Air Products and Linde Boost European Industrial Gas Production

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--The expansion of industrial projects in central and eastern European countries that are now part of the European Union has increased demand for industrial gases. In Poland, where the manufacturing sector grew 7.4% from 2000 to 2006, the gas market is forecast to become critically short of capacity in 2008 as demand continues to rise. Gas imports will increase to fill the gap. Air Products (NYSE:APD ) (Allentown, Pennsylvania) plans to build a new liquefier that will generate an additional 400 tons per day (TPD) of industrial gases at its site at Kedzierzyn in the southern part of the country. The facility is scheduled to go into commercial operation in early 2009, subject to approvals and permitting. Nearly 30% of Poland’s total manufacturing output and about 25% of new manufacturing project investment are located within 150 kilometers of the new facility’s site, which, when the plant goes into operation, will have a total capacity for oxygen and nitrogen products of 800 TPD.

With existing business clusters in the Czech and Slovak republics, the company is expected to generate distribution synergies from Kedzierzyn’s proximity. In April, Air Products acquired the BOC Gazy industrial gas business from the Linde Group, making Air Products the leading industrial gas supplier to the vigorous central European economy. Graham Rhodes, Air Products VP for bulk gases in Europe, said the new investment in Poland, after the acquisition of the BOC industrial gas business, leveraged the company’s position in key industries such as glass, metals and food.

In Germany, Linde (OTC:LNAGF ) (Wiesbaden, Germany) officially started operations at a second hydrogen liquefaction plant and a new air separation plant at Leuna, its largest gas-production site in the country. The $80 million expansion will allow the company to provide customers with greater supply capacity, a broader product portfolio and even greater product purity, board member Aldo Belloni said. The hydrogen liquefier was a valuable investment in the future as the gas became increasingly used as an auto fuel, he said.

The liquefier produces about 3,000 liters of liquid hydrogen per hour, equivalent to about 5 TPD, and is supplied with feed gas via a pipeline from the neighboring hydrogen production plant. After liquefaction, at a temperature of minus 253C, the liquid hydrogen is loaded into container vehicles at special filling stations for delivery to customers.

The new air separation plant has a capacity of 33,000 cubic meters of oxygen per hour, equivalent to 1,130 TPD, and the larger part of this is fed into the local pipeline network to supply the on-site refinery. Argon and smaller quantities of other noble gases are also produced.

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