Cryogenic cylinder or stationary tank: when each one pays off

The question comes up when cylinders have become expensive but a stationary tank still looks like a big commitment. The answer is decided by three numbers, not by preference.

A cryogenic cylinder is a portable vacuum-insulated vessel that stores liquefied gas and delivers it as gas or liquid under pressure. One cylinder replaces a rack of ten to twenty high-pressure cylinders, needs no foundation and no permit for a stationary pressure vessel.

When a cryogenic cylinder wins

• Consumption is uneven or seasonal, and a stationary tank would stand half empty.
• The point of use moves — several workshops, a temporary site, a rented building.
• There is no space for a foundation or no time to go through the paperwork.
• A mobile reserve is needed next to an existing stationary system.

When a stationary tank wins

• Consumption is steady and measured in tonnes per month.
• The cost per cubic metre of gas is the lowest of all supply options.
• There is room for a foundation and access for a tanker, so the gas is delivered in bulk.

Do the arithmetic on three lines

Compare the price per kilogram of product, the logistics (how many times a month someone has to deliver or exchange vessels) and the capital cost — foundation, piping, installation. A cylinder means zero capital cost and a higher price per kilogram. A tank is the opposite: you invest once and then buy gas cheaper.

The break-even point usually appears somewhere around a few tonnes per month, but it shifts with the distance to the filling station: the further you are, the earlier a stationary tank starts to win.

The middle option

Between the two there is a small stationary tank of roughly 1000–3000 litres, refilled from a tanker on site. It gives close to bulk pricing without a large foundation and without the full permitting path of a big vessel.

How much is that in cylinders

A 500-litre cryogenic cylinder holds roughly 400 kg of liquid nitrogen, which is about 320 m³ of gas. A standard 40-litre high-pressure cylinder gives six to eight cubic metres. So one cryogenic cylinder replaces around forty-five to fifty ordinary cylinders — that is the whole rack, the manifold, the handling and most of the paperwork gone.

The hidden cost of cylinders

• Rent for the cylinders themselves, charged whether they are full or standing empty.
• Logistics: someone loads, transports, unloads and returns them, every week.
• Residual pressure. A cylinder is never emptied completely, and you paid for what goes back.
• Downtime while changing over, and the safety risk of manual handling of heavy vessels.

These lines rarely appear in the comparison, and they are usually what makes the switch pay off faster than the gas price alone suggests.

Tell us your monthly volume, the number of consumption points and the distance to the nearest filling station — we will compare all three options in figures.