gasworld

Page title: No banners, not even colour block – just simple in a light weight FF Meta

Kenya, Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda in the spotlight hroughout its history, DIEKS and all its staff have always been focused on the high quality of service and strict adherance to the letter of the law. The Ukrainian-German joint venture company was founded in 2003, following a decision to establish a JV company of Technical Supervision German TUV NORD GRUPPE. From then, TUV NORD-DIEKS was born and its technical base has been constantly updated with modern equipment for destructive and non-destructive testing operations.

Headers and sub-lines: New, modern, clean sans-serif which we will have to buy. More personality and less heavy than Myriad. Many weights available.

Light versions work at big sizes (see intelligence pages). A combination of heavy and light works well (news spread)

Body: Minion Pro (we own this already).

Many business mags use a serif for their body with a sans serif for headers etc...

I have always thought we should do this at gasworld.

The designer of FF Meta recommends Minion Pro as a font that works well with Meta. So this saves buying a serif to go with Meta.

The font is 9pt with 12pt leading. This is almost double the amount of leading gasworld currently uses. The current body copy is too tight and contributes to the ‘heavy’ look of the magazine.

Drop cap: Undecided on this but a thin version of Meta using the chosen colour palette works I think.

Callouts: Not decided on light or heavy version of Meta, but appropriate colour palette used.

Boxouts: Should use a pastel shade according to the colour palette. Set in Meta to help seperate from the body copy and tie in with headers.

This is standard practice in mags like New Scientist.

Signposts/Related articles: Not in a box to separate them from boxouts but clearly separate within body text.

Use Meta again and splash of colour according to palette.

gw

Article full-stops

Page footer: No line at footer. Page number with Month/Date

36 | September 2013

Authors: Photos kept small and cut out. Can’t rely on contributors sending in good pics.

Examples in Hot Topic and Blondin column.

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Info Graphics: Still to decide on colour palette for info graphics, but the palette should be the same throughout the magazine. OR perhaps with a limited palette throughout the mag – the info graphics colour palette probably won’t be an issue.

There should be increased use of picture graphic in the info graphics – I will make some examples!

www.gasworld.com/companyprofile

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magazines – website – conferences

ISSN 1755-3857 www.gasworld.com July 2013 Issue 98

gasworld magazine

Carbon dioxide Supply and quality issues

Can the supply chain challenges be overcome – and how?

Economic climates and the global dry ice market – what impact?

"There would be abundant opportunities for merchant CO2 from a variety of waste streams..."

Inside this issue: CO2 recovery • Interview with SACGA • Liquid air

Carbon dioxide (CO2) is famed for its use in the beverages business, as well as a wealth of other applications.

But as its usage grows around the world and creates new demand hubs for CO2, how can this appetite be quenched? There are supply and quality issues in the global CO2 business, as explained through our features this month.

As liquid air continues to gather pace and plaudits, gasworld looks at its feasibility, at the heart of which are industrial gases and expertise.

Global merchant CO2 markets in focus

Global merchant CO2 markets in focus Recovery vs combustion New standards in onsite cleaning systems A case study from Linde Gases

September 2013 | 03

Alexander Medvedev of Gazprom and François Darchis, from Air Liquide, have finalised the signature of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for potential future cooperation in the course of Gazprom’s Helium Project implementation in Eastern Siberia.

According to terms of the MOU, Air Liquide and Gazprom Export intend to study forms of strategic cooperation such as joint

The Linde Group has announced it will give a presentation at the European Unconventional Gas Summit on how energised solutions are helping producers increase the productivity and decrease the environmental impact of hydraulic fracturing in the US. Dr Art Shirley, head of Chemistry and Energy of Linde Gas, will discuss how Linde’s successful US experience in the implementation of energised solutions that incorporate 06 | September 2013

production, transportation, storage and marketing of helium within the Helium Project framework.

“The new Helium Project in Eastern Siberia provides for challenging and innovative solutions in helium production, logistics

and marketing. We hope the partnership with Air Liquide would provide the effective way of commercialising the vast Helium reserves in the Eastern Siberia,” said Medvedev.

According to Darchis, Senior Vice-President and member of Air Liquide’s Executive

Committee, “In order to better serve its customers in the helium business worldwide, Air Liquide will bring its technological expertise and leadership to this new partnership with Gazprom as it always does with strategic partners.”

On 30th October, Gazprom adopted the final investment decision on pre-development of the Chayandinskoye field being of top priority for the Yakutia gas production centre. Gazprom will build up a gas pipeline from Yakutia to Vladivostok, via Khabarovsk, in order to transport gas produced from the Chayandinskoye field – thus triggering large-scale gas processing development in Eastern Russia. A new helium production facility in the vicinity of Blagoveshensk is tentatively scheduled to

carbon dioxide or nitrogen can be applied to hydraulic fracturing in Europe. The European Unconventional Gas Summit will be held in Vienna, Austria, from January 29 to 31, 2013.

Approaches using energised solutions can increase the overall productivity of wells over the entire lifecycle, while reducing the water needed for the fracturing process and minimising environmental effects. Using real-life examples, Dr Shirley identifies which wells may benefit

from the use of energised fluids and key considerations guiding their use. Linde has decades of experience with the successful application of energised solutions in the production of hydrocarbons from unconventional sources such as shale.

“Many Europeans want to realise the benefits of the region’s rich deposits of cleaner, more economical natural gas,” noted Dr Shirley. “Linde’s extensive experience in the US using energised solutions for hydraulic fracturing

highlights their potential to increase production, improve economics and enhance environmental outcomes.

In upstream processing applications, energised solutions can displace water

www.gasworld.com/europe

Home healthcare strategy continues

Sheffield-based Chesterfield Special Cylinders (CSC) has been awarded a £2m contract to supply high pressure gas cylinders for the Royal Navy’s sixth Astute-class nuclear submarine, HMS Agamemnon, currently under construction at Barrow-In-Furness by BAE Systems Submarine Solutions.

The order takes the value of CSC’s contracts for the Astute Class submarines to over £12m, having already supplied gas and oxygen systems for the first two submarines (Astute and Ambush) which are already in the water and the next three (Artful, Audacious and Anson) being built by BAE Systems in Barrow. A seventh and final Astute, Ajax, is due to enter service in 2024.

The cylinders that CSC is supplying for the Astute submarines are critical to a number of vital operations within the vessels, including breathing gas storage, hydraulic and valve actuation backup, ballast operation and missile launch systems.

