3D twinFuel terminals and tank farms
A live 3D model of your receipt manifold, tank farm, blending skids, gate, parking and loading gantry, fed by the tank gauges, terminal automation and gate records you already keep. It shows stock, bay use and safety checks in one place, and who should act next.
01Live 3D twin
Step through eleven views from the pipeline manifold to the fire pumps, then trace one tanker load from indent to gate-out. Click any tank, bay or tanker for its record.
Operational AIFictional inland fuel terminal with sample data — your twin is drawn from your own site and systems.
02Definition
Each area is drawn to scale and tied to the system that records it, so every number has a source and a time.
A fuel terminal digital twin is a live 3D model of a petroleum storage terminal that updates from tank gauges, the terminal automation system (TAS), gate and weighbridge records and safety logs. It shows stock in every tank, blend ratios, where each tanker is waiting and why, and the state of fire and gas systems, and sends each exception to the person who can act on it. It reads from control systems; it does not operate valves or pumps.
03Measures
The numbers the twin keeps for every shift, each computed from records rather than typed in, so operations, supply and safety see the same figure.
| Measure | What it tells you | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| KL dispatched against plan | Metered litres loaded into tankers in the day, at 15 °C, against the dispatch plan by product. | TAS batch records, dispatch plan |
| Gantry utilisation | Minutes each bay is loading divided by the minutes it is available in the shift. | TAS batch start and end stamps, bay status |
| Bay idle minutes | Minutes a bay is available with no tanker while tankers wait in parking for that product. | Bay status, parking records |
| Tanker turnaround time | Gate-out time minus gate-in time per tanker, split into safety check, parking, loading and exit. | FASTag or ANPR, weighbridge, TAS, seal reader |
| Ullage and days of cover | Volume left to the high-level alarm in each tank, and usable stock divided by the planned daily draw. | Tank gauges, dispatch plan |
| Blend ratio accuracy | Ethanol volume as a percentage of each compartment, against the 20% target and its tolerance. | Blend meters, batch controller |
| Product loss or gain | Gauged stock minus book stock after temperature correction, as a percentage of throughput. | Tank gauges, receipt and issue records |
| Safety checklist compliance | Share of tankers that passed every gate safety item first time, and the items that failed. | Safety handheld records |
| Seal mismatches | Tankers whose seal numbers on the compartments do not match the invoice at exit. | RFID seal reader, invoice |
04Problems it removes
Most terminals have the data in several systems. What they lack is one view of where litres and minutes go.
Bay status and parking share one screen, so the next tanker that matches a bay's products is called before the bay frees. Idle bay minutes become a number with an owner.
The twin shows ullage against every planned receipt, so a batch heading for a nearly full tank is re-lined hours ahead, not in the middle of the receipt.
Every compartment's ethanol ratio is checked as it is loaded, so a drifting meter is stopped and proved after the first load out of tolerance, not after a complaint.
Detector faults, missed pump runs, open permits and foam levels show on the twin every shift, and each goes to the safety or fire officer with the next step.
LeanLean on the twin
Lean works in a fuel terminal too: standard work at the bay, interlocks that make mistakes impossible, levelled tanker slots and maintenance that stops breakdowns. In the twin each one is a clickable board placed where the work happens, and every view lists the lean tools at work in it.
The loading sequence (earth, card, arms, preset, arms off) and the batch-change steps, with time against standard for every load and receipt.
Minutes a load · steps skipped
Earthing, overfill, load-card and seal-match interlocks shown per bay and per tanker, with every trip and override recorded.
Interlock trips · overrides
One lamp per bay: green loading, amber idle or checking, red stopped; the twin times the response to every red lamp.
Red-lamp response time
Booked tanker slots by hour against gantry capacity, so the after-lunch peak is visible days ahead and moved to empty morning slots.
Slots booked vs capacity · parking wait
Pump current and vibration, arm swivel leaks, PM jobs and fire-pump runs tracked against each asset.
PM compliance · MTBF · bay-minutes lost
5S audit scores and red tags at the pump house, and an additive-drum kanban that raises the indent when positions empty.
5S score · drums on hand
One board for the shift: KL dispatched, bays loading, tanker turnaround, open alerts and days without a lost-time injury.
