AUTOMATIC

UNLOADING
SYSTEM

© Chevron 2005 DOC ID Chevron Shipping Company LLC

 ARIES VOYAGER
VLCC

DEADWEIGHT- 320870.6
GRT - 160808
NRT- 111798
L.O.A- 333.0m
BREADTH- 60.0m
DEPTH- 30.5m

HYUNDAI MAN B&W

43020 Bhp@78 Rpm
SERVICE SPEED-
16.7Kts

© Chevron 2005 DOC ID Chevron Shipping Company LLC 2

 PARTICULARS OF THE CARGO SYSTEM

MAIN CARGO PUMPS- 3 X CENTRIFUGAL PUMP

CAPACITY- 5500M3/HR
STEAM DRIVEN TURBINE

CARGO STRIPPING PUMP- 1 X RECIPROCATING PUMP

CAPACITY- 500M3/HR

CARGO EDUCTOR- 2 X EDUCTOR

CAPACITY-740M3/HR

BALLAST PUMPS- 2 X CENTRIFUGAL PUMP

CAPACITY-3500M3/HR
ELECTRIC AND STEAM DRIVEN

BALLAST EDUCTOR- 2 X EDUCTOR

CAPACITY- 600M3/HR

© Chevron 2005 DOC ID Chevron Shipping Company LLC 3

 AUTOMATIC UNLOADING SYSTEM

1. TO KEEP THE CARGO PUMPS PRIMMED AT ALL TIMES

THERBY PREVENTING CAVITATION
DAMAGE TO PUMPS

2. TO COMPLETE UNLOADING WORK ALONE WITH

CARGO OIL PUMP.

3.STRIPPING IS DONE EFFICIENTLY LEAVING RESIDUE

OIL AS SMALL AS POSSIBLE .

4. VACUUM STRIPPING SYSTEM WORK IN CONJUCTION

WITH THE CARGO PUMPS.
© Chevron 2005 DOC ID Chevron Shipping Company LLC
 LINE DIAGRAM OF THE STRIPPING
SYSTEM Slop Tank

Discharge

Vacuum
Pump

GEV

Separator Cargo Tank

Cargo
Pump

Suction

© Chevron 2005 DOC ID Chevron Shipping Company LLC

© Chevron 2005 DOC ID Chevron Shipping Company LLC
 COMPONENTS OF ‘AUS’

1. SEPARATOR : THIS TANK IS TO SEPARATE THE GAS SUCKED IN

THROUGH BELL MOUTH FROM CARGO OIL.

2. VACUUM PUMP: IT SUCKS AIR AND VAPOURS SEPARATED IN THE

SEPARATOR AND DISCHARGES THEM INTO RESIDUE TANK.

3. SEALING WATER TANK: IT IS TO SEPARATE THE GAS FROM SEALING

WATER WHICH ARE DISCHARGED FROM VACUUM PUMP.

4. LEVEL TRANSMITTER: SEPARATOR LEVEL IS DETECTED AND

TRANSMITTED INTO PNEUMATIC SIGNAL BY THIS DEVICE.

5. GAS EXTRACTION VALVE: IT IS INSTALLED ON YHE GAS EXTRACTION

LINE AND IS OPENED AND CLOSED BY THE SOLENOID VALVE CONTROLLED
THROUGH THE PRESSURE SWITCH.
© Chevron 2005 DOC ID Chevron Shipping Company LLC
 6. DISCHARGE VAVE: THEY ARE DRIVEN BY PNEUMATIC
CYLINDERS AND CONTROLS COP DISCHARGE.

7. A / M SELECTOR : IT IS USED TO CHANGE THE

DISCHARGE VALVE TO AUTOMATIC OR MANUAL CONTROL.

8. SOLENOID VALVE : THIS OPENS AND CLOSES THE GAS

EXTRACTION VALVE .

9. VALVE POSITION TRANSMITTER:IT CONVERTS THE

OPENING OF DISCHARGE VALVE INTO PNEUMATIC SIGNALS
AND TRANSMITS IT TO THE VALVE POSITION GAUGE ON
CARGO CONTROL CONSOLE.

