Sample Magazine - Yearbook 19/20

GASWORLD

®

GLOBAL INDUSTRIAL GAS

GLOBAL INDUSTRIAL GAS YEARBOOK 2019/2020

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gasworld.com Ltd

YEAR BOOK

2019/2020

Trevissome Park, Blackwater, Truro, TR4 8UN, UK

www.gasworld.com Tel: +44 1872 225031

Cover 2019/2020 Yearbook ARTWORK.indd 1

04/11/2019 16:18

NEWS HIGHLIGHTS – EUROPE

SIAD: Now 100% back in Italian hands again SIAD has confirmed that, further to the merger between Praxair and Linde, the 30-year joint venture between SIAD and Praxair has come to end.

The news had been expected following Praxair’s announcement in August last year about its extensive divestments in Europe.

Through its holding company Flow Fin, SIAD has bought back Praxair Italy’s shares in SIAD and in turn sold its shares in Rivoira to Praxair Italy. As a result of the transaction, SIAD will take control of the Medigas Group and IGAT, and will exit from the Chemgas business.

The end of the joint venture does not change the

© SIAD

SIAD Group’s present and future business plans, given its managerial autonomy, corporate solidity, continuous research and the international reputation demonstrated by over 100,000 customers across the world. SIAD Group Chairman, Roberto Sestini, affirmed that nothing will change for SIAD. “While we regret the necessary separation from Praxair, there is no doubt about our group’s capacity to continue along the path it has undertaken and to carry on

TNSC completes on Europe assets, Nippon Gases Europe established Taiyo Nippon Sanso Corporation (TNSC) has completed procedures for the acquisition of shares of Praxair’s European businesses.

TNSC concluded a share purchase agreement with Praxair on the 5th July, 2018, to acquire the shares of Praxair’s European businesses as part of the Praxair-Linde megamerger divestments.

This includes the industrial gas businesses in Germany, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, the Netherlands, Belgium; and carbon dioxide (CO2) businesses in the UK, Ireland, the Netherlands, and France; and helium-related businesses.

In accordance with the contract, TNSC acquired

the businesses through its subsidiaries established in Europe, TNSC Euro-Holding S. L. U. (Spain) and TNSC Germany GmbH (Germany).

The acquisition price was €4.91bn (approx. $5.56bn).

TNSC subsidiaries, TNSC Euro-Holding S.L.U. and TNSC Germany GmbH, had earlier become specified subsidiaries for the purpose of acquiring the shares and managing the target businesses. Dominion Technology Gases – acquired

by Praxair in 2013 – has also now been acquired by TNSC and will form part of Nippon Gases Europe. Nippon Gases Europe will retain the assets, organisation, employees and management.

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“The forecast for 2019 is also positive and we envisage replicating the 2018 performance” pursuing its objectives.”

“SIAD confirms the corporate values that are part of its DNA, which are to be driven by research, innovation, its partnership with customers and suppliers, operational excellence based

on its know-how and the strength, creativity and loyalty of its employees in the various business sectors (technical, specialty, medical gases and the respective services) in Italy and worldwide.”

“SIAD will continue developing its technologies in the engineering sector (production plants for technical gas, compressors and burners).”

Sestini added, “The positive trend of the last years is confirmed and in particular 2018 will register a turnover growth of 8-10% and an improvement of the economic indicators.”

“The forecast for 2019 is also positive and we envisage replicating the 2018 performance,” he concluded.

Air Products completes its ‘good, logical’ acquisition of ACP Europe Air Products has completed the acquisition of ACP Europe SA (ACP), the largest independent carbon dioxide (CO2) business in Continental Europe.

The Tier One company announced the definitive agreement to purchase ACP Europe SA back in February (2018). Concluding the deal enables Air Products to better serve existing customers and pursue new industrial gas growth opportunities.

Customers will now benefit from an expanded liquid CO2 supply position across additional European geographies and greater density throughout Continental Europe. “This is a good, logical deal. The ACP

CO2 business complements our own and provides a solid platform to deliver customer value and pursue further European industrial gas growth,” said Ivo Bols, Air Products’ Industrial Gases President in Europe and Africa.

ACP serves customers across a variety of applications including beverage, chemical, food and horticulture. It has more than 120 employees, four liquid CO2 production plants (with an additional facility under construction) and two dry ice production locations across Europe.

