Level measurement plays an important role for the operation of both refineries and terminals in the oil industry. Measuring the hydrocarbon product level in a storage tank is necessary for inventory control and effective tank operation. When water accumulates and occupies a fair amount of storage space, the amount of product storage space left, is reduced.

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Unfortunately, measuring hydrocarbon product-level by traditional equipment is not be accurate due to the emulsion layer. The interface of the hydrocarbon product with water gathered at the bottom of the storage tank, in most cases, is relatively wide and not well defined. This makes it difficult for traditional measuring equipment to get an accurate, precise result of the exact net amount of hydrocarbon product in the storage tank.

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The importance of dewatering hydrocarbon products' storage tanks is well known with Operations Supervisors, environmental Engineers, and off-site Designers, particularly in the EU and U.S. Countries. And yet, even in the 21st century, the removal of water from storage tanks is a problem still largely solved manually, by Operators opening the drain valve and closing it when they see the appearance of hydrocarbon product in the water. Manual draining of water from storage tanksis quite inaccurate and cumbersome. It may cause serious damage to the storage tank the hydrocarbon product stored inside, if not done frequently enough.

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Furthermore, manual draining poses many complications and inaccuracies, which may result product loss of estimated value of 30,000 USD per tank, per year. However, this substantial loss could be avoided by using Eco-Valves' automated TOO valve for efficient and safe draining of water from hydrocarbon products' storage tanks.