The basis behind this type of filling plant is that they are prefabricated modular designed plants that

can be moved
depending on demand. They are also compact and can be fitted on a 50m x 50m piece of land.

Although modular they still contain the key features required and found in more permanent facilities. They will be
secured with their own fence and gate house, the facilities will include bulk ISO tank, filling container, workshop and
technical room, spaces for storing empty and filled cylinders and fire-fighting equipment.

Containerised plants are an

ISO tank for LPG storage
interesting option if the
demand for LPG in a
country, or region of a
country, has not yet
reached a point to justify a
more permanent facility.

Each of the features of a plant are in containers allowing them to be Filling LPG cylinders in a container
linked as modular units. Even the storage facility can be containerised
within an ISO-tank.

It is important that although the facilities maybe containerised

and temporary all aspects of a containerised cylinder filling plant
must comply with all the requirements applied to a more
permanent arrangement.

This includes location, off site risks, operational and emergency

procedures, and all aspects relating to the safe storage, handling
and filling of cylinders on site.

Overview of a containerised filling facility

3.4 Automatic Filling Carousels

For high volume markets, where there are perhaps

thousands of cylinders to fill every day, the option would
be to consider automatic filling carousels. The principal
behind carousels is to use filling heads configured in a
circular way where the empty cylinder enters the
carousel, gets filled as it rotates around and then leaves
the carousel filled, at the point where it entered (stage 3
in the diagram opposite).

The carousel shown here has twenty-four filling heads but

it is possible to have fewer heads (e.g. eight) leaving gaps
that can be added to later as the demand increases.

Equally the carousel can be larger with up to say seventy

two heads. The decision on how many filling heads to
deploy will be based on initial and potential demand and
Schematic showing carousel filling system
the ability to invest.
The heads can be adapted for different cylinders and different valves using a batch system of feed.

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