Rotork Site Services package secures vital actuation and control upgrade at BP tank farm

Rotork Site Services’ comprehensive extended scope abilities have enabled new valves with the latest IQ intelligent electric valve actuators and Pakscan 2-wire digital control to be installed in a vital upgrade project at a BP tank farm.

The BP storage tank farm at Lyon in France consists of nine storage tanks with a total capacity in excess of 60,000 cubic metres.  The plant’s inlet and outlet valves utilise Rotork electric actuators, whilst the fire fighting water main was, until recently, equipped with Profibus-enabled valve actuators from a French manufacturer.  BP contacted Rotork with a view to improving the level of reliability and the maintenance service for all the actuators on the site.

Rotork’s engineers convinced BP that the installation of Rotork IQ intelligent electric actuation technology with Pakscan 2-wire digital control on the fire fighting water main would provide the security and reliability demanded by the application, as well as meeting BP HSSE standards.  Rotork actuators with Pakscan control have been widely adopted in BP tank farm installations in Europe and elsewhere since the first Pakscan system was launched in the 1980s.  Many of these installations have been subsequently upgraded with IQ actuators and the latest Pakscan P3 network.  In addition, the comprehensive scope of supply available from Rotork France would enable the new actuated valves and control system to be supplied as a complete, factory-fitted and tested package, simplifying the whole contractual process.

New butterfly valves were therefore free-issued to Rotork’s Site Services workshop for motorisation with IQT actuators in two contract phases, each involving 30 valves. The Rotork Pakscan P3 digital control system was also supplied in the first phase of the contract and has been commissioned by Rotork service engineers.

Following the success of the Rotork Site Services package, Rotork is now negotiating a two-year maintenance contract for the BP site, including the Rotork actuators on the inlet and outlet valves.