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GuardDog succeeds in eliminating fuel spills at Travis Air Force Base
Breakthrough fuel movement monitoring system passes the test at largest air mobility command
facility in the U.S. Air Force
Benicia, California
- July 10, 2007 - SpillGuard Technologies, Inc.
(SGT, Inc.)
(www.sgtinc.com), the leading provider of innovative endtoend
spill prevention
solutions for the fuel movement and petrochemical industry, today announced that its
GuardDog™ Independent Secondary Shutoff Control System ® has successfully
eliminated fuel spills at Travis Air Force Base (AFB), the largest Air Mobility Command
facility in the United States Air Force. First installed in August 2006, GuardDog has
allowed safe delivery of more than five million gallons of fuel during the more than 1,500
fuel loading operations at Travis—without a single spill or overfill incident.
“This installation has been a complete success. Prior to GuardDog, we experienced five
fuel spill incidents at Travis and GuardDog has effectively brought this number down to
zero,” said Joseph Mangum, Chief Master Sergeant at Travis Air Force Base.
“Throughout my career, I’ve worked with numerous construction projects and built many
different fuel systems, and this installation is handsdown
the best I’ve seen. Part of our
goal in this trial was to stress the system to the point of failure. We tried, but simply could
not break the GuardDog.”
GuardDog offers aroundtheclock
protection against human error and equipment failure
at the fuel transfer operation. The system’s breakthrough technology dynamically
monitors and analyzes the entire fuel transfer operation, including overfill detection,
static ground connections, and utilizes Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology
to positively identify each vehicle loaded to prevent fuel crosscontamination.
“I've just
been very pleased with the GuardDog system and I would recommend it to anyone.
When the GuardDog is on duty, the rest of us can relax,” said Chief Mangum.
“From a manager’s point of view, I love the GuardDog,” said Jeffery Carlton, Master
Sergeant at Travis AFB. “I can go home at night knowing that a truck won’t overfill at the
fuel stand. The response to GuardDog has been positive from supervisors and operators
alike.”
Increased visibility into fuel system performance
GuardDog’s companion GuardDog DataLogger System gives the AFB POL (Petroleum,
Oils and Lubricants) management team unprecedented visibility into the realtime
performance of both fuel handing equipment and the personnel responsible for fuel
loading operations. The system’s powerful analytics include full accounting of overfill
signals, ground connections and disconnects, flow control valve performance, attempted
product theft, vehicles attempting to load, product requested to load, and more. These
metrics proactively reveal weaknesses to help management improve their facilities’
performance and increase efficiencies.
“Before GuardDog, we had no way of assessing how a control valve was performing,
until there was a failure,” explained Master Sergeant Carlton. “GuardDog gives us
visibility into the fuel handling equipment far beyond a visual inspection. We can see
when a valve is starting to slow down and take action before an incident occurs.”
Chief Mangum recalls, “I was really excited about the GuardDog since day one. We
featured GuardDog in the environmental safety and occupational health (ESOH) 2006
inspection. The GuardDog was a big part of our proactive approach to preventing spills.
The result was that for the first time in my career had a whole flight been recognized as
an outstanding performer in environmental record. We owe a big part of this recognition
to the GuardDog and the SpillGuard management team.”
SpillGuard Management Named Honorary Air Force POL Members
Critical to the success of the GuardDog field trial was the unwavering product support
delivered by SpillGuard Technologies—from onsite installation and provisioning to
handson
training, and aroundtheclock
technical support. To recognize the unique
partnership forged between the two organizations, the Air Force named Peter Mantas,
President and CEO of SpillGuard Technologies, and Lee Sherwood, SpillGuard’s
Executive Vice President and CTO, honorary POL members.
“We wanted to honor Peter and Lee for their dedicated support to the men and women
of the 60th AMW/Fuels Management Flight,” said Chief Master Sergeant Mangum. “The
SpillGuard team offered unparalleled support during the field trial, as well as helped us
prepare for the HQ AMC API & Daedalian Team visit. They've provided great briefs and
are always willing to answer questions concerning GuardDog technology.”
“Lee and Peter are probably the best contractors I’ve worked with,” said Master
Sergeant Carlton. “Beyond this their focus on customer service is the best I’ve seen.”
About Travis Air Force Base
The 60th Air Mobility Wing is the largest air mobility organization in the Air Force with a
versatile alljet
fleet of C5
Galaxy cargo, C17
Globemaster III cargo and 27 KC10
Extender refueling aircraft. As the host unit of Travis Air Force Base, Calif., the wing
controls more than $11 billion in total resources, including 6,383 acres, 1,790 buildings
and about 2,720 military family housing units. It handles more cargo and passengers
than any other military air terminal in the United States. Travis is the West Coast
terminal for aero medical evacuation aircraft returning sick or injured patients from the
Pacific area. The 60th Air Mobility Wing crews fly support missions all over the world
and fulfills its motto of being "America's First Choice" for providing true Global Reach.
The Travis AFB POL team is the most recent recipient of the American Petroleum
Institute's award for "Best In Performance" in the entire United States Air Force.
About
The GuardDog™
The GuardDog has quickly become the industry's de facto standard for spill prevention.
Developed from the ground up to protect lives, the environment, and security, the
GuardDog's patented design continuously monitors from 1 to 8 loading or transfer
streams per unit. Built with the future in mind, its innovative design is compliant with the
American Petroleum Institute's (API) RP1004 requirements, streamlines operations,
dramatically reduces the risks of spills, detects leaks, and even detects attempted
product theft.
Under normal conditions, The GuardDog is silent until it detects a catastrophic valve
failure. Springing to action, the GuardDog preempts
spills by automatically shutting
down pumps; closing storage tank base valves and locking out the loading operation
while alerting management personnel of the problem and providing an opportunity for
investigation. The GuardDog empowers management with complete control not
allowing loading to continue or resume until management determines it is safe to load
again by initiating a keyed system reset switch.
Impressively flexible, the GuardDog is easily integrated into the Terminal Management
System at tank truck, rail car, commercial and military aviation refueling and marine ship
and barge loading operation facilities. A typical configuration requires only one"GuardDog" unit per load lane. The unit works in concert with SpillGuard's Pump & Valve
Controller and other existing safety components and emergency shutdown circuits to
provide a failsafe
mechanism for stopping flow when a valve failure is detected. Call 19253635140
for more information.
About
SpillGuard Technologies, Inc.
SpillGuard Technologies, Inc., the leader in spill prevention technologies, is dedicated to
providing spill prevention solutions to the petroleum and petrochemical industries. The
company develops unique solutions that overcome human error and equipment failures.
Designed to protect lives, the environment and assets, SpillGuard's core product the
GuardDog is quickly becoming the de facto standard in spill prevention technology. The
GuardDog was built from the ground up to meet future industry specifications like the
American Petroleum Institute's (API) RP 1004, Section 5, titled Independent Secondary
Shutoff Control Systems (SSC) associated with bottom loading tanker vehicles.
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