Opla Advanced Logistics: Efficiency and Integration in the Logistics Heart of São Paulo

Imagine the following scenario

You're in the heart of Latin America's largest industrial hub, in Paulínia, São Paulo, where millions of liters of fuel flow daily through pipelines, rails, and highways. This is where Opla Logística Avançada has built something impressive—the largest independent ethanol terminal in Brazil.

Opla is no ordinary company, far from it. With the strategic partnership between BP and Ultracargo Logística, coupled with investments, it has become a national benchmark in multimodal liquid bulk operations. Its TCP (Paulínia Fuel Terminal) is a true powerhouse: 182.5 million liters of storage capacity for ethanol, diesel, biodiesel and aviation kerosene.

But even as a market leader, Opla faced a challenge common to many logistics giants: how to intelligently integrate three different modes (road, rail and pipeline) into a 24/7 operation?

The Moment of Transformation

It is in this scenario that AutoMind comes into play, with the AutoLoadIt wasn't just about implementing another system, but about revolutionizing the way one of the country's most strategic terminals operated.

The arrival of AutoLoad in Paulínia was poised to be a milestone. After all, we're talking about connecting refineries, pipelines, and rail lines to the national highway network, right at the epicenter of Brazilian fuel distribution.

The transformation came about through a solution that seemed simple in theory but was powerful in practice. AutoLoad was here to transform operations: its modules integrate the process from the terminal to the ERP—or, as we say in Opla's case, "from the instrument to SAP"—end-to-end, ensuring orchestrated, fluid, and perfectly synchronized performance.

THE Customer Portal gave carriers complete autonomy to schedule their operations without relying on phone calls or extensive email flows. Scheduling system began to distribute the operational windows intelligently, like a conductor organizing each entrance and exit.

THE Access Control brought automated security, while the Queue Control offered something every terminal dreams of: full visibility of what's happening in real time. No more wondering where each truck is or when the next train will arrive.

The Results Speak for Themselves

Each operation now has complete traceability, and process security has reached a new level. While the gatekeeping work, which was previously performed manually using spreadsheets, is now performed within the system, streamlining the team's work and increasing employee satisfaction. However, the impact goes far beyond the numbers. By implementing AutoLoad in Paulínia, OPLA not only modernized its terminal, it also implemented the growing digital transformation process in Brazil's liquid bulk sector.

More than Technology, a Vision of the Future

This partnership between AutoMind and Opla represents something greater than a simple technological implementation. It's proof that when you combine the expertise of those who operate the largest independent ethanol terminal in the country with the innovation of those who develop the best logistics solutions, the result is transformative.

For AutoMind, having AutoLoad operating in Paulínia confirms that its technology is present at the most strategic points of Brazil's logistics infrastructure. For Opla, it ensures that its 182.5 million liters of capacity operate at maximum efficiency.

Ultimately, AutoLoad in Paulínia wasn't just an arrival, it was a quiet revolution that is redefining how Brazil moves its fuels.

Meet Autoload

Petrobras evaluates the contract with Automind at a level of excellence

The contract started in 2014 included Technical Assistance Services on board the Platforms, and Metrological Management carried out on land for the Measuring Systems of the P50, P52, P53, P54, P55, P62, P74 Platforms and just Metrological Management of the Measuring System of the FPSO-NIT platform.

The objective was to guarantee the integrity of fiscal, appropriation, operational and custody measurement systems, maintaining compliance with the requirements of the Technical Measurement Regulation approved in Joint Resolution ANP/INMETRO No. 01:2013. The services were performed in accordance with the requirements of ABNT NBR ISO 10012:2004 and ABNT NBR ISO/IEC 17025:2005.

In order to carry out calibration services for the instruments that make up the measurement system, Automind structured a Calibration Laboratory Accredited by the General Coordination of Accreditation of INMETRO (CGCRE), according to ABNT NBR ISO/IEC 17025 (Brazilian Calibration Network - RBC), able to carry out services in its facilities, in the client's facilities and in mobile installations.

“To carry out the contract, we invested in the development of the team, equipment, standardization of processes and implementation of the Management System, resources that had a direct impact on obtaining the evaluation level of “Excellence” by Petrobras, reaching an average score of 93% for the four years of contract”, informed Carlos França, Business Leader at Automind.

In order to expand the services performed by the laboratory, Automind is obtaining the update and extension of the scope of accreditation for the calibration of instruments for measuring pressure (-97kPa to 100MPa), temperature (-140°C to 1700°C) and dimensional for inspection of orifice plates and straight measurement sections, with linear, roughness, shape, position and orientation measurements on various parts.

