Wireless Tank Monitoring with 1844myfuels

"Digi has become a part of our whole solution. This is the first one that is truly wireless with a small footprint and works."

Larry Wayne, General Manager, 1844myfuels

Wireless Tank Monitoring with 1844myfuels

It’s often said that “you can't manage what you don't measure.” This holds true in big ways when it comes to tank monitoring. Measuring the amount of chemicals in a million-gallon industrial tank is significantly more complex than determining the amount of unleaded fuel in a car, but both provide important information that ensure operations can continue and efficient decisions can be made. In the case of tank monitoring, these efficient decisions also lead to greater worksite safety and more dollars saved.

1844myfuels provides tank gauging and monitoring systems that collect and provide information on the fluid and chemical levels of industrial tanks. This information is a significant aspect of operations for companies storing fuels, water and flammable and non-flammable chemicals. Knowing how much a tank is holding at any given time, helps keep track of inventory and helps detect any problems or inefficiencies that exist within a tank.

Why is that so important?

Tank Monitoring Efficiency

Collecting and organizing information from individual industrial tanks can be inefficient and time consuming. With a traditional monitoring system, a technician is required to make frequent visits to each tank location to collect information, often manually, which requires climbing of the tank for measurement. This process also requires route planning, deliveries without knowing exactly what is needed, and the time and resources used in each delivery. This approach becomes a guessing game and provides a substantial problem to companies whose primary business depends on managing one or a large number of industrial and oil tanks at any given time.

1844myfuels set out to create a solution to allow for reliable and accurate remote access to tank information. To provide accurate tank information to anyone in the world from a remote location, a three-part system is required. In addition to the tank sensor deployed inside the tank to collect information, both wireless connectivity and cellular connectivity are needed to allow the information to be sent through 3G, GSM, and CDMA networks, and to allow for cloud based device programming.

Solution

The Digi Connect Tank® is a cellular device that wakes up when notified to measure the contents of a tank. After collecting that information, the device initiates a connection via the Digi's ConnectPort® X4 to send data. Data is securely transmitted to Digi Remote Manager® and then sent to Sensors2Cloud, which allows the end user to access the information via a web or mobile application. This solution makes 1844myfuels an integrated end-to-end solution for remote access to tank data.

The 1844myfuels ultrasonic tank gauging solution provides remote access to tanks regardless of location, email alerts and real-time tank location and analytics provided instantly through an iOS or Android device. Now in the testing stage, the Digi Connect Tank system along with a solar solution is being test for our cold climate conditions and where there is no power readable available. It also has been deployed and being tested by a major petroleum distributor, along with some oil producing and chemical companies!

Results

“This system is expanding our business into new areas, because we can develop a sensor with the ConnectPort X4 for propane tanks. The market is huge. Digi has become a part of our whole solution. This is the first one that is truly wireless with a small footprint and works,” says Larry Wayne, general manager, 1844myfuels.

Pilot testing has resulted in three major conclusions: more efficiency with monetary savings, more accuracy in inventory level monitoring, and increased personal safety through non-invasive tank measurement, which does not require any tank climbing visits and time savings.

The early results of these test units have been encouraging and welcomed by a large number of customers that are efficiency and safety driven. “Not one bad word came back. This is what they been looking for,” said Wayne. “With Digi’s endless capabilities and products, with Sensors2Cloud ability to build out the ecosystem – we’re on the brink of doing something huge.”