Air Permitting and Design are Better Together
You’ve received funding and now you’re ready to begin your project. Obtaining the required permits seems like the natural next step, right? When talking about air permits, this is not always the best approach. Facilities often paint themselves into a corner that can be difficult to get out of by obtaining air permits before consulting with a design firm. These “corners” can add considerable cost and complexity to your facility design. If the permit is not written for the correct technology, compliance may not just be difficult, but potentially impossible. It is much easier and more cost effective to [...]
Transloading in Mexico
Aura Engineering began working in the Mexico process petroleum market in 2016 when the Mexican gasoline market opened to include international operators. The first client we worked with in this exciting new market went on to open the first non-Pemex operated gasoline terminal in Mexico. Due to the uncertainty of demand that a new market creates coupled with the impact of open season fuel market laws, our client wanted to break into the Mexican market with a solution that had less upfront capital and operating costs—together, we determined that transloading would fit this bill. Transloading offers clients the ability [...]
Three Rivers, TX – Crude Oil Midstream Terminal
Aura Engineering completed the design and coordinated the construction effort of a 120,000 bpd crude oil midstream terminal and booster pump station on a green field site near Three Rivers, Texas. The facility consists of four (4) unloading LACT units covered by a canopy, inbound and outbound metering skids, product booster pumps and mainline facility outbound pumps. The two (2) 1500HP mainline pumps transport up to 120,000 bbl of product per day down a pipeline. The facility includes two (2) 150,000 bbl and (2) 50,000 bbl above ground internal floating roof storage tanks. Aura also assisted our client with the [...]
Mobile Additive Injection Skid
Additive injection systems are a very common piece of equipment at refined fuel loading terminals. Every fuel company, from Exxon to Chevron to Shell to Valero, has their own special additive for motor gasoline or diesel. Some are cleaning agents while others are high performance additives to help our vehicles operate at peak performance. Aura Engineering has designed several truck loading facilities that have incorporated an additive injection system at the loading rack. We were recently presented with a challenge by one of our customers to develop a mobile additive injection system. This customer is currently operating in a temporary [...]
Propane and Gasoline Loading of Railcar
One of Aura’s main competencies is the design of railcar loading facilities. We recently wrapped up such a facility for a client in Ohio. We designed a sixteen (16) spot loading rack for propane, butane, and natural gasoline. The loading facility is designed to load railcars simultaneously while accurately measuring the loading rate to each individual railcar with a dedicated meter run. Each meter run is set up as a standard Lease Automated Custody Transfer (LACT) meter run. The LACT unit consists of a strainer, flow meter, pressure transmitter, RTD, double block and bleed valve with a prover connection [...]