Every terminal design presents its own set of challenges, but some jobs require a bit more ingenuity than others. Aura Engineering recently stepped up to deliver new services and capabilities in creating a fully networked, digital terminal infrastructure at a rail transloading facility in the mountains of San Luis Potosí, Mexico.
Aura was contracted to engineer the backbone of the terminal system from the ground up. Even after utility poles were erected on-site and transloading equipment was built, no electricity, fiber optics, wi-fi, servers, or security was in place to automate processes. The electrical engineering experts at Aura went to work in Mexico to build the digital infrastructure necessary to automate and optimize transloading at the brand-new facility.
The mountain terminal was 2.4 kilometers long and very narrow, with no existing electrical grid on-site. Aura installed solar panels on the plant’s utility poles to provide power, then designed and built a wifi radio network down the line to control the new, state-of-the-art digital devices necessary to operate the transloading processes. All transloaders were connected via network to controllers, all the way down to the servers on-site, the office network, the control room, and even plant security gates and cameras. Where once there had been nothing—not even electrical infrastructure—Aura Engineering created a fully functioning digital plant operation as well as wireless and optical mesh networks that include everything the facility needs to optimize productivity.
It was a big, comprehensive job that required uncommon expertise to execute. Our client needed a company with extensive, practical experience in many different kinds of engineering to successfully design an entire terminal. Beyond simply designing the transloading system, Aura was able to provide a complete, solar-powered IT infrastructure for the entire plant, integrating security and plant access into the design of operations and controls. No matter the challenges presented by a terminal design, no matter its location, Aura Engineering has the skills to create a networked terminal system that is customized to our clients’ needs.
Best of all, we were able to complete the job quickly and efficiently, without halting any progress on the new plant’s operations. Our team is comfortable and experienced in working with clients and contractors outside of the United States.
If your terminal design requires international expertise and ingenuity—or if you simply want to work with the best—contact us today for a free consultation on your needs. We provide safe, reliable, and cost-effective engineering solutions for a broad cross-section of plants, terminals, refineries, pipelines, and facilities.