Connected remote tank monitoring is a well-established IoT use case delivering significant cost-savings and efficiency gains for suppliers and users of liquids and gases. Supply chain wastage is eliminated and deliveries are made when needed, rather than as part of a schedule. In fact, remote tanks have a vast range of use cases that include remote fuel tanks that enable mining organisations to power their equipment, or restaurant chains that need to ensure fresh supplies of cooking oil. Other popular use cases include heating oil tanks, water tanks for agricultural irrigation and fuel tanks for emergency generators.

Although technologically straightforward – a tank simply needs a sensor and a communication module fitted to enable remote monitoring – there are several challenges to consider when it comes to technology selection. This is partly due to variations in operation, performance and managment. These include availability of network coverage, frequency of monitoring communications, and the reliability and accuracy needed and the lifespan of the project.

Consideration for optimum connected remote tank monitoring

With vast growth already underway, the shipment segment of remote tank monitoring is experiencing 31.1% year-on-year growth. The challenge now is to identify which kit suits your needs from a rapidly growing base of devices, service providers and technologies. For tanks in populated areas, such as restaurant cooking oil tanks, a cellular connection will more than suffice to communicate when a tank level is approaching time for a refill. Conversely, a remote fuel tank used by a mining company will probably be unable to access cellular coverage and will need to rely on satellite connectivity to ensure coverage.

Coverage isn’t the only consideration. Thought also needs to be given to the cost of solutions, how frequently the tank needs to communicate and how much data needs to be transmitted. A tank that supports an industrial process or an emergency generator at a hospital, is mission critical and therefore may need monitoring data to be communicated more often. On the other hand, an industrial company may want more than basic data about consumption of the tank contents. They may want to assemble information about peak consumption times or to report anomalies. More intelligence is needed for the remote tank monitoring device and the network capability to communicate richer data in these scenarios.

A recent Quectel Masterclass, titled ‘Advanced remote tank monitoring’ explains the variables and the priorities for different use cases and customers that operate remote tanks. The Masterclass demystifies the technology that is needed to accurately measure and relay tank data and sets how best to introduce connected solutions effectively. The session provides an overview of tank monitoring applications and the market status before revealing the advantages of particular technologies. The speakers, Tomaz Petaros, the product manager for IoT, EMEA, at Quectel and Gregorio Silva, the LTE Product Manager for North America at Quectel also explain how our products can provide unique capabilities into supporting this critical application.