Sales manager for CSC, Lee Lawrence, said, “This contract is testament to the strong, well-established relationship forged over many years between ourselves, BAE Systems and the Royal Navy. It underpins the confidence that BAE Systems and the Royal Navy have in the safety critical products CSC has supplied for the previous five Astute submarines.”

CSC has been supplying the Royal Navy with high pressure gas storage cylinders for ships

and submarines since the 1930s. Its reputation for safetycritical systems is second to none and this contract is seen as further cementing its standing as a leading supplier to BAE Systems.

CSC is a world-leading designer and manufacturer of engineering solutions for global high pressure gas containment markets. As well as serving the global oil and gas sectors, the company has expanded its customer base

The Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), the University of Zaragoza and the US company GWR Instruments have announced they have entered into a global collaboration agreement with Quantum Design International for a new helium system.

This technology, developed jointly by Conrado Rillo and his team at the University of Zaragoza, CSIC and GWR Instruments, makes it possible to recover and liquefy nearly 100% of the liquid helium

A recent survey of chemical executives by company A.T. Kearney reveals that up to 55% of experts expect an increase in chemical mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity for 2013. According to an A.T. Kearney press release, those surveyed believe this will be fuelled by favourable financing conditions, continuous consolidation in Asia, regional expansion, and access to low-cost feedstock in the US, Canada and Mexico.

The report reflects industry

Hummingbird Sensing Technology, a Servomex company, has announced the appointment of Dominic Corsale as General Manager.

Described as ‘one of the most respected professionals’ working in healthcare technology, the appointment of Corsale is seen as a key development for the company and the exciting potential that it has.

Hummingbird is a leading manufacturer of gas sensing technologies for medical and

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September 2013 | 07

With the global helium supply chain in limbo and a relatively uncertain future lying ahead, the gauntlet has been thrown down – could helium be replaced in the myriad applications that presently rely on it, and if so, with which gases?

While one area that could be significant in the helium supply chain is recovery and recycling, the new century’s leading scientific minds are also working to find the alternative solutions for arguably the hottest of today’s hot topics.

Dan Baciu, as Head of Global Helium Business Development at Linde, is one of those at the forefront of this quest for future solutions and explained, “There are two approaches that will help economise on world helium usage. One is substitution through use of another gas and the other is recovery and recycling of helium.”

“Some industrial sectors have come up with their own alternatives to helium.

About five years ago, there was an understanding that cooling down photovoltaic panels required helium in the same way as it is required by electronic wafers. When this 36 | May 2013

technology first emerged, this industry believed helium was the only way to cool the glass substrate.”

“Naturally, gas suppliers watched these developments with some concern, particularly the amount of helium that these manufacturers were projecting to require in the following five to ten years. In fact, the industry itself discovered that helium could be replaced with argon or, in some instances where less sophisticated photovoltaic panels were manufactured, even nitrogen.”

“The price of one cubic metre of argon is significantly less than the same quantity of helium and when you move to nitrogen, this gas costs significantly less than argon.

So these industry players managed to save significantly on operating costs before any helium was even required, because all this took place during the forecasting phase.”

Helium is also used in leak testing and Baciu says Linde is working to move some of these users from high to low helium concentrations. Leak testing is typically carried out on an industrial scale with a mix of helium and nitrogen and sometimes, particularly in the USA where helium has been traditionally more abundant and less expensive, many

manufacturers choose to use 100% helium.

“Now we’re trying to educate this industry - with the support of the manufacturers of leak testing equipment - that using a high percentage of helium

is unnecessary, because a lot of that helium is simply being wasted. In fact, using 100% helium reduces the chances of finding the leak, because with so much helium in the surrounding environment, the highly sensitive leak test equipment might ‘sniff out’ some waste helium in the environment instead of the leak. For this type of application it’s possible to go as low as about 5% helium in nitrogen.”

Another alternative that has been identified for certain applications involving helium is the substitution of hydrogen www.gasworld.com/specialfeatures

for the helium. Like the helium atom, the hydrogen molecule has a very small size, making it a viable alternative. It is now believed that many users of helium, including those in the laboratory environment could actually employ hydrogen in certain instances. An initial obstacle to replacing helium with hydrogen is, of course, hydrogen’s flammability. The flammability range for hydrogen in air is 4-75% volume, but, typically operators will target the percentage level of hydrogen in the workplace environment to be below 50% of the lower explosion limit (LEL), so only

2% of hydrogen in the atmosphere is regarded as a safe working environment.

However, good operating practices which avoid hydrogen gas leaks coupled with the added security of hydrogen gas sniffers or gas detectors can often mitigate the risks of these flammability concerns.

Laboratory alternatives In a laboratory environment, a carrier gas transports the samples to be analysed in a

gas chromatograph through a column into a detector, where the sample is then analysed.

Typically helium, hydrogen and nitrogen are used in this application. The choice of carrier gas is dependent on the type of detector, the specific application, which type of column is used for separating the sample and also the level of safety required.

Stephen Harrison, Global Head of Specialty Gases and Specialty Equipment at Linde, says that often the main drivers for the transition from helium to hydrogen are the shortage of helium and its high cost relative to hydrogen.

However hydrogen also has the analytical advantage of having a lower viscosity, which makes the analysing time faster, increasing the laboratory productivity. In addition, hydrogen has a broader range of separation performance, as a result of this lower viscosity, and is therefore used specifically for capillary columns in a gas chromatograph, which are very narrow.

“This type of application is found in market sectors where environmental analysis is conducted to determine air quality or for emissions monitoring, as well as in laboratories undertaking analysis for the food, pharmaceutical and petrochemical industries and also universities,” he explains.

“The most commonly used detector for these carrier gases is the gas chromatograph flame ionisation detector (FID), which is used for analysing hydrocarbons and volatile organic compounds (VOCs)

and is the workhorse of these types of laboratory.

“Other types of detectors able to use either helium or hydrogen are the thermal conductivity detector (TCD) and the electron capture detector (ECD), which is used specifically for environmental

testing and can detect to very low parts per million (ppm) or even to parts per billion (ppb).”

In the petrochemical industry, the flame photometric detector (FPD) can use hydrogen as a carrier gas to analyse sulphur and sulphurous compounds to determine the sulphur content of fuels, for example.

“There are, however, some applications where helium must be used and it cannot be substituted with hydrogen,” says Harrison”. For example, the helium ionisation detector (HID) is a very specific type of detector that can analyse volatile inorganics in very low ppm levels and it relies on the specific properties of helium to function. Hydrogen also gw

May 2013 | 37

customer without interruption in order to increase the percentage of activities that actually add value. As waste is eliminated quality improves, while production time and cost are reduced.