Prior to its acquisition of ACP, Air Products’ CO2 supply in Europe included liquid product from its operations in Spain and Poland. gasworld.com/europe

08/11/2019 09:10

NEWS HIGHLIGHTS

Swiss company’s breakthrough Coca-Cola’s Swiss sparkling technology in the beverage water Valser will be the world’s industry. Climeworks delivers first brand to use cleantech clean, air-filtered CO2 company Climeworks’ new Direct Air to its customers, Capture (DAC) while at the same technology to time providing Climeworks aims to extract carbon the platform remove 1% of global dioxide (CO2) to reverse their CO2 emissions emissions. from the air and by 2025 Drink process it for use in carbonation could beverages. provide the commercial The global beverage platform needed to deploy industry is one of the largest DAC on industrial scales, users of CO2 in the world for bridging the gap between the production of bubbles in today’s first commercial carbonated drinks – using installations and the scale 10 million tonnes of CO2 of production required for per year. Coca-Cola HBC gigaton applications like Switzerland, a subsidiary of renewable fuel production and Coca-Cola HBC – the world’s large-scale CO2 removal. second-largest Coca-Cola anchor bottler, is working with The collaboration will Climeworks to pioneer the enable Coca-Cola HBC

© Coca-Cola

World first: Coca-Cola brand to use DAC technology

2025

Messer sells business in Denmark to Strandmøllen, effective August 2019 Messer Industries has divested itself from Messer Denmark with immediate effect, from 1st August (2019).

The buyer of the business is Danish competitor Strandmøllen A/S – a fullline supplier of gases and equipment to a wide range of end-user industries. Earlier this year, Strandmøllen inaugurated its new carbon dioxide (CO2) plant, which recycles CO2 from the world’s largest biogas plant in Korskro outside Esbjerg. It is the first of its kind in Denmark.

Danish company Strandmøllen A/S was established just over a century ago in 1917, and has since gone on to become a name synonymous with the gases

industry in Scandinavia.

Having started out with the production of oxygen and acetylene, the company has since focused on fulfilling the needs of its customers across sectors like the iron and steel industry, the food industry, healthcare and pharmaceuticals, laboratories and the environmental sector.

Strandmøllen offers a complete range of pure gases with the related equipment, technology and consulting services and, in addition to its own production, cooperates with other producers for the supply of specialist products. It also has partownership in hydrogen electrolyser manufacturer GreenHydrogen.dk.

Switzerland to source the CO2 needed for carbonated beverages from a sustainable means and provide a market for further development of technology that is of great importance for achieving the UN set climate goals. In order to guarantee the highest purity standards required for using CO2 in beverages, Climeworks works with Pentair Union Engineering, a world leader in purification and liquefaction of

high quality CO2.

Coca-Cola HBC Switzerland General Manager Nigel Davis added, “We are proud to be the first beverage company in the world to drive the development of this groundbreaking technology.

Sustainability is part of our strategic business priorities.

We are constantly looking for ways to further reduce our environmental footprint in everything we do.”

Climeworks Co-Founder and CEO Jan Wurzbacher, enthused, “Entering the beverage market with Coca-Cola HBC Switzerland continues our path of commercialisation of our DAC technology, which began with the world’s first commercial facility in May 2017.”

Linde and BASF develop new process for recovery of helium Linde Engineering and BASF have developed a new process combining the treatment of natural gas for pipeline transportation with the simultaneous recovery of helium, liquid hydrocarbons, and purified carbon dioxide.

Helium is commonly recovered from natural gas when a cryogenic separation is employed. The hybrid process eliminates the need for cryogenic conditions, giving access to a new, highly profitable helium source.

The process consists of two stages of Linde’s HISELECT® Powered by Evonik membranes, an upstream BASF Durasorb™ hydrocarbon removal unit (HRU), an integrated BASF

OASE® acid gas removal unit (AGRU) and an integrated Linde Helium PSA (pressure swing adsorption) unit. The two HISELECT® membrane stages are simultaneously used for helium enrichment and adjustment of carbon dioxide (CO2) to pipeline specification.

The PSA unit purifies the enriched helium up to 99.999% with highest yield.

BASF’s OASE® AGRU is used to selectively remove the CO2 from an internal recycle without any helium or methane loss. BASF’s Durasorb HRU removes heavy hydrocarbons and water to meet pipeline dew point, produce liquid hydrocarbons as a by-product, and ensure high membrane performance.

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NEWS HIGHLIGHTS – EUROPE

Messer has laid the foundations for its third air separation unit (ASU) in Germany, in Speyer.

The world’s largest familyrun industrial gases specialist is investing around €32m in the oxygen, nitrogen and argon production facility, which is being built for its customer Saint-Gobain Isover G+H in Speyer.

