Varec Inc

Tactical Fueling Systems 

Varec’s TacFuels solution improves existing processes for fuels accountability of tactical fuel points, such as collapsible storage tank fuel farms. It reduces the cycle times, human resource allocations and is field proven for military personnel ease of use and acceptance. The system provides greater command oversight and management, while helping to resolve many shortfalls encountered at the local level, such as fraudulent disbursements. Automating the measurement of fuel inventories and integrating handheld computers for transactional data input and collection greatly reduces the errors associated with manually recording the receipt, inventory measurement and distribution of bulk fuels.

Fuel Measurement and Automatic Data Capture (ADC)

Varec’s combination of systems, communications, instrumentation and application expertise have allowed a clear understanding of fuels accounting in the tactical theatre.  The local level solution consists of a mobile laptop and handheld computers operating TacFuels® software, data collection units, flow meters and fuel gauges.  A combination of these ruggedized devices is deployed based on the configuration of the tactical fuel point.  Information from each local site can then be shared across networks using secure communications to base- or enterprise-level users.

Accurate Tank Gauging and Measurement

The fuel gauge provides a reliable and precise digital measurement of pressure and temperature. The pressure of the fuel in the CST can be directly related to the amount of fuel.  Ambient temperature is an influencing factor on measured volume, especially in extreme locations, such as the deserts of Iraq or Afghanistan where there is a large day time to night time fluctuation.  The Varec system utilizes temperature data to correct volumes to recommended American Petroleum Institute (API) standards for petroleum measurement. This standardization of volume measurements throughout the entire day and from location to location provides a true measurement of physical inventory and removes the inconsistencies associated with manual measurement procedures.

Tactical Fueling Systems Installation, Support and Maintenance

The fuel gauge is incorporated into a specially designed vent pipe with minimal support or maintenance requirements.  It is a direct replacement for an existing collapsible storage tank vent pipe in new or existing CST installations.  Venting characteristics are not compromised and the sensor can be easily installed or removed by military personnel in a few minutes with no specialized tools.  All power and communications cables are connected via military style “quick” connect/disconnects that are familiar to military personnel.

Real-time Fuels Inventory Accounting, Reconciliation and Management

The mobile computer operating TacFuels software provides local military personnel real-time inventory and accounting tools to assist, manage, account and report on their current fuel stocks and transactional fuel movements (receipts and issues) on a daily basis. Tacfuels provides graphical views of the local tactical fuel point and individual details of each CST.  The operator can quickly gain an idea of the total fuel stocks and their distribution throughout the CSTs at a glance.

TacFuels provides an inventory accounting ledger that assists site operators to accurately track, reconcile and report fuel inventories usage down to the vehicle level.  Operators are able to work in real-time with updated data as product is received or disbursed.  This minimizes any downtime by automating end-of-day or monthly bulk petroleum summary records, which can be generated by location, unit or product.  All captured physical inventories from CST storage are automatically included in variance calculations for close-out records.  Operators can also lock down accounting periods once reconciliation begins so that operational personnel cannot modify the data during reconciliation. TacFuels allows the local operator to automatically deliver reports to command or fleet headquarters for processing via e-mail in standard formats, such as Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Word, CSV and PDF. 

Enterprise Fuel Inventory Visibility and Control

When multiple sites are combined into a command level TacFuels enterprise system, enterprise users are able to access reports and graphics overviews configured at each individual site or run queries across all site data to create custom reports based on their unique requirements.  The local mobile computer connects to the enterprise via secured satellite or cellular communications when required.  At command level, custom, real-time reporting of fuel assets assists with supply chain management, invoicing and logistical decision making across the entire tactical arena.

TacFuels is also compatible with FuelsManager® systems already in use by many defense organizations, including the U.S. Department of Defense, NATO, the United Kingdom’s Ministry of Defence and the Australian Ministry of Defence.