4. Concentrate processes on customer demand, by making only what is ‘pulled’ by the customer in order to produce only what the customer wants and when the customer wants it.

5. Aim for perfection by removing waste, by re-aligning processes so that waste becomes more visible and waste elimination continues to improve, so that the entire process adds more value for the end customer.

As I was talking with my bosses about New Year’s resolutions they said ‘getting lean’. I looked at my slim bosses and wondered if they were trying to give me a hint on what I should be doing, but no, they were talking about a lean organisation.

I wanted to find out more about what this company-wide project meant for our organisation. In a nutshell, it’s continuous improvement on steroids, focused on incremental improvement of products, processes or services, over time, with the goal of reducing non-value added activities (waste) to improve overall customer value.

It seems logical enough – what is the customer willing to pay for? Everything else is waste and using resources for any goal other than creating value must be eliminated. So how does this thing work? Lean is about developing a different approach to work and is based on optimising flow, increasing efficiency, decreasing waste, and focusing on what matters, using five key steps:

and effort actually adds value for the end customer. The other activities that do not add value are waste and have to be eliminated. Waste is any activity that consumes time, resource or space, but does not add value to either the product or the service.

1. Decide what matters. Identify what customers really want and what creates value, since only a small part of total time

3. Make processes flow by eliminating waste to ensure that the product or service ‘flows’ as directly as possible to the

36 | May 2013

So now I was sold on this whole ‘lean’ idea and was convinced that it was indeed a perfect resolution for 2013, as a logical next step for a company with a continuous improvement mindset – to allow a high level of service and all the while being able to grow and remain flexible in an ever-changing environment.

So it seems that lean is a journey of continuous improvement rather than a destination. Time for me to apply my lean resolution and put on my running shoes... gw

2. Identify all the steps in the value stream or all activities across all parts of the organisation that together make up the complete process to deliver the value (the product or service) to the customer. Once you know what your customer wants, and you can then identify how you are delivering (or not) that to them.

www.gasworld.com/specialfeatures

1222_e

The only thing longer than our company history is the list of our innovations.

Because our genes lead us to an irrepressible passion for new solutions.

When it comes to providing innovative plant and system solutions, Air Liquide Global E&C Solutions is your partner of choice – worldwide.

No surprise, since we innovate relentlessly in order to bring sustainable and cost-eective solutions to society,

leveraging partnerships with customers, suppliers, academics and communities. This is not only demonstrated by thousands of patents, but by pioneering reference projects around the globe as well. Yours could be the next one.

www.engineering-solutions.airliquide.com

More deals to come in global LNG supply Liquefied natural gas is shifting the global energy supply/ demand balance as North America prepares to become an exporter, Asia seeks to lock in supply, and vast new resources are being discovered. Much of the sector’s merger and acquisitions activity over the last 12 months has been driven by growing Asian demand, coupled with prolific North American shales.

Bankers, executives and analysts told mergermarket that they expect to see more deals in the coming year, both on the supply side, with offtakers and end-users acquiring

Global solar PV capacity to triple by

A report from GlobalData forecasts global solar PV to continue its meteoric rise in the near future, with cumulative installed capacity climbing from 97 Gigawatts (GW) in 2012 to 330 GW by just 2020 – a CAGR of 16.5%.

Germany is a major supporter of solar PV and is estimated to have accounted for around 32% of the global solar PV installed capacity in 2012.

36 | September 2013

acreage and reserves, and on the midstream/manufacturing side with investors, off-takers, producers and midstream companies buying into the liquefaction projects themselves.

By the time the first shipments go out in 2015, much of the landscape will likely have already been shaped.

In Japan, major players like Mitsubishi Corporation, Mitsui & Co, Itochu Corporation, Sumitomo Corporation, Marubeni Corporation, and Inpex will likely seek to acquire pieces of the growing list of North American LNG projects,

said a Tokyo-based analyst and a US banker. In addition, electric utilities in Japan like Tokyo Electric and Chubu Electric may look to become off-takers in natural gas projects to secure supplies, one Tokyo-based banker said.

More information mergermarket started out in 2000, and now has offices and bureaus in 65 locations across Europe, North & South America, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia-Pacific, part of The Mergermarket Group Total: 7500

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Strong economic data from US and China give commodities a boost There are three key themes to watch that may drive commodities performance in 2013: Chinese demand, the eurozone crisis and quantitative easing. So far this year, commodities are off to a strong start, with the S&P GSCI and Dow Jones-UBS Commodities Index (DJ-UBSCI) up 4.4% and 2.4%, respectively, through January 31.

Energy and industrial metals have benefited most from demand as evidenced by promising economic data from China and the U.S., whereas agriculture has spiked due to dry weather.

Unleaded gasoline

prices climbed sharply and returned over 9% in January, contributing 35 bps (basis points) to the DJ-UBSCI and 56 bps to the S&P GSCI. This was due to rising oil prices, which were boosted by strong economic data despite the fall in U.S. GDP. The S&P GSCI WTI Crude Oil and DJ-UBSCI WTI Crude Oil both ended up 5.7%, driven by promising economic data including higher income available to households, slower inflation and growing residential construction.

The S&P GSCI Industrial Metals and DJ-UBSCI Industrial Metals were up 2.5% and 2.3%, respectively, driven

mainly by a reported five-year low of U.S. jobless claims and the strongest manufacturing numbers since March 2011.

Furthermore, China’s GDP growth rate of 7.9% for the fourth quarter was higher than the 7.8% expected, and was also higher than the 7.4% growth in Q3. Industrial production rose 10.3% in December yearover-year, and was up 10.1% in November. China’s economic rebound is driving demand for cans, transportation and construction. All industrial metals in the two major broad indices were up, including the oversupplied aluminum.

More information www.gasworld.com/intelligence

Global Oilfield Services Industry to Top $200 Billion by 2017 Booming Exploration and Production (E&P) expenditure will see the global oil field services industry climb significantly in value in the near future, expects business intelligence company GBI Research.

According to the firm’s latest report*, the global oil field service industry (typically defined as any activity or service related to the finding, evaluation, development, production and abandonment of oil and gas resources) is forecast to jump in value by a

Trends in Denmark healthcare market

The Danish healthcare market is showing healthy signs of recovery following the crippling global financial crisis of 2008, says GlobalData. The firm’s new report predicts Denmark’s pharmaceuticals sector to grow from US$4bn in 2011 to $7.3bn by 2020, a CAGR of 6.9%.