From Spring 2020, Messer said it will produce around

“A direct supply allows us to minimise the logistics footprint associated with transporting gases by road...”

500 tonnes of industrial gases a day in Speyer. Isover, specialists in energy-efficient insulating materials, will take most of what is produced at the ASU for itself for the manufacture of glass wool products.

In the future, Messer aims to use this production facility to supply its customers in southern Germany with oxygen, nitrogen and argon.

Climate protection is another factor in the decisionmaking behind the new ASU, as the company strives to minimise the carbon footprint of trucking product from region to region. Stefan Messer, owner and CEO of the Messer Group explained, “A direct supply allows us to minimise the logistics footprint associated with

© Messer

Messer investing €32m in new ASU in Germany

transporting gases by road.”

At present, for example, Isover’s Speyer plant is being supplied with four tanker deliveries per day from the Messer plant in Siegen – all of which would be negated with the location of a new ASU close to this demand hub.

Messer has confirmed a

number of new production plants in Europe in the last 12 months, from its first hydrogen production facility in Germany at the site of Rain Carbon Inc. in Castrop Rauxel, to a new argon production plant in Šaľa, Slovakia and this new ASU in Speyer.

SIAD opens €35m air separation unit in Hungary © SIAD

30,000

The ASU covers an area of 30,000 square metres and will produce 60 million m3 of liquid product SIAD has opened a brand new €35m ($28.3m) air separation plant (ASU) in Gyöngyös, Hungary.

Designed to produce nitrogen, oxygen and argon in a pure and liquefied form

to meet the ever-increasing product demand of the Hungarian market, the new ASU was constructed by SIAD Macchine Impianti, part of the SIAD Group.

Covering an area of 30,000

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square metres, the ASU will produce approximately 60 million cubic metres of liquid product in the first phase.

Roberto Sestini, President of SIAD, and Bernardo Sestini, CEO of SIAD, said the SIAD Group has its roots in Bergamo, Italy, but has always pursued internationalisation – a process that began in the 1990s and is still ongoing.

“The new plant will make it possible for us to cover not only the Hungary market, but also neighbouring regions extensively, thus making the source of production more reliable and optimising the distribution chain,” they explained.

Because of its large

size, with three columns measuring more than 30m in length and 5m in width, the plant was shipped from Italy to the port of Constance and, from there, transported by barge along the Danube all the way to Budapest.

The tanks, machinery and all the supporting equipment were transported in the same way, gasworld understands.

“The new plant will make it possible for us to cover not only the Hungary market, but also neighbouring regions extensively...” gasworld.com/europe

08/11/2019 09:14

AMERICAS – NEWS HIGHLIGHTS

Air Water acquires Cryogenic Vessels Alternative Air Water Inc. has acquired th assets of Cryogenic Vessels Alternative (CVA) USA. Through its US subsidiary Air Water America Inc., the company has acquired the assets, commercial contracts and trade liabilities of Cryogenic Vessels Alternative (CVA) USA, including the Houston based CVA assets from INOX India.

Taylor-Wharton America Inc. shall soon brand the products made at old CVA facilities with its own brand.

CVA, a Texas based company, is a leading worldwide manufacturer of cryogenic industrial gas products and oilfield well stimulation equipment.

“INOXCVA shall continue sale of equipment directly in North America”

Just under 10 years ago INOX India, India’s largest cryogenic engineering company, acquired CVA which created the brand INOXCVA, offering cryogenic storage, transportation and distribution products for the global market, and expanded its operations in South America and Europe as INOXCVA. INOXCVA differentiated itself from other companies

TNSC acquires portion of Linde Americas’ HyCO business and assets Taiyo Nippon Sanso Corporation (TNSC) has reached an agreement with Linde Gas North America LLC (Linde America) to acquire a portion of its HyCO business and related assets in the US through its whollyowned subsidiary, Matheson Tri-Gas, Inc. Through the $413,070,000 acquisition, Matheson will acquire the hydrogen and carbon monoxide (CO) Steam Methane Reforming (SMR) plants in five locations, pipelines and remote supervision systems.

HyCO represents hydrogen and carbon monoxide (CO), which are separated from natural gas and other gases through steam methane reforming and other equipment. The HyCO business provides large-scale supply of hydrogen and CO to customers in oil refining and petrochemical industries by way of a pipeline. In its aim to expand in the gas technology field, TNSC has decided on a full scale entry in the HyCO business, strengthening its proposed capabilities with enhancements to its line-up.

with technological advancement, marketing mix and product positioning, the company explained.

