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LPG Cylinder Storage – Why Budget is Never the Real Issue

By Scott Downie, industrial sales manager, Ritchie

Scott Downie, industrial sales manager for gas cylinder handling and handling pallet specialist Ritchie, provides answers for the three most common underlying worries his customers have – storing multiple lpg cylinder sizes on a single site, tracking cages and finding information on compliance.

Any sales engineer or entrepreneur will understand that the first objection all potential customers raise is budget. Whether you are buying a storage system for lp gas or a new car, the first consideration is always, ‘can I afford it?’

However, this is rarely the underlying concern. Certainly, when one is buying a product to comply with regulatory requirements, like lp gas storage, rather than one that meets your aspirational needs, like a new car, this is the case.

When one is presented with an apparently simple task that turns out to be quite complex, it can often be daunting. This is how our customers sometimes feel when they begin the process of planning lpg gas storage for a new site, particularly if that location is their first. The most common concern is that they want to either store different size lpg cylinders in the same area or they want to store different kinds of gases, potentially also in different sizes of cylinder.

LPG CYLINDER STORAGE SOLUTION

When this happens, our first task is to evaluate the size of the storage solution needed. This depends on the number and size of cylinders and access and transport requirements. For instance, a large number of cylinders storing more than 400kg of static gas will demand a compound solution, while less than that only requires a static cage in most instances.
Size can also depend on whether there is a need to keep empty cylinders away from full cylinders and access requirements. For example, if the client is planning to move the cylinders using a forklift, they will need double doors and a sufficiently high roof, but a trolley will only demand single doors.

The largest open compound we have ever built was 10 x 4 metres in size and the largest roofed compound was 8 x 4 metres. The relatively smaller size of the roofed compounds is due to the need to support the roof, which is crucial for safety.

Of course, compound footprint can also be restricted by the size of the area in which the lpg cylinders will be stored. Furthermore, access requirements may also need to be taken into account.

Our first step is to furnish the customer with a CAD modelled diagram, based on our initial plan for the layout of the compound. These are tailored to suit the client’s needs and can normally be turned into a final solution very quickly.

The construction and delivery process is actually quite quick because compound solutions can be flat packed from standard modular sections. As a result, we keep significant amounts of stock on site and are able to build to order.

Another issue our clients have is how to build the addition of cages into their own asset tracking systems. This is particularly relevant now because of pressure on lp gas companies to reduce the number of waste cylinders sent to landfill or recycling plants by collecting and reusing their own cylinders.

We provide a unique serial number for every cage or compound. This is used as part of our own recording system, which tracks the unit from our site to delivery.

Ritchie customers then have the option of using that serial number in their own asset tracking system to help tie cylinders to the cages in which they were stored and, in turn, the site from which they were sold. This could be of benefit in producing estimates of the amount of lpg cylinders from any given site to be returned to the lp gas company for reuse or recycling in a set time period.

Of course, one of the biggest issues customers have is complying with the guidelines on safely storing lp gas. While we can provide a compliant storage solution, the customer still needs to ensure that the compound or static cage is sited correctly and used in an appropriate way.

We try not to give advice on how to store lpg gas. Instead, we point our clients to the safe storage rules and regulations, UKLPG’s Code of Practice 7 – the storage of full and empty lpg cylinders and cartridges, which can be found on the association’s website, www.uklpg.org.
So, following the correct guidelines and obtaining the correct equipment can actually simplify what can often seem like a complex task at the outset. In my experience, once these worries are soothed away, customers are very rarely concerned about budget, but instead are pleased that they now have one less headache.

Contact Ritchie on 01307 462271 www.ritchie-uk.com