Additionally, Denmark’s medical devices sector is forecast to grow from 2011’s total of $1.4bn, to $2.3bn by

massive 72% in just five years, from US$152 billion in 2012 to US$213 billion in 2017.

Despite the global economic turndown, demand for oil and gas has continued to grow, due primarily to the emerging economies of Asia and South America.

Additionally, the increase in crude oil and natural gas prices has warranted high E&P costs for areas where access is more difficult, such as offshore deep and ultra-deep locations.

Innovative hydrocarbon recovery techniques such as

Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) are also driving oil companies around the world to return to depleted or mature reservoirs – further contributing to total E&P expenditure.

Of the three segments that make up the oilfield services industry – exploration and evaluation, drilling, and completion and production – it is the latter that garners the most substantial income.

GBI Research forecasts the completion and production services portion of the industry to create US$148 billion in

Hybrid vehicle market to grow this year Booming Exploration and Production (E&P) expenditure will see the global oil field services industry climb significantly in value in the near future, expects business intelligence company GBI Research.

According to the firm’s latest report*, the global oil field service industry (typically defined as any activity or service related to the finding, evaluation, development, production and abandonment of oil and gas resources) is forecast to jump in value by a massive 72% in just five years, from US$152 billion in 2012 to US$213 billion in 2017.

Despite the global economic turndown, demand for oil

and gas has continued to grow, due primarily to the emerging economies of Asia and South America.

Additionally, the increase in crude oil and natural gas prices has warranted high E&P costs for areas where access is more difficult, such as offshore deep and ultra-deep locations.

Innovative hydrocarbon recovery techniques such as

North America to lead over the next decade

A new report from GlobalData states an increase in global unconventional oil production will be led

by North America over the next decade. The firm’s study states that global production of unconventional oil, which includes oil sands and extraheavy oil, will more than double to over 5,753 mbd by the end of the current decade from approximately 2,710 mbd in 2011.

GlobalData attributes Denmark’s healthcare industry expansion to a growing elderly population: 16.8% of Danish citizens were 65 years old or older in 2011, with this proportion reaching 19.6% by 2020, according to Statistics Denmark.

September 2013 | 37

More deals to come in global LNG supply Liquefied natural gas is shifting the global energy supply/ demand balance as North America prepares to become an exporter, Asia seeks to lock in supply, and vast new resources are being discovered. Much of the sector’s merger and acquisitions activity over the last 12 months has been driven by growing Asian demand, coupled with prolific North American shales.

Bankers, executives and analysts told mergermarket that they expect to see more deals in the coming year, both on the supply side, with offtakers and end-users acquiring

Global solar PV capacity to triple by

A report from GlobalData forecasts global solar PV to continue its meteoric rise in the near future, with cumulative installed capacity climbing from 97 Gigawatts (GW) in 2012 to 330 GW by just 2020 – a CAGR of 16.5%.

Germany is a major supporter of solar PV and is estimated to have accounted for around 32% of the global solar PV installed capacity in 2012.

36 | September 2013

acreage and reserves, and on the midstream/manufacturing side with investors, off-takers, producers and midstream companies buying into the liquefaction projects themselves.

By the time the first shipments go out in 2015, much of the landscape will likely have already been shaped.

In Japan, major players like Mitsubishi Corporation, Mitsui & Co, Itochu Corporation, Sumitomo Corporation, Marubeni Corporation, and Inpex will likely seek to acquire pieces of the growing list of North American LNG projects,

said a Tokyo-based analyst and a US banker. In addition, electric utilities in Japan like Tokyo Electric and Chubu Electric may look to become off-takers in natural gas projects to secure supplies, one Tokyo-based banker said.

More information mergermarket started out in 2000, and now has offices and bureaus in 65 locations across Europe, North & South America, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia-Pacific, part of The Mergermarket Group which is Total: 7500

3000

3000

2500 2000

2100

1500 1000

1000

500 400 0

320

260

420

Strong economic data from US and China give commodities a boost There are three key themes to watch that may drive commodities performance in 2013: Chinese demand, the eurozone crisis and quantitative easing. So far this year, commodities are off to a strong start, with the S&P GSCI and Dow Jones-UBS Commodities Index (DJ-UBSCI) up 4.4% and 2.4%, respectively, through January 31.

Energy and industrial metals have benefited most from demand as evidenced by promising economic data from China and the U.S., whereas agriculture has spiked due to dry weather.

Unleaded gasoline prices climbed sharply and returned over 9% in January, contributing 35 bps (basis points) to the DJ-UBSCI and 56 bps to the S&P GSCI. This was due to rising oil prices, which were boosted by strong economic data despite the fall in U.S. GDP. The S&P GSCI WTI Crude Oil and DJ-UBSCI WTI Crude Oil both ended up 5.7%, driven by promising economic data including higher income available to households, slower inflation and growing residential construction.

The S&P GSCI Industrial Metals and DJ-UBSCI

Industrial Metals were up 2.5% and 2.3%, respectively, driven mainly by a reported five-year low of U.S. jobless claims and the strongest manufacturing numbers since March 2011.

Furthermore, China’s GDP growth rate of 7.9% for the fourth quarter was higher than the 7.8% expected, and was also higher than the 7.4% growth in Q3. Industrial production rose 10.3% in December yearover-year, and was up 10.1% in November. China’s economic rebound is driving demand for cans, transportation and construction. All industrial metals in the two major broad www.gasworld.com/intelligence

Global Oilfield Services Industry to Top $200 Billion by 2017 Booming Exploration and Production (E&P) expenditure will see the global oil field services industry climb significantly in value in the near future, expects business intelligence company GBI Research.

According to the firm’s latest report*, the global oil field service industry (typically defined as any activity or service related to the finding, evaluation, development, production and abandonment of oil and gas resources) is forecast to jump in value by a

Trends in Denmark healthcare market

The Danish healthcare market is showing healthy signs of recovery following the crippling global financial crisis of 2008, says GlobalData. The firm’s new report predicts Denmark’s pharmaceuticals sector to grow from US$4bn in 2011 to $7.3bn by 2020, a

Additionally, Denmark’s medical devices sector is forecast to grow from 2011’s total of $1.4bn, to $2.3bn by the end of the decade.

massive 72% in just five years, from US$152 billion in 2012 to US$213 billion in 2017.

Despite the global economic turndown, demand for oil and gas has continued to grow, due primarily to the emerging economies of Asia and South America.

Additionally, the increase in crude oil and natural gas prices has warranted high E&P costs for areas where access is more difficult, such as offshore deep and ultra-deep locations.