Savir Julka, Global Head Marketing at INOXCVA, told gasworld, “INOXCVA has implemented plans to be lean and focused, by divesting their manufacturing activities in the US.” “We shall focus on core competence and enhance our range of high-quality engineered products for IG,

LNG and the Cryo Scientific industry.”

“INOXCVA shall continue sale of equipment directly to the customers in North America, and other global markets,” Julka stated.

The purchase of CVA assets by Air Water will give Taylor-Wharton a significant manufacture presence in the Houston area, according to Taylor-Wharton’s Chairman and CEO Eric Rottier.

“CVA adds product lines to Taylor-Wharton including cryogenic rail cars, trailers, liquid hydrogen tanks, LNG systems, offshore containers, ISO containers, microbulk delivery, and oil well service equipment,” he said.

Tim Miller, a well-known figure in the gas industry, has been promoted to President of Taylor-Wharton taking on the responsibility for both CVA assets and TaylorWharton’s business.

Nikkiso Cryogenic Industries Group consolidates and strengthens Cryogenic Industries and Nikkiso Cryo, subsidiaries of Nikkiso Co, have announced their functional consolidation as Nikkiso Cryogenic Industries Group.

Consisting of Californiabased Cryogenic Industries and its subsidiaries ACD, Cosmodyne and Cryoquip, and Nikkiso Cryo, Nikkiso Cryogenic Industries Group provides innovative solutions in liquid gases and beyond. The group’s creation involves the strengthening and development of five functional units:

• The Cryogenic Pumps unit aligns ACD’s and Nikkiso Cryo’s lines of pumps • The Cryogenic Process Systems unit incorporates turbo expanders along with LNG and ASUs • The Heat Exchanger Systems unit focuses on cryogenic vaporisers, LNG and industrial gas equipment • The Cryogenic Services unit provides service and support • An Integrated Cryogenic Solutions unit allows for centralised management of product and project development.

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Man on the Moon Section.indd 1

08/11/2019 11:41

Space Zone Celebrating 50 Years of Man on the Moon

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08/11/2019 11:41

SPECIAL FEATURE | 50 YEARS OF MAN ON THE MOON

Man on the Moon Celebrating 50 years of one giant step for mankind

By Joanna Sampson

T

hat’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”

When Neil Armstrong took the first human steps on another planet on 20th July 1969 and spoke those famous words, he not only achieved a goal set

by US President John F. Kennedy but fulfilled a dream as old as humanity.

President Kennedy had stood before congress in 1961 and proposed that the US “should commit itself to achieving the

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goal, before the decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth.” The Apollo 11 mission successfully completed this goal eight years later and wrapped up a huge victory for the US over the Soviets in the Cold War space race.

NASA’s Apollo programme ran from 1961 to 1975 and resulted in 11 spaceflights and 12 American astronauts walking on the Moon. The first four

flights tested the equipment and six of the other seven flights landed on the Moon. This July marks 50 years since Armstrong, Edwin ‘Buzz’ Aldrin and Michael Collins became the first human beings to leave Earth’s orbit and step foot on another world – a mission which would not have been possible without industrial gases.

“Oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen and helium: these gases, and their liquefied gasworld.com/specialfeatures

08/11/2019 11:42

© NASA

SPECIAL SPECIALFEATURE FEATURE

forms of storage and handling, are the driver for the entire space enterprise.

It’s not possible without them,” James Fesmire, Senior Principal Investigator and founder of the Cryogenics Test Laboratory at NASA Kennedy Space Center, tells gasworld in an exclusive interview to mark the 50th anniversary of the first Moon landing. “The centrepiece of any launch vehicle is chemical-based stored energy, it fundamentally is. Any

rocket is basically a big flying set of tanks. with engines at the bottom.”

The Saturn V was the ‘big flying tank’ that took Armstrong, Aldrin and Collins to the Moon. Measuring 111 metres tall, it was about the height of a 36-story-tall building and 18 metres taller than the Statue of Liberty.

Fully fuelled for lift-off, the Saturn V weighed 2.8 million kg (the weight of about 400 elephants) and generated

7.5 million pounds of thrust at launch, creating more power than 85 Hoover Dams. To put that into perspective, a car that gets 48km to the gallon could drive around the world around 800 times with the amount of fuel the Saturn V used for a lunar landing mission.

