XPULSE: one system that grows with the vehicle. Image Credit: XPULSE

• Austrian firm Secu-Tech makes its official launch of XPULSE at ETX Kassel on Friday
• Core Unit plus XPANSION units taking up to ten plug-in modules each
• Road-tanker version first; bunkering, fixed depot and harbour installations, and aviation to follow
• Firm's existing kit is on more than 5,000 fuel stations, 500 tankers, and 500 loading arms

Austrian tanker safety systems maker Secu-Tech has unveiled XPULSE, a modular platform that it says brings metering, safety functions, operation, and communication on a fuel tanker into a single system.

The platform launches first for road tankers, with an implementation for bunkering to follow, the company said in an emailed press release on Wednesday.

For marine fuel suppliers, Secu-Tech says the bunkering version will bring the same approach to the transfer of fuel to vessels.

The platform is not limited to road tankers, Ship & Bunker understands, with the company planning to extend it to fixed installations at depots and harbours as well as to further fuel applications, including aviation fuel, which is under active development.

Secu-Tech says that a fuel transfer depends on more than a quantity reading: the product, the receiving tank, the permission to discharge, and the record of delivery must all agree, and XPULSE is built to make those checks part of the workflow, following loading, planning, and delivery through to the delivery record.

A Core Unit handles computing and operation, and XPANSION units, each accepting up to ten plug-in modules, are added as the installation grows, covering power, dispense control, metering, digital inputs and outputs, and interfaces.

The legally controlled metering domain is kept separate and can be sealed, and existing meters and sensors can stay in use where compatibility is confirmed for the installation, the company said.

The operator interface is five illuminated keys and an anti-glare display, designed for gloved hands and changing light, and Secu-Tech says the system shows the driver the current state and the next safe action to cut mistakes at the transfer point.

According to the company's press room, functions will be added progressively, starting with flow metering and followed by wireless overfill protection, legal-for-trade level monitoring, product-mix protection, and theft protection.

Based in Leobersdorf, south of Vienna, Secu-Tech has built systems for handling, monitoring, and documenting liquids and gases since 2004, and says its existing technology equips more than 5,000 fuel stations, 500 tankers, and 500 loading arms, alongside a radio-based overfill protection product for bunker stations and bunker ships.

XPULSE development is funded by the Austrian Research Promotion Agency, and the official launch is on Friday at ETX Kassel, which runs from September 17 to 19.