Innovative hydrocarbon recovery techniques such as

Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) are also driving oil companies around the world to return to depleted or mature reservoirs – further contributing to total E&P expenditure.

Of the three segments that make up the oilfield services industry – exploration and evaluation, drilling, and completion and production – it is the latter that garners the most substantial income.

GBI Research forecasts the completion and production services portion of the industry to create US$148 billion in

Hybrid vehicle market to grow this year Booming Exploration and Production (E&P) expenditure will see the global oil field services industry climb significantly in value in the near future, expects business intelligence company GBI Research.

According to the firm’s latest report*, the global oil field service industry (typically defined as any activity or service related to the finding, evaluation, development, production and abandonment of oil and gas resources) is forecast to jump in value by a massive 72% in just five years, from US$152 billion in 2012 to US$213 billion in 2017.

Despite the global economic

turndown, demand for oil and gas has continued to grow, due primarily to the emerging economies of Asia and South America.

Additionally, the increase in crude oil and natural gas prices has warranted high E&P costs for areas where access is more difficult, such as offshore deep and ultra-deep locations.

North America to lead over the next decade

A new report from GlobalData states an increase in global unconventional oil production will be led

by North America over the next decade. The firm’s study states that global production of unconventional oil, which includes oil sands and extraheavy oil, will more than double to over 5,753 mbd by the end of the current decade from approximately 2,710

GlobalData attributes Denmark’s healthcare industry expansion to a growing elderly population: 16.8% of Danish citizens were 65 years old or older in 2011, with this proportion reaching 19.6% by 2020, according to Statistics Denmark.

September 2013 | 37

By Marcus Jakt

uilding a low-carbon economy is one of the great challenges of our time. In order to protect the climate, the world needs clean energy and natural gas is an important stepping stone on that journey, bringing us power with a much lower carbon footprint.

Natural gas, a mixture of primarily hydrocarbon gases, is colourless and odourless in its purified form and is the cleanest fossil fuel with the lowest carbon dioxide emissions when burnt.

As well as an important fuel source, it is a major feedstock for fertilisers and petrochemicals. As a raw material, it is almost as versatile as crude oil, yet is significantly kinder to the environment.

Burning methane, the principle component of natural gas, produces around 30% less carbon dioxide (CO2) 36 | September 2013

than crude oil, and almost 45% less CO2 than coal. In addition, it emits significantly fewer pollutants - around 90% less sulphur, approximately 80% fewer nitrogen oxides and no heavy metals or soot particles.

Furthermore, natural gas reserves are forecasted to continue to yield for at least another 200 years.

Natural gas is already one of the most important sources of energy today, covering around 25% of global energy requirements and this figure is set to rise. But while it is evident that natural gas stands to play an important role in the energy mix of the future, innovative technologies for exploration, production, processing and transporting it are key factors.

As with oil, most natural gas deposits are located far from the actual point of use.

Natural gas can be transported via pipeline or it can be liquefied in order to allow its economic transportation over large distances by ship or truck – particularly to and from remote areas which are not serviced by a pipeline network or where it is uneconomical to use a pipeline.

Traditionally, the vast majority – around 90% – of natural gas is pipelined over long distances to power plants, industrial facilities and homes. However, after about 3,000km onshore pipeline, after about 1,500km offshore pipeline or in case of distribution to diverse, small consumers in remote areas, pipelines become uneconomical, with costs for pipe laying, materials and compressor stations outweighing the benefits. Liquefied natural gas (LNG) can be economically transported many thousands of kilometres www.gasworld.com/specialfeature

of the LNG begins for example at a world-scale LNG plant with capacities between 3-10 million tonnes of LNG per year. From the large storage tanks special LNG tankers then transport the LNG to LNG receiving terminals in ports all over the world, where the LNG is typically converted back to gas, fed into national pipeline grids, and delivered to consumers.

Linde has a strong history in the LNG industry and a long track record in LNG plants, having designed, built and started up numerous LNG plants from small to world-scale worldwide since 1967 served from its comprehensive technology portfolio. Linde is responsible for many of the innovative highly efficient processes in operation across the entire LNG value chain – from industrial-scale liquefaction plants, over receiving terminals up to fuelling stations for LNG.

and distribution to customers is much more flexible. Around 250 million tonnes of LNG – representing about 10% of the natural gas market – are already transported around the globe each year.

After extraction in its natural form directly from the gas field, LNG production involves pre-treatment of the incoming gas, its fractionation into the diverse product fractions (natural gas, LPG, condensate) and liquefaction by cooling the natural gas down to a temperature of -163°C. This process reduces its volume dramatically to only 1/600th of its normal volume, resulting in an easily and cost-efficiently transported fuel.

LNG plants are typically distinguished by their capacity into small-scale, midscale and world-scale plants. The journey

Liquefaction in a cold climate In the inhospitable and icy cold of northern Norway stands the world’s largest liquefied natural gas production facility in arctic climate. Just outside the town of Hammerfest lies the small barren island of Melkøya, where Linde has built one of the world’s major natural gas processing plants – a showcase plant for LNG production, including vital liquefaction technology.

In this stark Norwegian landscape, 600km north of the Arctic Circle, the project presented a formidable challenge from the outset. No world-scale plant of the size and capacity built on the small Island of Melkøya had been built before, especially not in such an inhospitable arctic climate.

The entire LNG operation is the world’s northernmost world-scale LNG plant, located below Norway’s Barents Sea. The Snøhvit LNG project (‘Snøvhit’ – translated as ‘Snow White’) was constructed to exploit the resources of three gas fields in the Barents Sea – Snøhvit, Albatross and Askeladd (250m to 345m deep), which lie about 140km northwest of Hammerfest. The fields, which were first discovered in the 1980s, have estimated reserves of 193 billion cubic metres of LNG, 17.9 million cubic

metres of condensate and 5.1 million tonnes of natural gas liquids. Snøhvit and Albatross are already on-stream since 2007 and Askeladd is due to come onstream by 2014-15.

The project was led by Norwegian energy group Statoil as part of a consortium of several oil and gas companies including Petoro, Total, GDF Suez, Hess, and RWE Dea. Engineers from

Linde and Statoil started first discussions for an LNG plant on Melkøya in the late 1990s. Linde engineers responsible for developing the plant were required to plan for every eventuality, with design of the liquefaction module being the top priority.

Storms were simulated, temperatures in which technicians would have to work considered, and even how snow drifted was tracked.

