New plants, expanded capabilities announced

Air Products Oudra announced groundbreaking for an integrated industrial gases hub in Jubail Industrial City, on the Persian Gulf in eastern Saudi Arabia. The facility should come online in 2023 and will serve industrial customers in the region.

The plant’s capabilities will include a large-scale steam methane reformer (SMR) to produce hydrogen; an air separation unit (ASU) to produce oxygen and nitrogen; hydrogen pressure swing adsorption (PSA) units to recover hydrogen from off-gases; and the installation of comprehensive pipeline networks to connect and transport industrial gases to the broad refinery and chemical customer base in the region.

On Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea coast, Air Liquide Arabia’s global-scale hydrogen plant is now pumping hydrogen. Construction of the plant, in Yanbu Industrial City, kicked off in 2015. Oil refineries use hydrogen to reduce the sulfur content of fuels.

Linde announced startup of two new ASUs, adding capacity to existing facilities in Texas and Florida, and the opening of a new air separation plant in China. The company is increasing its U.S. Gulf Coast capacity with a new ASU in Freeport, Texas. The unit supplies oxygen and nitrogen to MEGlobal’s new ethylene glycol plant in nearby Oyster Creek.

Another new ASU has started operating at Linde’s plant in Mims, Florida, doubling the plant’s production capacity to more than 500 tons per day. In addition to satisfying growing demand from space launch activity, the plant will serve healthcare, manufacturing, food processing and water treatment customers.

Linde’s new plant in Shanghai supplies oxygen, nitrogen and argon to the 12-inch wafer product line of Shanghai Huali Microelectronics Corporation (HLMC). The energy-efficient nitrogen generator is specifically designed for semiconductor manufacturers. Linde will also supply hydrogen and helium to HLMC.

Air Liquide is expanding capacity in the Antwerp basin. The company will build and operate a new nitrogen removal unit (NRU), suppling BASF with high purity gas to increase production efficiency of MDI. MDI is an important chemical component used in house insulation. This new NRU is scheduled to be operational by mid-2021.

Messer will continue its expansion in Hungary, constructing an additional plant in Tiszaújváros. The plant will supply approximately 14,500 standard cubic meters of nitrogen and 27,000 standard cubic meters of instrument air per hour for a new polyol complex.

New products

Figure 1: Haskel’s Q-Drive. Source: HaskelHaskel has launched new gas booster technology – a servo-electric driven gas booster. The Q-Drive gas booster (Figure 1) will provide high flow rates up to 6,500 psi (450 bar) and features quieter and more energy-efficient operation than its pneumatic and hydraulic counterparts. Designed using Industry 4.0 technology, the gas boosters come with remote monitoring and predictive maintenance capabilities and achieve low noise levels under 80 dB.

Air Products added the QuickChill Injector to its Freshline family of food processing technologies. This technology enables food manufacturers to chill sauces and liquids quickly and efficiently using liquid nitrogen to rapidly reduce temperatures. Faster cooling can increase manufacturing throughput two to three times or more. The injector works with new or existing equipment.

Welding a 3D-printed metal bridge

German industrial gasses supplier Messer collaborated with the Institute of Steel Construction and Mechanics of Materials at Technical University Darmstadt to 3D-print a metal bridge. Bridge construction used the wire arc additive manufacturing (WAAM) 3D printing process, using arc welding to melt a metal wire and build up the bridge structure layer by layer. Messer provided its proprietary welding gas mixture Ferroline and its experience with the process. The three-meter-long bridge spans running water on TU Darmstadt’s campus.