Gulf Cryo, a leading manufacturer of industrial, medical and speciality gases in the Middle East, is building a new air separation plant in Abu Dhabi. With a 30,000 sq m plot, it will be the company’s largest site in the UAE. The project will commence in February 2012.

Situated on greenfield land, the plant will manufacture liquid oxygen, liquid nitrogen and liquid argon. In Phase One, Gulf Cryo will commission and erect a technologically advanced Air Separation Unit (ASU) with remote operation.  In the second phase, production of hydrogen and acetylene gases will be introduced, as well as various gas mixing and filling facilities.

The fully automated ASU is an AFPLN3000, supplied by SIAD Macchine Impianti. Andrea Turetta, plant sales manager at SIAD Macchine Impianti said: “The new unit will use the most advanced air separation cryogenic technology for the production of more than 200 mtpd of high-purity gases. This will be the group’s first SIAD ASU to be commissioned.”

SIAD Macchine Impianti will also provide installation support activities on site including pre-commissioning, commissioning and start-up using its own skilled technicians. Gulf Cryo’s unit operators will follow a specific training programme to manage the process, operation and maintenance of the air separation plant.

SIAD Macchine Impianti is part of the Italian SIAD Group and has built around 200 ASUs around the world, of which two are operating in the U.A.E.

“Gulf Cryo is committed to the UAE in terms of prolonged investment, strategic growth and innovation,” said Naji Skaf, its CEO. “In response to increasing demand for industrial gases from the oil and gas, steel and heavy fabrication sectors, the construction of our largest industrial gas production plant in the country will strengthen our position in the market to meet the needs of customers across a variety of sectors.”

The construction has an estimated completion date of May 2013. The plant will create a number of operational job opportunities.

Gulf Cryo is a closed shareholding company operating in the industrial gas field in the Middle East and was founded as the Kuwait Oxygen Company in 1953. Today it comprises 13 affiliated companies. Over time it has secured a position offering total solutions in storage and delivery modes, as well as equipment rental. Gulf Cryo now operates in nine countries, including all of the GCC, Jordan, Syria, Pakistan and Iraq.