Engineers also constructed a test rig which they set-up on Melkøya to see how the snow accumulated and whether it affected the rig. Even with today’s sophisticated technology, a liquefaction plant of this scale in such an environment would still be an enormous challenge, which underlines the level of technical expertise which had to be channelled into the Melkøya development process.

Heat exchangers at the heart of it all A priority in the plant design was to create not only an extremely energy efficient liquefaction system for gas processing, but one that was highly compact given the space limitations on Melkøya.

A further key requirement was low emissions output. Therefore multiple innovative and pioneering elements were applied to reach these objectives.

Due to limited plot space available and September 2013 | 37

difficult construction conditions, the plant was designed very compact and modular. The heart of the plant is the floating central process module with a weight of 35,000 tonnes. This largest-ever built LNG plant module was pre-fabricated in a Spanish yard and then transported 2.700 nautical miles to the island Melkøya.

Moreover, Hammerfest LNG uses for the first time an efficient, environmentfriendly direct sea water cooling system which is suitable for arctic whether conditions. Trend-setting features also include the complete separation of CO2 from the process gas and its reinjection into a reservoir under the seabed, as well as the realisation of a flareless plant operation. With the objective to enhance plant availability, all main compressors are electrically driven for the first time in a world-scale LNG plant.

Statoil selected to partner with Linde, which had significant expertise in low temperature industrial processes including LNG, both regarding process technology and EPC project execution, and which additionally had also particular capabilities in heat-exchanger technology. Linde 36 | September 2013

had proposed to jointly develop a new optimised liquefaction process called the Mixed Fluid Cascade (MFC) process to ensure that the most energy efficient process technology is applied. With its superior energy efficiency, the MFC was

selected against competing processes for world-scale plants, including Air Products’ C3MR process and the ConocoPhillips’ Optimised Cascade process – both of which are employed in many world-scale liquefaction plants.

The MFC is a natural gas liquefaction process consisting of three cooling stages with mixed refrigerant as cooling medium, each cycle with its own composition of refrigerants (nitrogen, methane, ethane/ ethylene, propane) – pre-cooling to about

-50° Celsius; liquefaction to about -80° Celsius and sub-cooling to about -165° Celsius. For the core heat exchangers of the liquefaction unit, it utilises Linde’s own manufactured heat exchangers; Linde’s plate-fin heat exchangers for pre-cooling and Linde’s coil wound exchangers for liquefaction and subcooling of the natural gas.

Careful tailoring of the composition and relative volumes of the mixed refrigerants to each cooling stage makes it possible to achieve an exceptionally close match to the idealised cooling curve using the minimal amount of energy.

Importantly, the resultant cooling takes place smoothly and economically, rather than step-wise, as is typical of the more classical processes.

Linde is the only manufacturer to produce the two types of cryogenic heat exchangers common in world-scale LNG plants – coil wound and plate fin heat exchangers. They are employed not only within Linde’s own engineered LNG plants, but also in plants built and operated by other LNG producers such as Shell, Woodside, ConocoPhillips and other oil and gas corporations.

The Hammerfest LNG plant with a design capacity of 4.3 million tonnes of LNG per year went on stream in late 2007. In 2010 Statoil celebrated the 100th LNG tanker to set sail from Hammerfest.

During operation of the plant a production record of 109% of its planned design capacity was reached. Energy efficiency of the liquefaction facility at Melkoya is the best yet achieved in any world-scale LNG plant globally, with around 230 kWh needed per ton of LNG for liquefaction and benchmarking has shown that the MFC process is the most energy efficient liquefaction process for world-scale LNG plants.

With the successful realisation of the MFC process at Hammerfest LNG, a proven European LNG technology for world-scale LNG plants is now available for the growing LNG market and is therefore a serious alternative to the two up to now dominating American technologies for large-scale plants. gw www.gasworld.com/specialfeature

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September 2013 | 37

Kenya, Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda in the spotlight he potential for the African Continent needs little introduction, the region is awash with challenges and opportunities alike.

While Southern Africa accounts for much of the gas industry headlines, the resource-rich coast of West Africa is well documented for its energy potential, and North Africa has established gas markets in Morocco, Algeria and Egypt, to the East is an area that often takes up far fewer column inches.

This is a side of the continent that perhaps has more of these challenges and opportunities than its more developed neighbours to the North, South and West. Industry and economy are still in their relative infancy, with infrastructure development also a major factor for the region. To put the scale of the gases business in the east into perspective, industrial gas revenues in Africa as a whole are estimated at US$1.7bn; in East Africa alone this is estimated at $93m (2012).

Principally we focus here on Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, though it’s important to point out that East Africa also comprises Rwanda, Burundi, Ethiopia and – varyingly – South Sudan and Malawi.

Development Probably the biggest challenge – and opportunity – in East Africa is the development taking place in the region; development of economies, infrastructure, industry and natural resources like oil and/ or gas.

A great deal of hydrocarbon exploration has taken place in recent years, providing the stimulus for rapid economic growth in the the region. As the development of natural resources like oil, gas, iron ore 36 | September 2013

and coal progresses, this will likely fuel the demand for industrial gases and many of these new industries in the region will require large-scale ASUs, opening up new possibilities for the gases business.

With Kenya boasting a comparatively developed economy, the highest literacy rate in East Africa and therefore a likely greater depth of skillsets, and the most developed gases business in the region, it is perhaps feasible that the country’s industrial gas capabilities could cater for the increased demand in neighbouring countries. Kenya-based Synergy Gases, for example, told gasworld in 2010 that

it had set-up distribution hubs both nationally and in neighbouring countries to provide product to a wider market.

The company had also invested in on-site filling capabilities for projects in areas such as The Democratic Republic of Congo and the Sudan.

Another area of growth in East Africa is carbon dioxide (CO2), perhaps driven indirectly by improving economic times and the aforementioned exploration of hydrocarbons and resources. Expansion in CO2 trade is boosted by buoyancy in the region’s beverages industry. CO2 is big business, especially in Kenya and Tanzania, and thought to account for a bigger volume than any other gas traded, due in large part to the extensive natural CO2 well systems in Kenya, for example.

Infrastructure build is another significant factor for growth for the gases business, driving demand for typical construction-related product like oxygen, acetylene, CO2 and argon. With Africa generally considered to be a developing continent, there exists a great deal of potential for expansion and improvement, from dam and bridge constructions to power generation and the kind of oil and gas rig facilities linked to that hydrocarbon exploration. All of which will likely drive demand for industrial gases in the future. www.gasworld.com/intelligence

Infrastructure projects currently underway include a new refinery and 450km oil pipeline in Kenya, the latter replacing an existing aged pipeline, as well as a new port project (Kenya) meant to support trade of goods and supplies to Ethiopia and Sudan, and multi-million dollar upgrade to the railway network in Tanzania.

