{"id":22864,"date":"2025-03-12T14:00:36","date_gmt":"2025-03-12T03:00:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.originenergy.com.au\/blog\/?p=22864"},"modified":"2025-03-12T14:02:53","modified_gmt":"2025-03-12T03:02:53","slug":"dannys-lifetime-in-lpg-and-the-biggest-changes-hes-seen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.originenergy.com.au\/blog\/dannys-lifetime-in-lpg-and-the-biggest-changes-hes-seen\/","title":{"rendered":"Danny\u2019s lifetime in LPG and the biggest changes he\u2019s seen"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

With almost forty years in the LPG industry, long-serving Terminal Operator Danny Hoelscher has seen a lot of change. We sat down with Danny, a veteran of our workforce, to reflect on his career and what\u2019s driven him all these years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The year was 1986. Top Gun<\/em> soared to the top of the box office, Bob Hawke was leading Australia through economic reform, and Mike Tyson became the youngest heavyweight champion in boxing history. Meanwhile, 25-year-old Danny Hoelscher kicked off his career as a Terminal Operator at the Bulwer Island LPG Terminal in Brisbane.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the next 39 years, the terminal has been his workplace, and he\u2019s witnessed first-hand the evolution of the LPG industry – adapting to changing landscapes, working with various companies, and now passing on his knowledge to the next generation of operators.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Danny, 64, says, \u201cBack in \u201986, I was on the lookout for work when a friend mentioned that the Brisbane Gas Company, a key player in Brisbane\u2019s gas distribution at the time, was hiring operators for its Bulwer Island LPG storage and distribution terminal in Pinkenba.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe LPG terminal wasn\u2019t as busy then as it is today. I was the only terminal operator. I\u2019d come to work in shorts and a t-shirt, filling a couple of hundred bottles a day. Now, there are 14 operators at the terminal, filling thousands of bottles, so it\u2019s grown enormously.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe dress code has changed too. You\u2019ll find me in hi-vis gear and sun-protective long sleeves and pants \u2013 we\u2019re a lot more safety-conscious these days.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Danny Hoelscher at work at the Bulwer Island LPG terminal.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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\u201cThe technology has come a long way. I remember hauling LPG cylinders<\/a> around the terminal onto the filling scale to fill them, using a sliding weight scale to weigh each one. Now, we have LPG filling carousels, which are rotating platforms that automatically fill cylinders with gas and weigh them to make sure they\u2019re filled correctly. It\u2019s a huge improvement and makes the old ways feel so primitive in comparison.  
   
\u201cWe used to have LPG rail cars deliver gas to the terminal from production facilities. We\u2019d unload the gas and transfer it to storage tanks for further distribution, but the rail delivery system has since been phased out at Bulwer Island.  
 
\u201cWhen the BP Refinery was running, it supplied the terminal with around 200 tonnes of LPG a day, but after it shut down in 2015, we\u2019ve had to rely more on imports.   
   
\u201cNow, gas is delivered by ship each week, and we unload about 2,300 tonnes of LPG for distribution to various sites.”  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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