One of the investments made during the contract period was the development of a product to support the management team in monitoring and diagnosing the process variables of the measurement systems. The developed product, called AUTOMED is an Integrated Product for Management of Measurement Systems, which has functionalities for monitoring variables of the measurement and process system, generation, diagnosis and sending of production files, management and registration of production data, failure notification of measurement systems measurement, test management of production wells and measurement equipment integrity.

API 2350 - Protection against overflow of storage tanks in petroleum installations

API 2350 is in its 4th edition, and the 5th is scheduled for next year. It is expected to clarify issues that generate interpretation doubts without major changes in procedures.

In API 2350, the levels of concern for the product inside the tank are defined. Are they:

Maximum operating level - Maximum product level that must be achieved under normal operating conditions;
Very high level – Demands an alarm, indicating that the reception must be stopped;
Critical level – It is the most critical level, on the verge of causing an overflow.

The distance between the very high and critical level (h) must be calculated as a function of the action time for blocking the tank, before the product reaches the critical level. This distance should not be less than three inches.

The maximum operational level must be determined below and as close as possible to the very high level so that there is no loss of storage, however, external factors must be taken into account to avoid undue triggering of the very high level alarm, such as thermal expansion, turbulence and earthquakes.

API 2350 presents a method of protection against overflow using an AOPS (Automatic Overfill Prevention System), whose application can reduce the distance between the very high and critical level and, as a consequence, raise the height of the maximum operational level.

API 2350, up to its 3rd edition, recommended good practices for preventing overflow. In its 4th edition, API 2350 ceased to be a recommendation of good practices and became a standard.

In Brazil, API 2350 is a normative reference and is cited as an indispensable document for the application of the ABNT NBR 17505 standard, which specifies the requirements for the storage of combustible and flammable liquids, defined in ABNT NBR 17505-2:2015.

In addition to the ABNT standard, some units of the fire department, in the form of a Technical Instruction, which aims to establish the minimum requirements necessary for the preparation of a project and dimensioning of the fire safety measures required for production, storage, handling facilities and distribution of combustible and flammable liquids, signal the consultation to API 2350 regarding the means of preventing overfilling.

What is the impact for adequacy to API 2350?

When we deal with the subject, one of the first questions that the operation team asks is: to adapt to API 2350 will it be necessary to reduce the operational level of the tanks? And the answer is: it depends. The category to be applied for adequacy of API 2350 will depend on the existing instrumentation, operational procedures, process risk analysis, probability of failure on demand of instrumented systems, among other factors.

Once the category is defined, the terminal can decide to use a higher category, raising the maximum operational level of the tank, since the response time required for blocking the tank, in case of a very high alarm, will be reduced.

The opposite may also occur, and the maximum operating level must be reduced if the terminal is operating the tank in a category that is not compatible with the real response time for blocking the tank.

If the tank block response time is not calculated, API 2350 determines the minimum times by category as follows:

Category I – 45 minutes

Local operation:
- Continuously assisted operation in the first hour of product receipt;
- Assisted operation every hour during product receipt;
- Continuously assisted operation in the last hour of product receipt;
It has no mechanism for announcing alarms;
Overfill protection relies on manual operator intervention on site;
It can only be used in situations where the process is simple, with a slow rate of leveling up.

Category II – 30 minutes

Local and/or remote manual operation;
The tank level can be read using automatic measurement or a sensor located in the tank capable of transmitting a signal and/or alarm;
Can use dependent alarm;
Semi-assisted operation:
- Assisted operation in the first 30 minutes of receiving the product;
- Assisted operation in the last 30 minutes of product receipt.
Overfill protection dependent on manual operator intervention on site or remote.

Category III – 15 minutes

Local and/or remote manual operation;
Tank level provided by automatic measurement;
Very high level and alarm information is also transmitted to the control room so that the operation can be stopped manually;
It has a very high level switch and alarm, exclusive for overflow prevention;
Overfill protection dependent on manual intervention by local or remote operator.

AOPS

The AOPS (Automatic Overfill Prevention Systems) is intended for use on tanks classified in any of the three categories. The advantage of AOPS is the ability to perform receiving interruption through a final element, for example the tank inlet valve, without human intervention. AOPS is composed of 3 components: sensor element, logic solver and final element. The high-high level sensor must initiate a safety function in the logic solver, which will trigger the closing of the final element, ie the tank inlet valve, thus stopping the rise of the tank level.

It is important to highlight that this closing of the valve must have its time calculated to avoid breaking the inlet connected to the product dispatcher.