BOC's new air separation unit (ASU) in Scunthorpe was formally opened today by local MP Nic Dakin and Dr Aldo Belloni, board member of BOC's parent firm, The Linde Group.
The 45 metre high fractionating column is a new feature on the Scunthorpe skyline, and the firm's new unit is now capable of producing 1,600 tonnes of oxygen per day for its main customer in the region, Corus Steel.
Mike Huggon, BOC's managing director for the UK and Ireland, explains that the plant's technology takes air and separates it into oxygen, nitrogen and argon, by cooling 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 five kilometres (three miles) 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 4,000 tonnes per day.
"BOC built its first ASU on this site more than 50 years ago, primarily to service the steel industry," says Huggon. "This new unit represents state-of-the-art technology for the 21st century, incorporating much higher levels of energy efficiency."