Shift KPIs at a glance
MaintenancePredictive maintenance and spares
A terminal stops dispatching when a product pump seal leaks, a loading arm drips or a fire pump will not start. The twin reads vibration, temperature, current, seal leakage and valve stroke times, predicts what will fail and when, checks the spare in SAP stores and books the job, with its permit, into the low-load shift.
Mechanical seal and bearing failures days to weeks ahead, from seal pot top-ups, the vibration trend and current against flow. The seal is changed on the low-load shift with the standby pump on duty, not after a leak.
Spare: Seal cartridges and bearing pairs, with bin and quantity checked in SAP
Remaining life · mm/s trend · seal leaks per year
Which bays will leak at the swivels next, from leak reports, loads per arm and the age of each seal set, so the change is planned before an arm drips on a tanker.
Spare: Swivel seal kits, shown with lead time when stock is zero
Swivel leaks a month · bay minutes lost
A diesel fire pump or DG that may not start, from missed runs, starter battery voltage on the crank and jacket heater faults, before the next drill or a real fire call.
Spare: Battery sets, starter motors and filter kits
Pumps available · days since last run · crank volts
Vacuum pump wear from discharge temperature and falling recovery, and mixer gearbox wear, before vent limits or product quality are at risk.
Spare: Vacuum pump seal kits and mixer gearbox bearings
KL recovered a day · vent HC · mixer health
Actuators slowing down and meters drifting between provings, so a slow MOV is fixed before a receipt and a meter is proved before it short-loads a tanker.
Spare: Actuator gear sets, torque switches and meter spares
Seconds to close vs limit · meter factor change
Which critical spares are at zero or under minimum against the jobs the sensors are predicting, and the workshop backlog in days.
Spare: 148 critical items tracked against open predictions
Critical spares at zero · PM compliance · backlog days
AgentsAgents on this terminal
The twin shows the tank farm, the gantry bays and the tanker gate; Android X and Autowhat for Mac do the paperwork and the calls. Say one thing from your phone and it splits it across the control-room Mac, the planning desk and the phones of the people on shift. Safety steps always wait for a person to approve.
Bay 6 stopped on an overfill trip. Clear it safely and keep the tankers moving.
Split into 6 jobs across 4 Android phones and 2 Macs
Bay 6 tripped because the preset on compartment 3 was 400 L too high; the overfill probe did its job and nothing spilled. The trip is reset under permit, the excess drained to the slop tank, bay 6 stays shut until meter proving at 17:00, and 9 tankers are loading on bays 4 and 7.
Send me the proving result?Every device follows its own rule: my own device runs freely, with approval waits for a tap, ask only just answers. Messages between devices are end-to-end encrypted.
05A shift on the twin
Illustrative events in the sample terminal, showing who saw what and who acted.
The safety handheld recorded a missing spark arrestor with a photo. The tanker stayed outside, its load moved to the next MS tanker in parking, and the transporter was told on WhatsApp what to fit before re-presenting.
The overfill permissive stopped compartment 3 at 4.62 of 5.00 KL, and a gas detector beside the bay was already in fault. The twin told the shift-in-charge not to reset from the control room until the probe was checked, the compartment dipped and the detector replaced.
With Bay 6 stopped, the HSD tanker in P-02 had no bay. The twin proposed sending it to Bay 7 ahead of an MS tanker, and the TAS operator called the driver on WhatsApp.
06How it is built
Five steps, starting with your site plan, tank gauges and TAS data, adding devices only where a stage cannot be timed.
We trace the manifold, dykes, tanks, pump house, gantry, gate and parking from a drawing or satellite view, then confirm on site.
Tank gauges, TAS batch records, gate and weighbridge reads, safety checklists and fire panel status are joined on the tank, the bay and the load card.
Loss norms, high-level margins, blend tolerances, bay standards and safety rules are agreed with your operations and safety teams.
Every exception goes to its owner on WhatsApp with the next step: receipt officer, TAS operator, shift-in-charge, safety officer or transporter.
Each shift is replayed tank by tank and bay by bay, so the weekly review starts from where litres and minutes were lost.
