Backfill Groups

A backfill group is a group of nodes, typically tanks, sharing outgoing pumping infrastructure. For example, it could be a group of tanks feeding a distillation unit. No tank in such a group can start discharging if one or more members of the same group are already discharging. Otherwise, pressure gradients could cause material from one tank to flow into another tank in the group. This is what is known as backfill.

To prevent backfill from occurring, discharging tanks in a backfill group are gradually brought offline over a number of transfers and blends. A set amount of time has then to pass before a new set of tanks in the group are brought online.

This advanced feature allows you to create backfill groups, add refinery asset to them and define the delay between successive discharges.

To create a backfill group, follow these steps:

1. Click the Create Backfill Group link. The Create Backfill Group pane opens.

   

2. Enter a Name for the backfill group.

3. Enter a Delay in Minutes for the backfill. This is the amount of time between the end of a discharge by a set of tanks in the group and the beginning of a new discharge.

4. Click the icon next to Add nodes to add a topology node representing a tank. Type in the field that appears to see a list of matching node names. You can add multiple sources by clicking the icon again. To delete a node, click the icon next to it.

5. Click Add Group to create the backfill group.

To edit a backfill group:

6. Click the ellipsis icon () at the end of the corresponding row of the Backfill Groups pane. A list of additional icons appears.

7. Click the icon. The Update Backfill Group pane opens. This has the same fields as the Create Backfill Group pane.

8. Once you have made your changes, click Update Group.

To delete a backfill group:

9. Click the ellipsis icon () at the end of the corresponding row of the Backfill Groups pane. A list of additional icons appears.

10. Click the icon. The Remove Backfill Group? dialog box opens.

11. Click Remove. The group is deleted.