Rent or buy a cryogenic tank: what the two models really cost

A rented tank looks free until you read the gas price attached to it. A comparison of the three ownership models, the numbers that decide between them, and what «turnkey» has to include.

When consumption outgrows cylinders, the next question is not «which tank» but «whose tank». Three models are common in Ukraine, and the one that looks cheapest at the start is rarely the one that is cheapest over five years.

Three models

The mechanism behind the loan model is simple: the tank is paid for through the gas price. That is not a trick — it is financing, and for a plant testing a new process it is often the right call. It becomes expensive when the process turns out to be permanent and nobody revisits the contract.

The number that decides

Compare the premium per kilogram against the cost of ownership. If a supplier's tank comes with gas priced, say, 15% above the open market, and you use 3 tonnes a month, the premium is the equivalent of 450 kg of CO₂ every month. Multiply that by the price per kilogram and you get the annual cost of «free» equipment — then compare it with the purchase price of a tank.

In practice the crossover sits around two to four years of stable consumption. Below that, renting is usually cheaper and definitely more flexible. Above it, a 30 m³ tank of your own starts winning — and you regain the right to run a tender on gas.

What ownership actually obliges you to

• Registration and periodic technical examination of the pressure vessel.
• Maintaining the safety fittings: relief valves, gauges, level indication.
• Keeping the vacuum insulation intact — a vessel that loses vacuum starts venting product and has to be reworked.
• Trained personnel and a written procedure for receiving deliveries from a tanker.

None of this is heavy, but it is not nothing. A service contract usually covers it for a fixed annual fee, and that fee belongs in the comparison alongside the rent it replaces.

What «turnkey» has to include

Whichever model you choose, the scope of works on site is the same. When you compare proposals, check that all of it is priced — a turnkey installation that quietly excludes the foundation or the commissioning is not comparable with one that includes them.

• Foundation and site preparation, including tanker access.
• Delivery, lifting and setting of the vessel.
• The vaporizer sized for peak demand, not average.
• Piping to the point of use, with pressure regulation and safety fittings.
• Purging, leak testing, commissioning and personnel training.
• Documentation: passport, certificates, registration file.

Three questions before signing anything

1. What exactly is the gas price if the tank is supplied free — and how is it indexed?
2. Who owns the foundation and the piping when the contract ends?
3. How long is the exit notice, and is there a penalty for early termination?