Market future The opportunities exist in East Africa to develop the market further and capitalise

on a lot of development underway in the region, affording the potential for expanded gas production and new technologies and processes. Economic growth will likely grow demand for almost all commonly used industrial gases.

Realising this potential could see the markets of Kenya, Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda grow considerably in the future.

The Business Intelligence team at gasworld values the East African gases market at $93m, with potential growth for the period 2012-2017 of between 6.5%

(conservative) and 8% per year. This could essentially value the market at more than $110m by 2015 and at the end of this fiveyear forecast, exceeding $125m by 2017.

The Kenyan market alone, the most developed gases industry in the region, is forecast to reach $36m by the end of this year, rising to just over $42m by 2015 and potentially approaching $50m by 2017.

An additional estimated $28m gases market is projected to exist for the neighbouring regions that exclude the ‘core’ East African countries of Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.

Key players in the East African gases business include BOC Kenya, BOC Tanzania, BOC Uganda, Carbacid (Kenya), TOL Gases (Tanzania), Uganda Oxygen and Oxygas (Uganda). gw

September 2013 | 37

COMMUNITY

30/04/2013 @MesserGroup Further increase in Messer Sales

Online poll results Do you think the industrial gases industry is doing enough to establish its ‘green’ credentials? *Poll live from 25th January 2013 to 13th March 2013

Is the industrial gases and equipment industry doing enough to clean up other industries/applications by reducing emissions and improving productivity? *Poll live from 25th January 2013 to 13th March 2013

06/05/2013 @The_Linde_Group Corporate News – Linde has decided to call and redeem EUR 400m Undated Subordinated Bond

09/05/2013 @oxcryo Look what has just arrived in our workshop! Our 2000th Cryostream Cooler!

15/05/2013 @USWeldingandSupply If at first you don’t succeed, weld, weld again. #Welding

Yes

No

Yes

No

To what extent is hydrogen going to become a fuel of the future?

According to votes cast in polls on the gasworld website, it appears as though the industrial gas and equipment community has a strongly held confidence in hydrogen as a fuel of the future.

Hot on the heels of gasworld’s Green issue last month, those taking part in the online polls at www.gasworld.com suggest they feel the industrial gases business could do more to establish its ‘green’ credentials.

Asked if the industry was doing enough in this area, 50% of voters said the industry ‘Could

36 | September 2013

Absolutely, within 10 years Yes, in the long-term Unlikely Definitely not

do more’ while the remaining 50% simply answered ‘No’.

A separate poll asked which socalled green application voters felt the gases industry would be best placed to drive forward.

While voters had the option to

choose Biofuels, Biotechnology, and Carbon Capture & Storage (CCS), 71% polled in favour of Hydrogen and 29% felt LNG was the other application that the gases industry was best placed to potentially drive forward.

Considerable confidence was also demonstrated in an-

15/05/2013 @LincolnElectric We’re proud to be a part of @ Marvel’s hit movie, Iron Man 3.

Look for POWER MIG welders in @Iron_Man’s workshop 16/05/2013 @Air LiquideGroup Diana Schillag, Vice President World Business Line Healthcare “Our crossdisciplinary team allows us to innovate in #healthcare.”

16/05/2013 @BOConline Sacbee - Industrial Gases Market is Expected to Reach USD 58.4 Billion Globally in 2018: Transparency Research

www.gasworld.com/community

gasworld’s 3rd African Industrial Gas Conference Indaba Hotel & Conference Centre, Fourways, Johannesburg, South Africa www.gasworld.com/conferences

– 700,000 t gasworld’s 3rd African Industrial Gas Conference Indaba Hotel & Conference Centre, Fourways, Johannesburg, South Africa www.gasworld.com/conferences

gasworld’s 3rd African Industrial Gas Conference Indaba Hotel & Conference Centre, Fourways, Johannesburg, South Africa www.gasworld.com/conferences

of CO2 that will never make it into the earth’s atmosphere.

MAY

JUNE

JULY

Global demand for energy is rising. And natural gas is one of the cleanest-burning ways to meet this rd gasworld’s African Conference friendly gasworld’s 3rd African gasworld’s 3rd African Conference otherConference fossil fuels. Thanks to our3environmentally trend, releasing around 30 percent less CO2 than Indaba Hotel & Conference Centre, Fourways, Indaba Hotel & Conference Centre, Fourways, Indaba Hotel & Conference Centre, Fourways, from the raw carbon capture process, 700,000 tonnes of CO2 are separated every year Johannesburg, South Africagas stream that Johannesburg, South Africa Johannesburg, South Africa flows into Europe’s largest natural gas liquefaction plant in Hammerfest, Norway. Just another example www.gasworld.com/conferences www.gasworld.com/conferences www.gasworld.com/conferences of how “Clean Technology” from Linde is making a difference to the world.

For more information, please visit www.linde.com/cleantechnology.

gasworld’s 3rd African Conference Indaba Hotel & Conference Centre, Fourways, Johannesburg, South Africa www.gasworld.com/conferences

September 2013 | 37

30/04/2013 @MesserGroup Further increase in Messer Sales

Online poll results Do you think the industrial gases industry is doing enough to establish its ‘green’ credentials? *Poll live from 25th January 2013 to 13th March 2013

Is the industrial gases and equipment industry doing enough to clean up other industries/applications by reducing emissions and improving productivity? *Poll live from 25th January 2013 to 13th March 2013

06/05/2013 @The_Linde_Group Corporate News – Linde has decided to call and redeem EUR 400m Undated Subordinated Bond

09/05/2013 @oxcryo Look what has just arrived in our workshop! Our 2000th Cryostream Cooler!

15/05/2013 @USWeldingandSupply If at first you don’t succeed, weld, weld again. #Welding

Yes

No

Yes

No

To what extent is hydrogen going to become a fuel of the future?

According to votes cast in polls on the gasworld website, it appears as though the industrial gas and equipment community has a strongly held confidence in hydrogen as a fuel of the future.

Hot on the heels of gasworld’s Green issue last month, those taking part in the online polls at www.gasworld. com suggest they feel the industrial gases business could do more to establish its ‘green’ credentials.

Asked if the industry was doing enough in this area, 50% of voters said the industry

36 | September 2013

Absolutely, within 10 years

15/05/2013 @LincolnElectric We’re proud to be a part of @ Marvel’s hit movie, Iron Man 3.