10. DRAIN TANK: THIS IS TO STORE THE OVERFLOWED

LIQUID WHICH IS DISCHARGED FROM THE VACUUM PUMP.

© Chevron 2005 DOC ID Chevron Shipping Company LLC 8

 GAS EXTRACTION TOWARDS ROT
VALVE

DRAIN TANK

VACUUM PUMP

SEPERATOR

TOWARDS STRIPPING
PUMP

CENTRIFUGAL PUMP

DISCHARGE V/V TOWARDS MANIFOLD

BELLMOUTH
© Chevron 2005 DOC ID Chevron Shipping Company LLC 9
 PRINCIPLE OF OPERATION

When large volumes of To vacuum pump

gaseous mixture comes

into separator in the
stripping stage, the liquid
level of the separator
becomes very low and
pumping becomes difficult
Gaseous mixture
reducing the pump
performance.
Separator

Cargo
Pump

Suction
Discharge

© Chevron 2005 DOC ID Chevron Shipping Company LLC

 PRINCIPLE OF OPERATION

The AUS system uses vacuum Vacuum pump

pump to remove the vapor removes vapor
from the separator and
refilling the separator with
liquid to keep the cargo
pumps primed at all times.

COP discharge flap valve Separator

opens , closes or remains in refills
between
suction

discharge

© Chevron 2005 DOC ID Chevron Shipping Company LLC

Cargo pump
 Commence cargo discharge
STEP 1 -Oil fills the suction piping
and separator And the Cargo
Pump discharges the oil to the Slop Tank
shore Vacuum
Discharge Pump

Cargo Tank
Separator

Cargo
Pump

Suction

© Chevron 2005 DOC ID Chevron Shipping Company LLC

 Discharge continues

Discharge STEP 2 -Level in the cargo

Slop Tank
tank Drops as a result of Vacuum
which level in separator Pump
starts dropping.

Cargo Tank
Separator

Cargo
Pump

Suction

© Chevron 2005 DOC ID Chevron Shipping Company LLC

 LINING UP OF VACCUM PUMP

The Vacuum Pump can now be lined up

IF the following conditions are met:

The slop Tank is less than 70% full

All cargo tanks in a system are down to the stripping level

The Drain Tank has been sounded, and found to be empty.

© Chevron 2005 DOC ID Chevron Shipping Company LLC

 VAPOURS IN SEPERATOR

Discharge STEP 3 -As the oil level

in the tank drops vapor Slop Tank
Vacuum
is drawn into the Pump
separator and the
separator level also
drops.

Cargo Tank
Separator

VAPOUR

Cargo
Pump

Suction

© Chevron 2005 DOC ID Chevron Shipping Company LLC

 OPERATION OF VACUUM PUMP

STEP 4- When the

separator level falls below
50%, the vacuum pump
Vapors sucked by
starts automatically and vacuum pump
the gaseous mixture in
the separator is sucked
by the vacuum pump and
liquid from tank is drawn
into to take the place of
the vapour

COP discharge 50% Separator

valve is level
throttled
suction

discharge
Cargo pump
© Chevron 2005 DOC ID Chevron Shipping Company LLC
 VACUUM PUMP ON
STANDBY
STEP 5- As the separator level
recovers to above 70 % the COP
discharge valve re-opens and
vacuum pump stops and remains
on standby

Separator
70% level

COP discharge
valve opens

suction

discharge
Cargo pump
© Chevron 2005 DOC ID Chevron Shipping Company LLC
 STEP 6-

THE CYCLE REPEATS ITSELF

UNTIL THE CARGO TANK
IS EMPTY.

© Chevron 2005 DOC ID Chevron Shipping Company LLC

 OPERATING PROCEDURE

1. WHEN CARGO OIL TANK LEVEL IS HIGH , SYSTEM DOES

NOT WORK.