The rocket used for the Apollo missions had three stages and each stage would burn its engines until it was out of fuel. It would then separate from the 2019/2020 •July gasworld 2019 •Yearbook gasworld || 125 29

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SPECIAL FEATURE | 50 YEARS OF MAN ON THE MOON

Apollo/Saturn Vehicle Escape Rocket Pulls the command module to safety in the event of a malunction during launch Apollo Spacecraft Command module carries three astronauts around the Moon Lunar Module Adapter

Lunar Module Carries two of the astronauts from lunar orbit to the surface of the Moon and back

S-IVB Stage 66,770 gallons (252,750 litres) of liquid hydrogen fuel 19,359 gallons (73,280 litres) of liquid oxgen (needed for burning fuel in space) J-2 rocket engine

S-II Stage 260,000 gallons (984,000) litres) of liquid hydrogen fuel

U N I T E D S T A T E S

80,000 gallons (9303,000) litres) of liquid oxygen 5 J-2 rocket engines

S-IC Stage

318,000 gallons (1,204,000) litres) of liquid oxygen

203,400 gallons (770,000) litres) of kerosene fuel

U S A

Human to scale

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rocket. The engines on the next stage would fire and the rocket would continue into space.

The first stage had the most powerful engines since it had the challenging task of lifting the fully fuelled rocket off the ground. It carried 203,000 gallons of kerosene fuel and 318,000 gallons of liquid oxygen needed for combustion, and lifted the rocket to an altitude of about 68km. The F-1 engines then shut down, explosive bolts fired, and the severed first stage fell into the ocean.

“The first stage of the Saturn V had five F-1 rocket engines at the bottom and the amount of liquid mass that came out of them every second was about 30,000 pounds, which is equivalent to about nine Toyota Camrys – every second, nine Toyota Camrys worth of mass came out of the bottom of the rocket. The power of that thing was unbelievable,” explains Adam Swanger, Research Engineer at the Cryogenics Test Laboratory.

The second stage used 260,000 gallons of liquid hydrogen fuel and 80,000 gallons of liquid oxygen to carry the rocket almost into orbit. At nine minutes and nine seconds after launch, the second stage was discarded and the third stage’s rocket engine was fired. The third stage placed the Apollo spacecraft into Earth’s orbit and pushed it towards the Moon, using 66,770 gallons of liquid hydrogen fuel and 19,359 gallons of liquid oxygen to do this. The last remaining part of the rocket stayed in space, or hit the Moon.

“Liquefied gases were central to the Moon missions. To me, a kind of equivalent question would be: how important is uranium, or some other radioactive material, to a nuclear reactor or a nuclear power plant? Without it, there is no reason for it to exist or it cannot exist. Without liquid oxygen you don’t have human space flight,” says Swanger.

This is without even mentioning the helium, argon and carbon dioxide (CO2) used in welding the various rocket components together, or the liquid nitrogen that would have been used in testing components under extreme cold

conditions along the journey to launch.

Mission highlights Apollo 11 launched from Cape Kennedy on 16th July 1969 at 9.32am EDT, carrying Armstrong (Commander, pictured left), Collins (Command Module Pilot) and Aldrin (Lunar Module Pilot) strapped side by side inside the Columbia Command Service Module. At around 12.22pm EDT, after an orbit and a half around the Earth, engines from the thirdstage of the Saturn V rocket ignited for a crucial burn and lifted Columbia out of Earth orbit and on towards the Moon, explains the National Space Centre.

After three days of travelling towards the Moon, Columbia flipped around and fired its rocket backwards for six minutes so that it slowed the spacecraft down enough to be captured by the Moon’s gravity. This key burn happened behind the Moon, outside of radio contact with Mission Control. If the burn was too short, Apollo 11 would have slingshot around the Moon and headed back to Earth; if the burn was too long, the spacecraft would have risked crashing into the Moon. Columbia settled on an orbit that was just 70 miles above the Moon’s surface.

Moonwalkers Armstrong and Aldrin entered the ‘Eagle’ Lunar Lander on 20th July 1969 at 13.26pm EDT and separated from Collins, who remained in Columbia in orbit around the Moon. The Eagle descended towards the Moon and scanned the surface for a suitable landing site.

Armstrong struggled to find a smooth place to land in a boulder-strewn field.

At the last minute, he found a site and landed with 25 seconds of fuel to spare, at 16.18pm EDT. He immediately radioed Mission Control with those immortal words, “Houston, Tranquillity Base here.

The Eagle has landed.” Upon landing, Aldrin described the Moon’s surface as “pretty much without colour. It’s grey and it’s a very white chalky grey.”

