3D visualization monitoring system for gas stations, intelligent operation for safety management

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A preamble: A gas station is a facility that serves cars and other motor vehicles by retailing gasoline and engine oil, and generally also supplies fuel oils, lubricants, etc. Since the petroleum products sold at gas stations are flammable, explosive, volatile, prone to leakage, and capable of accumulating static electricity, safety is the top priority at gas stations. **The rapid economic development has led to an increasing income for the population, as well as a growing purchasing power for motor vehicles. As a result, the number of gas stations is also increasing continuously, with them located along roads in both urban and rural areas across the country. This has given rise to an industry of considerable scale. However, due to the large number of owned and franchise stores, management is fragmented; some of the earlier monitoring systems were unable to be expanded or connected to a network, and accidents occur frequently as a result of inadequate manual management and monitoring. To improve management quality and efficiency and achieve intelligent management and development, new requirements have been put forward for the operation and maintenance management of gas stations in the future. HT for Web has independently developed a powerful HTML5-based 2D and 3D rendering engine, which provides rich visualization effects. In both 2D and 3D configurations, Hightopo’s HT for Web product offers a wide range of configuration options. This article will introduce how to utilize HT’s 3D visualization and 2D control panels to achieve visual monitoring of gas stations. Scene outside the gas station: Scene inside the gas station: Creating value. Given that gas station fires are sudden, involve high levels of heat radiation, and feature alternating periods of burning and explosion, and especially considering the continuous changes in the concentration of oil and gas during the burning process, which leads to an ongoing transformation between burning and exploding states and an expansion of the fire, it is very difficult to extinguish such fires in their early stages; one can only rely on self-rescue measures inside the station. This results in incalculable casualties and economic losses. Especially gas stations located in busy urban areas can experience fires and explosions, which are highly likely to result in severe casualties involving many deaths and injuries, causing tremendous suffering to innocent people. An analysis of safety accidents that have occurred at gas stations over the years shows that the main causes of these accidents fall into three categories: First, issues related to equipment management. There are hidden dangers associated with the equipment and facilities that exist since the construction of the gas stations, such as storage tanks and fuel dispensers that are not properly grounded, tank-type oil storage areas and ducts that are not filled properly with sand, and electrical equipment that does not meet explosion-proof requirements. II. Deficiencies in personnel management: Employees lack the necessary ideological and professional qualifications. This is manifested in a tendency to take chances, irresponsible behavior, violation of operating procedures, as well as a lack of knowledge regarding oils, equipment, etc., all of which can lead to operational accidents. Such accidents mainly occur during four processes: unloading oil, measuring oil, filling oil, and handling oil tanks. In all these processes, the oil is exposed to the air; if operating procedures are violated, causing the oil to evaporate into the air and come into contact with a source of fire, this can result in explosions and fires. III. Lagging safety management: With the development of technology and changes in the market, safety management must also be innovated to strengthen accident prevention measures. Use visual management and monitoring to address the management shortcomings of gas stations. With the development of digitalization, industrial Internet, and the Internet of Things, gas stations in China are moving toward a model that features manned presence but no on-site operation, with remote control being used instead. The traditional method of manual inspections is gradually being replaced by an online monitoring approach based on automated control, that is, through the use of Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition systems (SCADA). The widespread use of SCADA systems has **improved the monitoring efficiency of gas stations in our country. A 3D visualization monitoring system integrates 3D visualization technology with data acquisition and monitoring technologies, fully leveraging the core advantages of both; through database-based data sharing, it forms a completely new type of SCADA system. This system also integrates Hikvision’s camera monitoring; by using the camera addresses provided by Hikvision, video streams are transmitted in real time to the frontend and displayed on the 2D page. In a real system, each fueling unit and fuel tank has its own data that needs to be displayed; the 2D panels can be designed based on the content that needs to be shown, and then the data sent from the backend is used for display. The data acquisition and monitoring system collects various types of data on the monitored objects in real time through various sensors, uploads this data to a database, and shares it in real time with the 3D visualization models and scenes of those monitored objects created using 3D visualization technology. Finally, this information is displayed intuitively through the monitoring system, which greatly improves the ability to present data related to the monitored objects, enhances the efficiency of staff, and facilitates better management of gas station operations. Effect Analysis I: Video surveillance performance – 24/7 continuous video monitoring ensures clear visibility of key areas such as the fueling lanes, the sales office, the finance room, and the fuel storage area. It enables real-time monitoring and recording of vehicles coming in and going out of the gas station, the operation of equipment, the charging processes, and overall station activities. II. Monitoring effectiveness of fuel dispensers Fuel dispensers are fuel metering devices that directly supply fuel to motor vehicles. It, together with oil tanks, pipelines, fittings, and valves, forms a complete oil supply system. A fuel dispenser is composed of four main assemblies – a fuel pump, an oil-gas separator, a meter, and a counter – as well as other components such as electric motors and fuel nozzles. Any type of fuel dispenser can be considered to be made up of these main assemblies along with some other simple components. III. Monitoring Effect of Oil Tanks Oil tanks are containers used for storing crude oil or other petroleum products. Used in refineries, oil fields, oil depots, and other industries. The oil tank area consists of multiple oil tanks. Each tank farm generally stores one type of oil product. The classification of oil tanks mainly falls into two categories: by material and by structure. In most gas stations in China, horizontal steel tanks are used for storing gasoline and diesel. As for non-metallic oil tanks, they are not used in gas stations at all due to various drawbacks such as leakage. Therefore, the regulations stipulate that fuel tanks for refueling should be horizontal steel tanks. In summary, for the oil industry, gas stations are the windows through which it comes into direct contact with the public; they represent the front line. To keep up with the times and explore intelligent management methods, HT ensures the safe operation of gas stations by utilizing oil and gas concentration monitoring, tank volume tracking, and visual video surveillance, thereby reducing incident response times and improving the efficiency of incident handling. It enables the various facilities in the scene to have more flexible presentation forms and intuitive, vivid visualization effects, thereby facilitating scientific and effective management of gas stations. HT has also been continuously exploring the industry and advancing in terms of technology, thereby developing numerous solutions for various industries within the industrial internet.