Seeking Retrofittable Solutions that Enable Safer Road Transportation of Liquid Propane Gas (LPG)

  • SHV Energy
  • From Netherlands
  • Responsive
  • Project Size Range : Strategic project backed by large scale funding €
  • Deadline completed
    The submission process for new proposals is closed. Proposals submitted before the deadline will follow the standard evaluation process.

Desired outcome

The health and safety of our employees and those who work on our behalf is our highest priority at SHV Energy. We believe that nothing is so urgent or important that we cannot take the time to do it safely. Our ambition and determination are to prevent incidents and near misses and sustain continuous improvement on health & safety. Transportation safety is a critical focus area for us to achieve that ambition.

We are exploring technological solutions that enable drivers to perform their jobs safely while reducing or, preferably, eliminating the potential of serious injuries or fatalities. We think this will be achieved through complimentary technologies rather than one ‘silver bullet’ solution.

SHV Energy

Details of the Innovation Need

Liquid Propane Gas (LPG) is a flammable product that requires a high degree of caution to extract, store, transport, and use. At SHV Energy, we ensure that our processes follow best (and often exceed) practice industry guidelines to ensure that the product is always safely handled and transported, and to safeguard the health and safety of our employees and our surrounding environments.

While we maintain the highest standards in transportation safety, high risks remain. If an incident does occur, the impact can be far-reaching and serious. We look to the latest technologies and innovative solutions to help us mitigate these risks, wherever possible.

Through a recent extensive risk assessment analysis from our Transport Safety Working Group, we identified several areas where external partners can help to improve the safety of LPG transportation. We are looking to explore technologies that reduce the Potential of Serious Injury or Fatality (PSIF) in relation to Pre-Journey and On-Route measures in the following four areas:

  1. Driver skills and capabilities
  2. Trucks and related equipment
  3. Transportation risk management
  4. Driver Management

A mix of all four areas can also be possible.

We have grouped determinants under Pre-Journey Influences and On-Route Influences (Please see the “Discarded Solutions” section for areas that we are less interested in affecting):

Pre-Journey influences:

  • Driver Training
  • Vehicle Maintenance
  • Emergency Equipment and Tools
  • Journey Assessment
  • Driver Fleet Management

On-Route influences:

  • Road & Environmental Conditions
  • Other Drivers
  • Blind Spots
  • Driver Mental State (Awareness and Alertness) and Daily Habits
  • Rollover detection and prevention

Inspiration and How Might We

Some example areas include:

  • How Might We prevent rollovers by better equipping drivers to handle risky scenarios (which they have potentially not encountered before) with confidence.
  • How Might We prevent rollovers by aiding drivers in their ability to acutely sense their environment. (i.e., improving driver awarenessof their immediate surroundings, situation, and conditions).
  • How Might We prevent rollovers by better monitoring a driver’s condition (i.e., state of alertness, responsiveness, or health) while on the road.

Requirements/Considerations

  • We use the following vehicles globally: Mini bulk road tanker, road tanker, cylinder delivery truck, tipper truck, crane truck and van.
  • The solution should be retrofittable to our existing vehicles or adapted to systems.
  • The solution should be ideally ATEX approved, or it should have the potential (and willingness of parties) to go through the ATEX Approval Process. For a proof-of-concept stage, a simulated environment can be created. Risk mitigation, working methods and instructions can also be defined for non-ATEX approved solutions so they should not be excluded.

Potential Collaborators/Partners

We are open to different types of partners. However, we are more likely to favour:

  • Technology suppliers with the ability to customize to our needs.
  • Joint collaborators that can combine several technologies to suit our use case.

Benefits

  • Work with a global player in the energy industry.
  • Gain access to our SHV Energy expertise and facilities to deep dive into the challenge.
  • Local support for initial testing with European Business Units, followed by global support for the wider business.
  • Support costs for a proof of concept.
  • The potential to enter a supply agreement.

Discarded Solutions

  • GPS
  • Vehicle risk management attachments
  • Emergency Equipment and Tools
  • Journey Assessment
  • Driver Fleet Management

Related Keywords

  • Automation, Robotics Control Systems
  • Artificial Intelligence (AI)
  • Imaging, Image Processing, Pattern Recognition
  • Internet of Things
  • Applications for Transport and Logistics
  • Industrial manufacturing, Material and Transport Technologies
  • Materials Handling Technology (solids, fluids, gases)
  • Transport and Shipping Technologies
  • Traffic, mobility
  • Industrial Technologies
  • Energy Technology
  • Energy Storage and Transport
  • Transport and storage of gas and liquid fuels
  • Protecting Man and Environment
  • Safety
  • Hazardous Materials
  • Other scanning related (including optical mark sensing and image processing)
  • Energy Market
  • Energy Distribution
  • Energy Storage
  • Industrial Products
  • Robotics
  • Machine vision software and systems
  • Industrial Equipment and Machinery
  • Transportation

About SHV Energy

SHV Energy is a leading global distributor of off-grid energy such as LPG and LNG and is active in the area of biofuels and renewable energy solutions. Our products and services are predominantly used for heating, cooking and transport. SHV Energy provides these decentralised, low-carbon and clean energy solutions to 30 million business and residential customers whose needs are not met by a supply grid.
SHV Energy consists of a group of specialised energy companies in over 24 countries across four continents and employs over 16,000 employees. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of SHV, a family-owned multinational. Our brands include Calor, Ipragaz, Liquigas, Pinnacle, Primagaz, Xiwei, Supergas and Supergasbras

We live in a fast-changing world. Trends emerge and rapidly influence the people around us. To anticipate future needs and drive the energy transition, we identify and meet customer and business challenges with innovative solutions. The way we work constantly evolves and a key change is incorporating innovation as a core capability within SHV Energy.
With a systematic approach to identify challenges, researching, and testing new solutions, we aim to improve our processes and deliver an enhanced, seamless customer experience. We support this by optimising internal and external collaborations, building partnerships with organisations and external ecosystems.
New solutions that show potential are tested and implemented in our businesses. Innovation helps us to grow our customer base, make our operation more efficient, reduces carbon emission, and improves safety. These innovation efforts benefit our customers through product and service improvements and make our operation more efficient. By increasingly incorporating innovations as a capability within the group, we continue to evolve our way of working, focusing on customer centricity and a mentality of building, testing and learning fast. This forms a crucial part of our culture on the energy transition journey of Advancing Energy Together.
This journey involves all our key stakeholders, not just our employees and customers. We believe it is in the interest of the entire industry, and wider society, that we bring other businesses with us in partnership and with collaboration.

Find out more about SHV Energy: www.shvenergy.com
Our Innovation Portal: www.shvenergyopeninnovationportal.innoget.com/

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