2. AS TANK LEVEL FALLS , SUCTION PRESSURE ALSO

FALLS AND APPROACHES VAPOUR PRESSURE OF CARGO
OIL.

3. THE FALL IN SUCTION PRESSURE CAUSES THE FORMATION

OF GASEOUS MIXTURE IN THE SEPARATOR AND
SEPARATOR LEVEL STARTS FALLING

4. SEPARATOR LEVEL FALLS DOWN TO BELOW 50% -

VACUUM PUMP STARTS AUTOMATICALLY, FOLLOWED BY
THE GAS EXTRACTION VALVE

© Chevron 2005 DOC ID Chevron Shipping Company LLC

 4. SEPARATOR LEVEL RISES.

5. WHEN TANK LEVEL FALLS AROUND 0.5-1 M EDDY

OCCURS AROUND BELL MOUTH.

6. GAS SUCKED IN , SEPARATED FROM CARGO OIL

ACCUMULATES IN SEPARATOR.

7. AS TANK LEVEL FALLS 0.2 - 0.3 M LIQUID AROUND

BELL MOUTH COMES TO WAVE VIOLENTLY AND LARGE
VOLUME OF GAS IS SUCKED.

8. SEPARATOR LEVEL FALLS TO GREAT EXTENT ,

DISCHARGE VALVE IS THROTTLED

© Chevron 2005 DOC ID Chevron Shipping Company LLC 20

 9. AS GAS SUCKED IN IS LESS THAN EXTRACTION CAPACITY
OF VACUUM PUMP , SEPARATOR LEVEL BEGINS TO RISE.

10. AS VOL. OF GAS SUCKED IN INCREASES AGAIN

SEPARATOR LEVEL FALLS AND DISCHARGE VALVE IS
THROTTLED.

11. AS TANK LEVEL FALLS FURTHER , SEPARATOR LEVEL

FALLS EXCESSIVELY, THUS DISCHARGE VALVE IS FULLY
CLOSED.

12. SEPARATOR LEVEL FALLS BELOW 5%, LOW

SEPARATOR LEVEL LIGHTS UP SHOWING UNLOADING
WORK HAS ENTERED STRIPPING STAGE.

© Chevron 2005 DOC ID Chevron Shipping Company LLC 21

 13. SINCE CARGO AT STRIPPING STAGE IS SMALL LIQUID
GATHERED AROUND BELL MOUTH IS SUCKED BY VACUUM
FORCE OF VACUUM PUMP .

14. LIQUID AND GAS INSIDE SEPARATOR ARE SEPARATED AND

SEPARATOR LEVEL RISES .DISCHARGE VALVE SLIGHTLY
OPENS AND CARGO IS DISCHARGED THROUGH COP.

15. AS STRIPPING OF TANK ADVANCES DISCHARGE VALVE

REMAINS COMPLETELY CLOSED SHOWING THAT THERE IS
NO RESIDUAL OIL TO BE UNLOADED.

THUS MARKS THE COMPLETION OF STRIPPING.

© Chevron 2005 DOC ID Chevron Shipping Company LLC 22

 PRECAUTIONS WHEN OPERATING VACUUM
STRIPPING SYSTEM

1. NEVER START THE SYSTEM WHEN THE TANK ULLAGE IS HIGH

2. REGULARLY CHECK THE WATER LEVEL OF THE SEALING TANK

3. REGULARLY CHECK THE DRAIN TANK LEVEL

4. AT STRIPPING STAGE MONITOR THE SEPARATOR LEVEL

CLOSELY.

© Chevron 2005 DOC ID Chevron Shipping Company LLC 23

 MERITS

UNLOADING TIME IS REDUCED

DISCHARGE VALVE HANDLING BECOMES NOT

NECESSARY

CHANGEOVER FROM COP TO STRIPPING IS

NOT NECESSARY

DURING COW , SLUDGE CONTROL IS POSSIBLE

INTEGRATING PRIMING FUNCTION

© Chevron 2005 DOC ID Chevron Shipping Company LLC

© Chevron 2005 DOC ID Chevron Shipping Company LLC