07Compared
| Registers & spreadsheets | Terminal automation system (TAS) | Autowhat fuel terminal digital twin | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What it does | Records stock and dispatch by hand | Controls loading: load cards, batch controllers, permissives | Shows the whole terminal and routes exceptions; reads from the TAS |
| Tank stock | Dip sheets once or twice a shift | Gauge readings on the control screen | Net stock, ullage and days of cover against the receipt and dispatch plan |
| Tanker flow | Gate register | From load card to batch end | Gate-in, safety check, parking, bay, seal and gate-out, timed |
| Safety systems | Test registers on paper | Permissives at the bay | Detectors, pumps, permits and drills tracked by asset every shift |
| View of the site | None | Process screens | Live 3D model of manifold, tanks, gantry, gate and fire systems |
| Alerts | Phone calls | Alarms in the control room | WhatsApp to the owner of each exception, with the next step |
| Best fit | Very small depots | Every terminal that loads tankers | Terminals where stock, bays and safety need one shared view |
MoreProducts behind this twin
FAQQuestions about fuel terminal digital twins
Answers to what terminal managers, supply planners and safety officers ask us most.
A fuel terminal digital twin is a live 3D model of a petroleum storage terminal that updates from tank gauges, the terminal automation system, gate and weighbridge records and safety logs. It shows stock, blending, tanker flow and fire system readiness together, and sends each exception to the person who can act.
A TAS controls loading: it issues load cards, runs batch controllers and enforces permissives at the bay. The digital twin reads from the TAS and joins it with tank gauges, gate, weighbridge, seal and safety records, so delays and risks show in place with an owner. It does not replace the TAS or operate equipment.
No. The twin reads from your control systems and records; it does not open valves, start pumps or reset permissives. When a safety device trips, it tells the right person what was seen and what to check on site, and the reset stays with your operators and procedures.
It reads level and temperature from your tank gauging system and converts them to net stock at 15 °C using your tank calibration tables. It then shows ullage to the high-level alarm, days of cover at the dispatch plan, and the gap between gauged and book stock every shift.
It times each stage, from gate-in and safety check to parking, loading, sealing and gate-out, so the largest block is visible. Bay status and parking share one view, so the next tanker that matches a free bay is called on WhatsApp before the bay goes idle.
Yes, where the TAS records blend meter readings. The twin computes the ethanol ratio of every compartment, compares it with your target and tolerance, and flags a bay whose ratio drifts so the meter can be proved before more loads leave.
Whatever your checklist holds, typically spark arrestor, earthing cable, fire extinguishers, tank-truck licence and calibration validity, and a breath test. Each item is recorded on a handheld with a photo, and a failed item holds the load card until the tanker re-presents.
Yes. Seal numbers read at the booth are matched to the compartments on the invoice, and the exit weighbridge reading is compared with metered litres times density. A mismatch holds the tanker with the evidence attached.
Yes. Fire pump runs, fire-water levels, hydrant and monitor inspections, foam stock, gas detector status, emergency shutdown tests, permits and drills can be recorded against each asset. The twin shows what is not ready before each shift. Compliance with your regulator's rules remains your terminal's responsibility.
Usually not. Most terminals start with the tank gauges, TAS, weighbridge and gate records they already have, plus handheld checklists where a stage is on paper. Readers or detectors are added later, only where they remove a manual step.
Terminal managers use it for the whole-site view, supply planners for stock and cover, TAS operators for bay sequencing, safety and fire officers for readiness and permits, and transporters and drivers get their bay calls and rejections on WhatsApp.
It is priced per deployment after a 30-minute working session on your own data; there is no public list price. Cost depends on the number of tanks and bays, the systems to connect, and whether handhelds or readers are needed.
The first areas typically go live within weeks: the site is drawn and tank and gate data connected first, then TAS batch records, seal and weighbridge data, alerts agreed with your team, and fire and gas systems added.
The data stays yours, wherever the twin runs. It runs on managed cloud, in your own VPC on AWS, Azure or GCP, or on-premises with your keys, and India data residency is available when required. Stock, dispatch and safety records remain your company's data, not ours.
Yes. A terminal runs repeated, timed work: tanker checks, bay loading, receipts and maintenance. Standard work for loading, poka-yoke interlocks, an andon per bay, levelled tanker slots (heijunka), TPM for pumps and loading arms and 5S at the pump house all show in the twin with their live measures.
The slot board compares tankers booked each hour with what the gantry can load. When the after-lunch hours are overbooked, the planner offers empty morning slots to large transporters, so arrivals spread across the day and parking waits fall without adding bays.
08Briefing
A working session: your terminal drawn, a week of tankers and tank levels replayed, and the first alerts written with your team.