Armstrong and Aldrin found it impossible to sleep and instead prepared for their lunar walk more than five gasworld.com/specialfeatures

08/11/2019 11:44

SPECIAL FEATURE

hours ahead of schedule. After donning his bulky Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) spacesuit, Armstrong slowly squeezed through the tight Lunar Module hatch and down the nine-step ladder.

With an estimated 650 million people watching Armstrong’s televised image, © NASA

he placed his left foot on the Moon at 22.56pm EDT. It was the first time in history that man had ever stepped on anything that had not existed on or originated from the Earth. Aldrin followed around 15 minutes later and became the second man to walk on the Moon.

The two astronauts erected a threeby-five-foot nylon US flag at 23.41pm EDT. They also left commemorative medallions bearing the names of the three Apollo 1 astronauts who lost their lives in a launchpad fire and two cosmonauts who also died in accidents on the Moon’s surface. A one-and-a-half inch silicon disk, containing microminiaturised goodwill messages from 73 countries, and the names of congressional and NASA leaders, also stayed behind.

US President Richard Nixon called the astronauts by telephone at 23.48pm EDT. He said the call had to be the “most historic telephone call ever made.”

Over the next hour and a half, Armstrong and Aldrin collected 21.55kg of lunar rock and set up two science experiments which were left on the Moon: a seismic detector and a laser © NASA

reflector. The latter is still in use today to measure the distance between the Earth and the Moon.

Aldrin and Armstrong spent 21 hours and 36 minutes on the Moon’s surface.

They were reunited with Collins at 17.35pm EDT on 21st July 1969, when the Eagle docked with Columbia while circling on the back side of the Moon.

While on the back side of the Moon, Columbia made the crucial burn that lifted the crew from Moon orbit and on towards a return trajectory to Earth.

After three days of travel, Columbia re-entered Earth’s atmosphere at 12.35pm EDT on 24th July 1969. It splashed down into the Pacific Ocean around 20 minutes later and was quickly picked up by the recovery team. When the three astronauts emerged from their spacecraft they were sprayed with disinfectant as a guard against potential ‘Moon germs’.

From then to now Fesmire joined NASA aged 18 in 1983, 11 years after the last Apollo mission, when things in cryogenics were still being done very much the same as they were in the ‘60s and ‘70s – from scratch.

“Back then, most things in cryogenic systems were designed and built from scratch. Things weren’t available on the street to just go and buy. We had to get out a pencil and from scratch draw, say, a vacuum-jacketed piping assembly and then go procure it from someone who had to custom make it. That’s a huge difference to today, when it’s much simpler,” he explains.

“As for the application of the different gases back then and how they were used, a lot of it in my view is really still the same. A lot of the processes and operations are still being used today,” adds Swanger.

“There are new materials we use today so things can be a lighter weight and more economical to fabricate in the welding process.”

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SPECIAL FEATURE

SPECIALTY GASES ZONE Specialty Gases Zone 225-245

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SPECIAL FEATURE | RARE GASES

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SPECIAL FEATURE

In focus...

A rare gases market beginning to stabilise

By Dick Betzendahl

R

are gases had a good 2018. We saw a stabilisation of prices for xenon, a slight decline in neon and a slight increase in krypton, but no wild swings as in many of the past years.

Xenon was the star with fears of price increases due to the large demand from Samsung in South Korea which was to come on in the third quarter of the year, and came on with little fanfare as the supply was known since 2016. The prices stabilised in early 2018 and did not rise as Samsung began taking 20% of the world supply. This increase in demand was just enough to pick up the decline in demand from lighting and dark matter applications.

With neon, we saw continued over-supply with many plants still blowing the neon-helium mixture crude to atmosphere.

As you would expect, the price declined slightly on large volumes but was stable for most smaller volumes. Krypton, which has been in over-supply for years, is finally looking up as the price and demand rose slightly in the second half of 2018.

Review of 2018 rare gas predictions Neon: we predicted some growth but no supply and demand balance until 2019 to 2020. This was mostly correct as we saw some slight demand increases in laser usage but not as much as we had hoped for. The new software for the lasers, which was predicted to reduce usage after the shortage of 2014-15 by 25-30%, actually reduced demand closer to 40%. The recovery of the demand leading to a balanced supply and demand will not be until later than we predicted.

Krypton: we predicted to stay in an over-supplied situation

and that prices would stabilise as we believed the demand would increase slightly. We were again mostly correct, as the prices did stabilise early in the year, but began to increase in the last quarter of 2018. What we did not see coming was a greater increase in demand for window insulation which was the prime cause of the price increase that took place late in 2018 but was mostly only seen by large customers and wholesale supply.

