MOSCOW (MRC) -- Praxair has started up its second air separation plant and is extending its pipeline system in the Port of Antwerp, one of the largest petrochemical production complexes in the world, said the producer on its site.
The new 1,300-ton-per-day plant increases Praxair’s oxygen and nitrogen capacity in the Port and will support customers with long-term contracts. The new facility also produces liquid oxygen, nitrogen and argon that will meet customer demand in the pharmaceutical, chemical, glass, metal fabrication, manufacturing and food & beverage industries in Belgium and the Netherlands.
Praxair has also started construction of additional oxygen and nitrogen pipeline extensions on the east and west banks of the Port, which are expected to be finished by the end of 2016.
"We continue to grow our industrial gas capacity and pipeline network in Belgium and the Netherlands to better serve customers in the region," said Frank Wegmann, managing director of Praxair Germany and Benelux. "The Port of Antwerp is the largest chemical and petrochemical complex in Europe and continues to make additional investments in its infrastructure to expand capacity. Praxair is well-positioned to grow with the Port given the investments we have made."
As MRC informed before, in early 2016, Praxair has started up an air separation facility in Zoucheng City, China with Yankuang Guohong Chemical Co. Through a long-term contract, Praxair’s 3,000 ton/day plant will provide oxygen and nitrogen to Yankuang, replacing the existing customer-owned air separation units.
Besides, in 2015, Praxair signed a 20-year agreement to supply approximately 170 MMscfd of hydrogen and 2,000 tpd of nitrogen to a new 750,000-tpy ammonia complex being built by a new entity formed by Yara and BASF. To help fulfill the raw material requirements of this world-scale ammonia project located in Freeport, Texas, Praxair is investing more than USD400 million to add hydrogen and nitrogen production capacity and extending its Gulf Coast pipeline systems approximately 46 miles from Texas City to the Freeport area. The pipeline extensions are scheduled to be in operation in 2016 and the supply to the complex is expected to start in late 2017.
Praxair, Inc., a Fortune 250 company with 2014 sales of USD12.3 billion, is the largest industrial gases company in North and South America and one of the largest worldwide. The company produces, sells and distributes atmospheric, process and specialty gases, and high-performance surface coatings. Praxair products, services and technologies are making our planet more productive by bringing efficiency and environmental benefits to a wide variety of industries, including aerospace, chemicals, food and beverage, electronics, energy, healthcare, manufacturing, primary metals and many others.
MRC