Innovation

Innovation

People are our true engine and energy. We have the best prepared and motivated professionals, as well as the best human qualities,to contribute to the progress of a sustainable society by developing and operating the infrastructures required for the mobility and industry of the future.

Predictive asset maintenanc

 

Predictive maintenance allows us to prevent any potential incident that may arise at our facilities. Accordingly, predictive maintenance has been implemented in the daily management of our logistics network by deploying digital data capture systems that monitor our equipment and collect performance data transforming them into information on equipment status. The readings are displayed on constantly updated digital dashboards that allow the results obtained to be shared throughout the entire organisation.

 

Thanks to artificial intelligence and machine learning techniques, models have been developed to monitor the operation of the assets, taking into account the different operating situations. This enables the prevention of possible malfunctions and the optimal scheduling of corrective actions to avoid unplanned downtime and damage to the assets and their surroundings. Ultimately, predictive maintenance allows us to operate assets in a smoother, safer and more efficient manner, in addition to helping us to prevent any system malfunction.

 

Delivery forecast  

At Exolum, we have improved forecasting for the delivery of oil products from our facilities through the implementation of a new artificial intelligence system that allows us to operate in a more flexible and scalable way, in addition to facilitating decision-making, optimising planning and reducing costs.

 

Accordingly, by using multiple predictive algorithms, we are capable of forecasting oil product deliveries from our facilities in an automated and precise manner for the purpose of increasing our logistics capacity.

 

The forecasts allow us to react to changes in consumption patterns based on seasonality in an automated and smooth way. Thanks to artificial intelligence, we make accurate and precise forecasts that allow the optimisation of product movements via pipelines and vessels, thus reducing operating costs. Another advantage is that it helps improve service quality as it avoids OOS, anticipates peaks in demand and optimises an integrated operation with transportation and refineries.

Digital delivery notes

 

At Exolum we have developed a new system of digital delivery notes which allows road tanker drivers to download the documentation of the loading operations to a mobile device. The electronic delivery note bolsters the efficiency of loading operations, facilitates the control and processing of this information and is fully valid with public agencies for legal purposes.


This new digital delivery note and documentation system significantly reduces the time needed to access information and to communicate with third parties and it increases the security of the process, as well as being available at any time, in addition to reducing paper consumption thus making it more sustainable. All the details of the loading process are sent to our IT systems in real time, so that the information is centralised, up-to-date and accessible.

Pipeline monitoring system

 

Artificial intelligence and satellite technology are also part of our pipeline monitoring system with the aim of increasing the safety and reliability of our infrastructure, as well as obtaining a better data performance.

 

Accordingly, at Exolum we have implemented the automation of satellite imagery analysis using visual computing techniques, deep learning and geographic information systems. Furthermore, using business analytics techniques, the system allows frequency rates to be added with ease and special attention to be paid to areas highlighted by the predictive models.

 

This new tool, fed by satellite images and supervised by an artificial intelligence model, complements traditional linear infrastructure monitoring methodology and makes it more efficient.

New biological techniques for enviromental recovery

Exolum is currently developing new ways of recovering and cleaning land affected by hydrocarbons associated with the bioremediation technique, a biological solution based on promoting the development of fuel-degrading microorganisms, which offers numerous advantages compared to other traditional methods, such as reduced consumption and acoustic impact and lower emissions.

Fuel from plastic waste

 

Exolum and Urbaser, a global environmental services company, have successfully concluded an RDI project named “3R2020+. From waste to resource through recycling”, which aims to assess the possibility of obtaining fuel from alternative sources. The project is part of a cooperation agreement signed by Urbaser, CTRUZ and Zaragoza City Council to provide support for the development of strategic circular economy concepts through demonstration projects on different scales.

 

Specifically, Exolum and Urbaser have worked together to obtain automotive diesel fuel from plastic waste with no market value, which is currently managed at landfill sites. In order to achieve this, Urbaser developed and tested at its Technological Innovation Centre “Alfonso Maíllo” (CiAM) located in Zaragoza the technical feasibility of a thermochemical process at pilot scale (TRL 7) for transforming film-type plastic from solid urban waste into diesel fuel obtained from the distillation of the liquid produced in pyrolysis.

 

For its part, Exolum’s central laboratory analysed the fuel and provided the required instructions for additivation and improvement in order to obtain a commercial-grade end product that may be used as automotive diesel fuel.

 

By working together closely, the two companies managed to obtain a diesel fuel that, when mixed with conventional diesel, complies with the legal specifications for Class A diesel oil (Royal Decree 1088/2010) and is suitable for vehicles.

 

Exolum and Urbaser performed a pilot test in which a municipal waste collection lorry, filled only with this alternative fuel optimised at Exolum’s Central Laboratory, provided its services as usual on the streets of Madrid.

Compartment identification system
 

Exolum has developed a new system, in cooperation with the Montrel industrial group and the Hamburg-based Sening division of the multinational company FMC Technologies, for a safer and more environmentally-friendly loading process of fuel products in road tankers. This system has already been implemented in lorry fleets of oil operators.

 

This piece of equipment, named “Purging Control and Compartment Identification System” (SIMAC-ICOMPP), automatically verifies that the tanks of the truck are completely empty before filling, that fuel is loaded into the correct compartment and that the quantity does not exceed its capacity. In the event of an error, the system would not allow loading operations to take place until the incident is resolved.

 

The intention is to implement this system, the patent for which has already been registered, in road tankers across Spain, the EU and the rest of the world, taking advantage of the fact that international regulations for this activity are similar.

New biological techniques for environmental recovery

 

Exolum is currently developing new ways of recovering and cleaning land affected by hydrocarbons associated with the bioremediation technique, a biological solution based on promoting the development of fuel-degrading microorganisms, which offers numerous advantages compared to other traditional methods, such as reduced consumption and acoustic impact and lower emissions.