BOC, a member of The Linde Group, has commissioned an Air Separation Unit (ASU) at Scunthorpe, UK.
The new unit is capable of producing 1600t of oxygen a day for its main customer in the region, Corus Steel. The technology takes air and separates it into oxygen, nitrogen and argon by cooling it to around -200°C.
The gases separate at different temperatures and are drawn off into storage units or pipelines.
A new dedicated pipeline delivers the high-pressure oxygen direct to the Corus blast furnaces 5km away.
The final phase of the regeneration project at BOC Scunthorpe will see the existing ASU overhauled and refurbished, giving the site an overall oxygen production capacity of nearly 4000t/d.
BOC built its first Air Separation Unit on this site more than 50 years ago primarily to service the steel industry. The new unit incorporates much higher levels of energy efficiency. This latest £60M investment will supply industrial gases to other customers in the region as well as Corus
The new Air Separation Unit was constructed following BOC’s successful negotiation of a new 15-year contract to supply the Corus steelworks with oxygen.