Fueling an aircraft is a complex procedure where each delivery must be performed safely and accurately.
So, Total Control Systems (TCS) has developed a register to help control and automate the delivery process. The TCS 3000 is an electronic register designed to transform the way fuel is delivered. It has been engineered to control most vehicle delivery operations. Fuel marketers have a legal obligation to have a meter on their fuel truck for custody transfer, explains Dan Murray, president of TCS, adding there must be a printed or digital delivery ticket for the point of sale. The register also becomes a central resource for all the digital sensor integration and intelligence on the vehicle.
While TCS began manufacturing flow meters in 1995, the development and design of the TCS 3000 began in 2008. Production began two years later and flow meters were put into the field.
“There were multiple controllers on refuelers at the time with the inability to integrate. We were limited on what was commercially available at the time,” Murray says. “We had to basically start from scratch and that is where we came up with the TCS 3000 register.”
Murray says the TCS 3000 holds up better than previously utilized electronic registers.
“Our company revolves around a critical industry where time is money. These guys out there have large, expensive refueling equipment. The last thing they want to have happen is to take that truck out of service because the electronic counter does not work,” Murray says.
TCS offers an exchange program for users who are looking to upgrade or are in need of a quick repair.
“Sometimes bad things happen and we have to work with the customer to keep them going. The exchange program works great for that. Its been available since we released the TCS 3000 to market and I believe it provides value to the airlines, operators and FBOs,” Murray says.
Often, if a register is connected to the TCS HUB, the company’s cloud-based server and data repository, TCS can simply pre-program an exchange register front cover and send it to the customer for an easy replacement. What’s more, any ticket that was ever created, along with the last calibration report, are viewable on the computer screen.
“If they have to do an exchange or have a failure at any point, they can print out or take a picture of what is on the delivery screen. And when we replace the register, we can make sure all the conditions and parameters are set up the same way,” Murray says. “Often times, the weights and measures guy will compare the two and sign off without having to recalibrate.”
TCS Hub uses data collected from the meter to export delivery tickets to various back office accounting software and provide reporting, trends and analysis of refueling and maintenance on the refueler and tank farm.
“We have resources and videos on how to program, operate and calibrate the TCS 3000 register, in addition to various other vehicle related information too. Fleet managers can generate a report on refuelers at one location or of their entire fleet from around the world. Everything is available online,” Murray notes.
The TCS 3000 register and the TCS HUB give companies the ability to manage their fleet on the go. It provides the efficiencies and maintenance that companies can manage their trucks from one to the other to make sure everything is running as expected. TCS focuses on developing safety features within product settings to set permissives that are required on vehicle refueling.
“Delivery shutdown permissives for out of tolerance of OnPoint integrated technologies, such as the additive, differential pressure, density and water by controlling the pumps and control valves,” Murray elaborates.
One of the main features is the OnPoint Pneumatic or Electronic Additive Injection.
“The additive measurement and control is not automated currently today. We measure, control and automate the injection, ensuring the precise measurement of additive for every delivery request. Then we provide a delivery ticket with this additive information, giving the pilot an assurance that his request was carried out as expected,” Murray says.
Murray notes TCS has created a 7-inch display screen with 2-inch characters that is easily viewable by day and night from 50 feet away, along with multiple other delivery screens available for all other all pertinent information to be shown.
“You can see your on-board tank inventory, additive, differential pressure, density and water on a delivery screen without having to print it on a ticket,” Murray says. “All of these things are extremely important for operators to manage their fleet. We have very clear icons on the screen that tell you what is going on and there is a diagnostic message screen below. It basically gives ground handlers a blueprint on how to run it.”
Ten years into the development of the TCS 3000 registration product line, TCS debuted its Generation 2 model in 2019.
The key difference between the Gen 1 and the Gen 2 models, explains Murray, is the internal wireless communication, a faster processor and increased memory.
“In Gen 1 you can only use external cellular Bluetooth, Wi-Fi or radio modems. In Gen 2, we can still use those same external modems, but we also have an internal cellular Wi-Fi Bluetooth modem. There is also a 7-inch display versus a 5.7-inch display. The core software is the same,” Murray says.
Regardless of the level of software or registration, everything is backwards compatible and can be upgraded.
“These software upgrades are relevant to safety, security and quality aspects that come up from time to time with regulation and policies that we have to be able to incorporate. All of our software upgrades are not to just add new features, but to make sure that our product is legal with regional metrology requirements,” Murray points out.
Having the right equipment is paramount, especially for difficult applications such as flight schools or ground service fueling at night when there can be hundreds of refuelings done in a short amount of time. TCS can tailor the product to this specific application to preform faster and more efficiently.
“They must buy the electronic register first. All the software there is capable of being upgraded. You can also add different equipment integration to the register whenever you feel like it,” Murray continues. “The most fundamental thing that you have to do is get the register on there. If you want wireless communication, you must advise what you want to do with it. We need to know which modem is preferred. We do a sight serve to figure out what is actually best.
“We also do RFID for ground fueling equipment,” Murray says, noting this technology can help prevent gas or diesel misfuelings. “We provide the traceability to the into-plane service company as far as what ground service equipment has been fueled and which ones have not.”
According to Murray, more upgrades can be expected as this register will never be completed,.
“Right now, we control the additive injector per meter,” he says. “We are developing and releasing early next quarter a three-injector controller. The refueler will use our OnPoint additive injectors to properly inject, control and measure FSII, CI/LI and SDA for NATO grade F24 jet fuel on the fly.”
Another new development for 2020 will be the introduction of a UL/Atex Zone 1 housing construction for terminals and fuel farms.