Xenon: we were mostly correct. We predicted prices would increase from 25-50% but we only saw an increase of around 25% which took place early in 2018. The price stabilised by mid-year and has held there since. We also predicted the supply would not quite meet demand but that seemed to be incorrect; we saw the supply and demand balance as projected but did not move to the slight shortage as we anticipated.

Neon in 2018 Neon, which is still in a significant over-supply situation has seen only a slight increase in demand. We still have some neon purifiers blowing the crude neon-helium mixture to atmosphere. With this situation we have seen prices for wholesale decline some in 2018 and we have seen the retail price stabilise to a 30-year low.

Some of those suppliers who are blowing gas to atmosphere

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Women in the gases industry Mutual respect for accomplishments prevails Part 1. Now entering her second year as President and CEO of Chart Industries, Jill Evanko is breaking through perceived barriers in the industry. But do they really exist at all?

Evanko believes there is mutual respect for accomplishments in the industry today, writes Rob Cockerill, and that a strong work ethic, doing the best job you can, and doing the right things for all stakeholders will enable opportunity and success.

I

t’s been just over a decade since gasworld profiled various female thought leaders in our industry and asked if a glass ceiling existed where women in gases are concerned. Back then, it was noted that women were ‘undoubtedly the minority in the industrial gases business’ both in manufacturing and managing.

Fast forward to 2019 and one could argue that significant progress has been made in this regard, with more female leaders in senior or executive positions within the industry’s top players than ever before.

Think Susan Ellerbusch, in charge of the Large Industries and Electronics activities in the US for Air Liquide, or across the globe at Air Liquide, Virginie Cavalli as CEO for Southeast Asia Region.

Diana Schillag (Europe Healthcare hub), Emilie Mouren-Renouard (in charge of Innovation, Digital & IT, Intellectual Property as well as Global Markets and Technologies activity), Fabienne Lecorvaisier (Executive Vice-President in charge of Finance, Operations Control and General Secretariat) and Armelle Levieux (Vice President, Group Human Resources) are all examples of female leadership at Air Liquide too.

Marie Ffolkes is President of Americas, and Victoria Brifo, Senior Vice-President

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“The most surprising thing that I learned early on was how much opportunity both commercially and operationally we have within our own control...” and Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) at Air Products; Dr. Anne Roby is Executive Vice-President at Linde plc, having previously served as Praxair’s senior vice-president; and Dr. Nathalie von Siemens sits on the Management Supervisory Board at the Messer Group.

These are just some examples across the industry’s Tier One players. There are many more examples throughout the gas and equipment supply chain, globally – from Abydee Butler Moore, President of Butler Gas Products Company, to Rosalyn Luo, President of Shanghai Chinllenge Gases, and Jennifer Wagner as the Executive Vice-President of CarbonCure. Amy Sexton has recently been appointed as the new Director of Bulk Gas Sales at American Welding Gas,

© Chart Industries | Jill Evanko

Inc. (AWG). These are just a handful of examples; the list goes on. That’s without even mentioning the women in safety – from Ffolkes as the new Vice-Chair of the Compressed Gas Association (CGA) Board of Directors to Els Vandererven, EIGA’s Technical Manager.

The glass ceiling in the industry has clearly been broken, if it ever really existed at all. A view back in 2006, when gasworld last explored this subject, was that the opportunities were always there – but perhaps the awareness or knowledge of this niche industry was not there right gasworld.com/specialfeatures

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SPECIAL FEATURE

“It is a privilege to lead such a great at the start of an individual’s career path. group of people in a great business at Widely acknowledged today as ‘The Chart.”

Invisible Industry’, it’s entirely plausible These have clearly been big steps that future female leaders and market forward for the company under shapers are not aware of the Evanko’s leadership, progress gases industry or motivated that she is pleased to have by it at an academic age/ presided over. “I am very level; those pursuing a Jill Evanko became pleased with how our career in engineering or President and CEO of strategy and execution of science are probably more Chart Industries in the strategy has progressed likely to be aware of other June 2018 in the past year,” she affirms. industries with better name “The team has done a great recognition. job staying focused. I am extremely Jill Evanko (pictured) has come pleased with the outcome of the sale of at the industry from another angle, a non-core asset in CAIRE, and with the having pursued a career in finance and purchase of a core asset in VRV. Also, I business (administration). Previously am proud of the team for the discipline in in the role of vice-president of finance finally achieving a definitive agreement to for the company, she was appointed purchase an asset we have sought after in President and CEO of Chart Industries the Harsco Air-X-Changer business.” in June 2018 and has recently passed one “We have made good progress on year at the helm. finding margin expansion opportunities It’s been a busy first year. Chart has been in a process of transformation under under our own rooftops too, with more to go. Lastly, with our renewed focus on our Evanko, a strategic realignment that customers in what I believe to be a more has seen the company better balance its commercial manner, we are gradually business segments with the divestment changing those relationships from what of a non-core asset in CAIRE Medical they were in the past – more partnerships and the acquisitions of both VRV and willingness to come up with solutions S.p.A and more recently, the Industrial that work for them versus just providing Air-X-Changers business of Harsco a ‘widget’.”

