• Refinery truck loading upgrade creates 50 additional jobs in the Western Cape
• Improved tanker filling efficiencies creates 30% better utilisation for fuel haulers 
• Reducing the loading time of an average 40,000 litre fuel tanker by 50% to only 30 minutes

Astron Energy, formally Chevron South Africa, officially opened its new Tank Truck Loading Rack (TTLR) at its Cape Town Refinery on Wednesday 14 November 2018. The facility, which took two years to complete, provided much needed investment into the Western Cape economy, utilising local businesses and labour and will ensure increased filling efficiency at the refinery. 

The new state-of-the-art fuel loading facility replaces the original facility, which had been in existence since the refinery was constructed by Chevron in 1965. 

Updating the obsolete loading facility with the latest in filling, metering and safety technology has created improved efficiencies by drastically reducing the loading time of an average 40,000 litre fuel tanker by 50% to only 30 minutes. This quicker turnaround generates a 30% improvement in truck utilisation for the fuel haulers.  

“This is a step change in the way we operate. The increased filling efficiency allows us to load more trucks per shift, thereby improving productivity and profitability for the haulers as they are able to deliver more product per day to our customers, retailers, Branded Marketers and distributors,” said Danie Gouws, General Manager: Regional Transport and Operations, Astron Energy. 

Designed by Kantey & Templer, the procurement for the R150 million project was predominantly spent in the Western Cape, using locally-based civil, mechanical and electrical engineering contractors to complete the construction. 

Construction of the facility spanned two years and nine months and created 50 additional jobs in the Western Cape. The TTLR now provides eight loading bays, each fully equipped to bottom load all of the petroleum products produced at the refinery.

The bays are fitted with Accuload automation systems and Smith meter technology, along with Sculley overfill protection to prevent spills. Vapour recovery systems are in place to manage and contain emissions and the bays are each monitored by CCTV cameras, which assist with truck management from entry point to staging area. 

Advanced safety features such as a deluge fire protection and a spill containment system also form an integral part of the environmental protection safeguards.