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In Package 3 Medical Gas under the Project of Production Materials F18-FDG and Medical Gas of Danang Hospital in 2021 (by KPG Co., Ltd. as the bidding consultant), the HSMT requested: “Vehicle The transport tank can be extracted from the tank on the car to the fixed tank at the hospital by pressure difference, not using the method of transferring by the liquid transfer pump through the electric motor (with a commitment). For liquid gas, it is required to have a liquefied gas tank for liquid filling with a working pressure of = 21 bar”. The HSMT also requires: “The contractor must have a liquid oxygen transport vehicle weighing = 21 tons and = 6 tons”.
Before that, a number of other hospitals and units also made mandatory requirements for similar liquefied gas supply standards, such as Cho Ray Hospital (Bid Package for Supply of Medical Gas used at the Hospital in 2021 - 2022), Pham Ngoc Thach Hospital (Medical Gas Procurement Package for 2020 - 2021), Blood Transfusion - Hematology Hospital, Da Nang Oncology Hospital...
Explaining why the above regulation was introduced, Da Nang Hospital said that the HSMT was built on the basis of reference to other units. According to this bid solicitor, the use of electric pumps has the potential for fire and explosion due to an unsafe electrical short.
However, according to many contractors, extracting by differential pressure method is much riskier than using electric pump. When extracting by the differential pressure method, the temperature of the tank is heated up, causing the oxygen to liquefy the gas continuously during storage and causing unsafety, high risk of fire and explosion. Meanwhile, using an electric pump to transfer liquid from tank trucks to fixed tanks is safer, minimizes losses, and is more beneficial for investors.
According to a contractor in Gia Lai, about 95% of medical gas supply enterprises use electric pumps. The cost to invest in this equipment is very high, about 450 million VND/pump. "If this method is not more effective, why do businesses have to invest in such expensive equipment?", the contractor emphasized.
For the requirement to have a liquefied gas tank for liquid filling with a pressure of = 21 bar, another contractor said that the pressure of oxygen gas put into use fluctuates between 4 - 7 bar, normally 4 - 5 bar (running ECMO ventilator). Therefore, the process of turning liquid only needs a tank with a pressure greater than this pressure to be met, about 10.5 bar is suitable. On the market, there are very few businesses that meet this condition, because pressure tanks of 21 bar or more are usually only used for CO2, and rarely for Oxygen. On the other hand, such a high pressure tank will cause the tank temperature to rise, while the liquid oxygen needs to be kept cold, if it is hot, it will vaporize, causing gas loss and can lead to fire and explosion risks.
Regarding the requirement of transporting vehicles under 6 tons, some contractors said that, instead of one shipment, the contractor had to go up to 4 trips, increasing costs and causing more losses. In fact, across the country, there are currently only 1 to 3 units with this type of vehicle.
Sharing with a reporter of the Bidding Newspaper, a number of contractors in Bac Ninh, Gia Lai, and Ho Chi Minh City said that as soon as they studied the bidding documents of the above bidding packages, they withdrew because they knew they could not meet the requirements. this criterion. Some bidders have submitted written requests to amend their bidding documents, but the bid solicitor did not accept them.
According to a procurement expert, although it is not wrong, but including such criteria in the bidding documents is not encouraging bidders to use new superior and more effective technologies. At the same time, the participation of bidders is limited, reducing the competitiveness and economic efficiency of the tender. |