Corporation. The acquisition of VRV in particular also provides improved access to high growth markets in India and the Middle East, the evidence of which has already been seen in orders won.

“Yes, it has been a year now in the role of CEO,” Evanko enthuses. “It has been an exciting time for the business as we have shaped our strategy and portfolio. During the past 12 months we have completed one divestiture (Sale of CAIRE Medical, the oxygen concentrator business), closed on one acquisition (VRV) and announced another (Harsco Air-X-Changer). In addition, our team has continued to execute on our cost-out focus, taking It is perhaps these points that have advantage of ‘self-help’ margin expansion most surprised Evanko since she took on activities. We are excited about the the role – opportunities within, and the foundation we have to support our kind of relationships established with the customers in cryogenic activities, in particular in the industrial gas and energy customer. Both are continued goals under Evanko’s leadership. end applications.”

2018

“I would like to continue to build out our customer touchpoints to be a strategic partner with a solution mindset versus just a transactional supplier...”

“The most surprising thing that I learned early on was how much opportunity both commercially and operationally we have within our own control. It is easy to fall into the trap of ‘we’ve always done it this way’, especially when the business has been successful.

So changing the mindset to listen more carefully, deliver on time, and constantly look for improvements has been the biggest challenge, but also the biggest return when you see your team members rewarded for a job well done.”

“I would like to continue to build out our customer touchpoints to be a strategic partner with a solution mindset versus just a transactional supplier. In addition, there are in-house margin expansion opportunities that also can shorten lead times that I would like to accelerate faster than what we have in the plans. Our segment presidents are fantastic and have embraced these changes.”

Values Of all the many achievements in her first year at the helm of Chart, Evanko explains that she is most proud of her team members embracing the company’s four key themes: Safety; Be Nice to Our Customers; Strong Work Ethic; and Have Fun. In a way, these themes reflect the values that Evanko has lived and worked by from an early age – hard work, doing the right thing, and taking the opportunities that arise. This mantra has seen Evanko gain a broad background of experience prior to Chart and, ultimately, the role that she has today.

Having worked in valuation services at Arthur Andersen, LLP and also held audit and accounting roles for Honeywell and Sony Corporation of America, Evanko got her big break at Dover Corporation in 2004, holding multiple executive positions there and at its subsidiaries, including the role of vice-president and chief financial officer (CFO) of Dover Fluids since January 2014. After a brief spell as vice-president of Truck-Lite Co., LLC from October 2016, she joined Chart Industries in February 2017 as vice2019/2020 • gasworld Yearbook | 249

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CALENDAR | EVENTS IN 2020

Events Schedule 29

29th – 30th January 2020 EIGA Winter Seminar www.eiga.eu

January

27 May

Location Brussels, Belgium

5

April

5th – 7th April 2020 GAWDA Spring Management Conference www.gawda.org

Location Valencia, Spain

29

September

Location Austin, Texas, US

26 April

26th – 30th April 2020 CGA Annual Convention www.cganet.com

3

May

Location Miami, Florida, US

288 | gasworld Yearbook • 2019/2020

284-288 Calendar-Ads Index.indd 1

29th – 30th September 2020 F-Cell www.f-cell.de Location Stuttgart, Germany

10

October

10th – 14th October 2020 IOMA Annual Meeting www.iomaweb.org Location Washington DC, US

Location New Orleans, US 3rd – 6th May 2020 AIWD Annual Convention www.aiwdgroup.net

27th – 30th April 2020 EIGA Summer Session www.eiga.eu

18

November

18th – 20th November 2020 Fabtech www.fabtechexpo.com Location Las Vegas, California, US

gasworld.com/events

08/11/2019 15:39

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GLOBAL INDUSTRIAL GAS YEARBOOK 2019/2020

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YEAR BOOK

2019/2020

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