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                         LPG  shipment  in  tank-containers

        Michail Litvin, Director-General of “Speztransgarant” Company

 Traditionally  LPG transportation schemes are rigidly tied to the existing transport infrastructures.  Delivery by railway ( if there is one in the region ) as a rule does not enable the end user ( consumer)  to receive  gas  directly from the producer of LPG as it is not possible due to LPG technology reasons. Delivery by auto transport  inevitably limits  LPG output production because it is not possible to carry out too much of LPG by vehicles only and the LPG producing enterprise will have to  simply burn the remaining excess of the gas. Many oil and gas producing enterprises not having the possibility of LPG shipment by rail and possessing the possibility of  quite limited LPG export  by motor transport which is connected with the region of  production, will have to  deliver its product for transportation by pipe line for  much lower  prices or just burn it in torches. 

"Transgarant" Company offers to its clients  principally new schemes of the logistics to use  the excess gas , which is  burned today in torches, and offers to deliver LPG  on door to door principle to a final consumer, for instance, to an auto gas refueling station.  One and a half year back "Transgarant" Company" took a decision to  transport  LPG  in specialized tank-containers. The main advantages of a such way to transport LPG is that it enables to ship gas from "Point A" to "Point B"  without reloading LPG and without using a local system of reloading and storage stations which is  often "regionally monopolized" and not modernized from "Soviet times".  This outdated system is not safe enough, its  uninterruptible functioning is not guaranteed and leakage or other loss of gas during reloading  also happens not too seldom. LPG transportation by tank-containers solves all these problems. Besides, the LPG  producers will be able to sell  the greater amount of his product with a much broader  geography of  sales. Secondly, itself tank-container itself  may be used  as a reservoir  for retail sales of LPG therefore it  promotes an increase of LPG retail business. Thirdly,  the quality and the volume of the  product in a tank-container always remains unchangeable. Leakage and loss of gas is ruled out in this transportation scheme. 

 At present, the company  owns over 550 tanks-container and plans to have more. Potential clients of this shipment system from producers side are  small gas processing enterprises and gas fields whihh have the possibility to produce LPG but which are located far enough from  railways.  From consumers side these are any clients - auto gas refueling stations and others including LPG importers. Whereas due to lack of reloading sea ports  almost all Russian LPG export  is shipped through  Ukraine or Poland "Transgarant" Company exported LPG in tank-containers to Turkey via the Black Sea and Rostov-on-Don river port saving a lot in expenditure for reloading and transit through foreign country.

  The article contains the technical features of the tank-containers produced and utilized by  "Transgarant" Company  and the list of  cargo ( liquefied gas), which may be carried in these containers.