Air Liquide (Paris, France; www.airliquide.com) signed a new long-term contract with Maoming Petrochemical Co. (MPCC), a subsidiary of China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. (Sinopec Corp.), one of the largest integrated energy and chemical companies in China. Under the terms of the new agreement, Air Liquide will invest around 40 million euros in a new state-of-the-art air separation unit (ASU), with a total capacity of 850 metric tons of oxygen per day.
Expected to start operations in the second quarter of 2017, the new ASU will supply industrial gases including oxygen and nitrogen to the customer’s new ethylene oxide plant as well as to its existing one. The ASU, located in Maoming City of Guangdong Province, will be designed and supplied by Air Liquide’s Engineering and Construction teams using leading technologies to offer energy efficiency as well as optimal reliability and safety. The ASU will be owned and operated by ALMPCC, the joint venture of Air Liquide China and MPCC established in June 2012.