Look for POWER MIG welders in @Iron_Man’s workshop

Yes, in the long-term Unlikely Definitely not

‘Could do more’ while the remaining 50% simply answered ‘No’.

A separate poll asked which so-called green application voters felt the gases industry would be best placed to drive forward.

While voters had the

option to choose Biofuels, Biotechnology, and Carbon Capture & Storage (CCS), 71% polled in favour of Hydrogen and 29% felt LNG was the other application that the gases industry was best placed to potentially drive forward.

Considerable confidence was also demonstrated in another poll running on the

16/05/2013 @Air LiquideGroup Diana Schillag, Vice President World Business Line Healthcare “Our cross-disciplinary team allows us to innovate in #healthcare.”

16/05/2013 @BOConline Sacbee - Industrial Gases Market is Expected to Reach USD 58.4 Billion Globally in 2018: Transparency Research

www.gasworld.com/community

– 700,000 t

of CO2 that will never make it into the earth’s atmosphere.

Global demand for energy is rising. And natural gas is one of the cleanest-burning ways to meet this trend, releasing around 30 percent less CO2 than other fossil fuels. Thanks to our environmentally friendly carbon capture process, 700,000 tonnes of CO2 are separated every year from the raw gas stream that flows into Europe’s largest natural gas liquefaction plant in Hammerfest, Norway. Just another example of how “Clean Technology” from Linde is making a difference to the world.

For more information, please visit www.linde.com/cleantechnology.

September 2013 | 37

hroughout its history, DIEKS and all its staff have always been focused on the high quality of service and strict adherance to the letter of the law. The Ukrainian-German joint venture company was founded in 2003, following a decision to establish a JV company of Technical Supervision German TUV NORD GRUPPE. From then, TUV NORD-DIEKS was born and its technical base has been constantly updated with modern equipment for destructive and non-destructive testing operations.

November 2010 saw the company withdraw from TUV NORD GRUPPE and just months later, in February 2011, changed its name to the LLC Joint Ukrainian-German enterprise ‘Technical Supervision Company DIEKS’ (DIEKS).

Realising the importance of the development of the company, and having a clear goal of leading in the field of technical supervision companies, DIEKS creates a mobile group of experts engaged in all regions of Ukraine, as close as possible to its clients. However, the company decided not to be limited only by the territory of Ukraine and began offering its services in the CIS countries and Eastern Europe, including Romania, Poland and Serbia.

36 | September 2013

Best practice and training One of the most promising and demanding areas of work is the collaboration with companies in the production and sales of industrial gases.

Combining the best practices of TUV, and its own professional experiences within the CIS countries, DIEKS works closely with world leaders in the field, such as Linde Gas and Messer Group for example, as well as with local producers.

The main services provided for the cryogenic companies are inspection and certification of cryogenic equipment, nondestructive testing during the installation of the equipment and piping work, the design works and inspections of facilities, and staff training on safety and permits for the execution of works and use of equipment of increased danger.

The company’s experts also regularly hold training courses in a number of specialised subjects.

with standards in force in Ukraine, and the examination and approval of project documentation.

But the most important and timeconsuming stage of the work was the holding of non-destructive testing of welding seams for installation of the cold box. To perform the required volume control, modern equipment for X-ray testing was purchased. This equipment allowed the company to ‘take a solid first place in the provision of services for nondestructive testing’.

Understanding the perspectives of the introduction and development of Ukrainian enterprises and cryogenic technologies, DIEKS actively works with existing cryogenic companies in the region and is also working to establish cooperation with global cryogenic companies that are not yet represented in Ukraine. To this end, representatives of the company attended the annual CryogenExpo exhibition held from 6th - 8th November 2012 in Moscow, which has traditionally been represented by industry leaders.

Currently, DIEKS employs over 150 people, providing a highly skilled level of services executed by the company. The company’s mission is the protection of the gw people, environment and industrial

Construction assistance One of the most important events of 2012 for the company was its participation in the construction of an air separation unit for Messer Ukraine. This included a huge range of services, such as passportisation and certification of equipment, examination of equipment for compliance www.gasworld.com/companyprofile

The Butler Gas Specialty: Making Informed Decisions

The Decision Process for Expanding a Specialty Gas Filling Operation The success of Butler Gas Products, a 65 year old, 3rd generation family business, can be credited directly to their ability to think and plan for the long-term.

Seeing the Opportunities with Specialty Gas Filling.

“We are always thinking long term,” said Abydee. “It was clear to us that our specialty gas filling operation was an area where we could become more independent, and therefore more reliable for our customers.”

Doing the Necessary Homework.

As a participant in the BIG Group (Buying and Information Group), Butler investigated how other businesses were managing their specialty gas services, and how reinvestment in this area had very positive long-term results.

Finding the Right Partner for a Long Term Solution.

While touring the nexAir and Matheson facilities, Butler executives observed lab set-ups, and witnessed the operation of an automated blend cell. Both companies were using Weldcoa’s Precision Specialty Gas Products systems. “It was our Aha! moment,” admitted Abydee. “We knew they were the right partner for us.”

Butler quickly determined that Precision’s products and services were a smart investment. “We have a reputation for being the expensive guy,” noted Hector Villarreal, President of Weldcoa. “But when distributors do a long term analysis we always come out as the better value. Our products work right out of the box, and they work well for a very long time– we guarantee it.”

Creating a Profitable Specialty Gas Filling Facility – that Sells Itself.

Butler worked closely with Precision to determine the optimal configuration for their specialty gas filling operation. It is state-of-the-art, and includes Sur-Fill iQ-s specialty gas filling automation.

New Specialty Gas Filling features: • 600 square foot Lab • Sur-Fill iQ-s: Automated

Gravimetric Filling station • 6K Booster • Manual Cylinder Inverter • Double Stacked Vacuum

Pump Stand Abydee concluded that not only did Precision exceed their expectations in all aspects of the project, but the system has performed flawlessly, and it actually sells itself when they walk customers through the new operation.

“Our goal for continuing to build our business and deliver for our customers was once again realized through our process of internal evaluation, research and alignment with experienced partners.”

Abydee Butler, Vice President Butler Gas Products Company

How it Worked ant Visits Pl

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A Weldcoa/AsteRisk Partnership

Butler’s quest for continued improvement and growth focuses on their specialty gas business.

They research and learn about the possibilities through peer networks and plant visits.

Butler hires Precision Specialty Gas Products, a division of Weldcoa, to ensure quality and long-term dependability.

Contact Precision Today! 630.806.2000 www.precisiongasproducts.com