive Inventory: Increases storage costs, risks deterioration of raw material quality over time, and results in capital wastage.
- Root Causes: Lack of real-time inventory monitoring systems, insufficient data integration with planning departments, and reliance on manual stocktaking methods prone to errors and delays. These factors hinder managers in purchasing planning and maintaining stable production schedules.

Understanding these challenges, NK Engineering offers the Intelligent Tank Management Solution — a key enabler for businesses to accurately control inventory levels, proactively plan production, and optimize the entire supply chain. The solution comprises two main components:

- Inventory Monitoring
- Custody Transfer Monitoring (Tank Gauging)

Intelligent Tank Management System Utilizing Endress+Hauser Measurement Devices

Outstanding Values and Benefits:

- Enhanced Accuracy & Reliability: Utilizing high-end measurement devices from Endress+Hauser to optimize raw material intake, output, and storage processes.
- Optimized Operating Costs: Automated data collection reduces manual stocktaking workload and saves labor resources.
- Data Transparency & Easy Integration: Information is transmitted directly to SCADA/ERP systems, supporting early warnings and data-driven decision-making in real time.
- Enhanced Safety & Regulatory Compliance: Ensures safe operations while meeting measurement and storage control requirements for hazardous or strictly regulated materials.
- Supporting Digital Transformation of Tank Farms: Automated reporting, remote monitoring, and data analytics to optimize inventory management—an essential link in the supply chain and production process.

1. Tank Management Solution for Inventory Monitoring

This solution enables comprehensive, continuous monitoring of all tanks within the storage facility. It is an optimal choice for internal management, operational supervision, and supply chain planning. The solution is widely applied in industries such as Food & Beverage, Chemicals, and more.

Key Functional Capabilities of the System:

- Real-time monitoring of raw material levels (liquid or bulk), volume, and mass in each tank.
- Early warnings for level threshold breaches, leak detection, or the need for replenishment.
- Automated inventory reporting and data integration with upstream systems (SCADA, ERP) to synchronize management information.
- Provides information for procurement planning, supply chain optimization, and ensuring production continuity.
- Supports remote access (web, smartphone) enabling monitoring anytime, anywhere.

Core System Components:

Based on high-accuracy and reliable measurement devices from Endress+Hauser, the inventory monitoring system includes:

- Radar/Ultrasonic Level Measurement Devices: Utilizing non-contact technology with high stability, these devices monitor levels in tanks containing liquid raw materials (fresh milk, syrup, chemicals, etc.) as well as solid materials (malt, rice, coffee, and various agricultural grains).
- Level Switch Sensors: Provide high/low level alarms to ensure safety during loading and unloading of tanks and silos.
- Connectivity & Integration: Secure data transmission to higher-level systems (SCADA, ERP) and remote access via web browser—delivering information for analysis, reporting, and optimized inventory management support.

Optimize the Supply Chain with Inventory Monitoring Solutions

2. Tank Management Solution for Custody Transfer (Tank Gauging)

This solution focuses on accurate measurement of liquid levels and volumes in tanks – serving custody transfer applications or other scenarios requiring high precision. It is commonly applied in fuel depots, chemical storage, solvents, and similar industries.

Key Functional Capabilities of the System:

- Ensure absolute accuracy in measuring cargo volume during custody transfer.
- Automatically calculate volume and mass based on tank calibration tables.
- Danger level alarms, overflow prevention, and operational safety protection.
- Provides data for custody transfer documentation, payment processing, tank farm control, and compliance reporting.

Core System Components:

- Specialized Level Measurement Devices by Endress+Hauser: Featuring two core technologies optimized for specific applications:
  - Radar Level Meter Micropilot NMR8: Offers superior accuracy (±0.5 mm error), compliant with international standards OIML R85 and API 3.1B, and approved by the Directorate for Standards, Metrology and Quality of Vietnam for custody transfer applications.
  - Proservo Level Meter NMS8: Utilizes electronic float (servo) technology, offering the highest accuracy on the market (±0.4 mm error) with global certification for custody transfer. This versatile device measures multiple parameters including level, density, interface (fuel-water), and bottom clearance. Key advantages include independence from guide pipe structure or physical properties of the medium, a calibration/setup time of up to 10 minutes per tank, and no need to empty the tank during installation.