11-07-2012

Air Products celebrates manufacturing of 100th LNG heat exchanger

Adorned with a banner appropriately marking the milestone occasion, Air Products’ employees at its Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania manufacturing facility said bon voyage to the shipment of its 100th coil wound heat exchanger today. This Air Products proprietary and industry leading technology, vital to helping meet the world’s increasing energy needs and desire for clean energy, is operating in 15 countries around the globe, processing and cryogenically liquefying valuable natural gas for consumer and industrial use.

“This is a testament to both what is an excellent and world leading technology, and the Air Products employees who for decades have manufactured this equipment. There is a lot of pride that goes into every single project and to see number 100 pass through the gates on its way to another global project site is an outstanding achievement,” said Steve Jones, senior vice president and general manager, Tonnage Gases, Equipment and Energy, and China president for Air Products, who was at the Wilkes-Barre facility to celebrate with employees. The unit marking the 100th liquefied natural gas  (LNG) heat exchanger manufactured in Wilkes-Barre is bound for the Donggi-Senoro LNG Project in Indonesia and is targeted to be placed onstream in 2014.

LNG is growing in importance globally in addressing the world’s increasing energy needs and desire for cleaner energy. Air Products’ LNG process technology and equipment is the heart of an LNG production plant. “We are able to place our technology at some of the most remote locations around the world and liquefy natural gas. Air Products’ LNG technology takes this natural gas, which is essentially a stranded valuable resource, and unlocks it by liquefying it and making it possible to economically ship it around the world. The LNG is eventually re-gasified for energy use,” said Jones.

At Wilkes-Barre, tube bundles, separators, distributors, piping, and other components are fabricated and positioned within the heat exchanger shell. The typical heat exchanger, which may be as large as 16.5 feet (5.0 meters) in diameter, 180 feet (55 meters) long, and weigh as much as 500 tons (455 metric tonnes), is then shipped via rail to an Air Products manufacturing annex at the Kinder Morgan Fairless Terminal in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, where final assembly is completed. The heat exchangers are then loaded on a ship and travel to LNG projects far from Wilkes-Barre including to locations in Algeria, Indonesia, Nigeria, Peru and Qatar, to name only a few sites, to make LNG to supply the world.

“These are very large pieces of equipment, measuring more than half a football field (60 yards in length), to manufacture and to ship. We have successfully done this now 100 times, safely and proficiently. In fact, heat exchangers we made here and supplied more than 35 years ago for customers are still operating, and many at production rates well in excess of their original design capacity. Every time we ship one of these units, there is just a great deal of satisfaction in a job well done,” said Sandy McLauchlin, general manager at Air Products’ Wilkes-Barre facility.

A majority of total worldwide LNG is produced with Air Products’ technology. Air Products has now designed, manufactured and exported 100 coil wound heat exchangers for LNG projects around the globe from its Wilkes-Barre facility over the last four decades. In support of the LNG industry, Air Products provides process technology and key equipment for the heart of the natural gas liquefaction process, and also nitrogen plants for the baseload LNG facility, as well as process technology and equipment for small and mid-sized LNG plants, floating LNG plants, and LNG peak shavers. Upstream, Air Products provides both nitrogen and natural gas dehydration membrane systems for offshore platforms. Downstream, Air Products provides dry inert gas generators for LNG carriers, shipboard membrane nitrogen systems, and land-based membrane and cryogenic nitrogen systems for LNG import terminals.