Electrical Grounding Systems

In order to ensure the safety of loading and unloading operations in the oil market, it is, therefore, necessary to keep the tank grounded by using an electrical grounding system: ISOIL MT40 is capable of assuring connection at all times and constantly monitoring it to stop operations in the event that it should be interrupted.

Moreover, to carrying out the actual ground connection through a resistive check, our electrical grounding system MT40 also carries out a capacitive check, thus checking that the clamp has actually been connected to a tank truck and not to other devices, thus preventing possible misuse.

Loading authorization is only provided in the case both checks are positive and the operating status is always visible on the grounding system color LED display.

MT40 Applications

Thanks to its technical specifications and approvals obtained, the electrical grounding system MT40 is the ideal grounding system for:

• Loading / unloading tank trucks, rail tankers, IBCs (Intermediate Bulk Containers), and drums;
• Installation on board tank trucks to assure the safety of fuel unloading operations at service stations;
• Filling / emptying of FIBCs (Flexible Intermediate Bulk Containers) in processes with powders and granules.

A typical application is that of a tanker that delivers the fuel and discharges it into a tank (underground or above ground), such as at a station of service. In these situations, there are often no devices in the exhaust area for connection to the ground tanker capable of providing the necessary safety conditions.

How does an electrical grounding system prevent risks? 

ISOIL electrical grounding systems prevent electrostatic discharges from reaching a critical level. Only the combination of a ground clamp, a conductor, and a grounding monitoring device ensures that safe grounding is achieved throughout the working process. MT40 electrical grounding system checks the quality of the ground connection and detects whether the ground gripper has been properly attached to the truck and not inadvertently attached to the loading equipment. This way, improper use is automatically excluded.

How does it work operatively?

In the loop-resistive configuration, after having verified that the clamps have been connected to a metal object, the MT40 electrical grounding system performs the ground connection through a dedicated internal relay. Once the correct grounding is verified, it activates a circuit that checks that during the entire operation the impedance value does not exceed 10 Ω as recommended by the reference standards. The specific relay output allows the operation to be enabled or stopped in accordance with functional safety, in relation to the monitoring state of the resistive threshold.

What is the electrical grounding system composed of?

ISOIL MT40 electrical grounding system consists of:

• A ground monitor with LED display shows the status of the connection and all the necessary information to be installed on the tanker;
• A cable with a clamp, to connect the monitor to the ground.

It is also available a complete range of accessories: a tester for periodic control of device settings and performance in "offline" mode, a toolkit software for system diagnostics, and more.