Air Products to Supply Nitrogen Gensets for Ichthys LNG Project

Air Products has signed an important supply agreement with leading shipyards Samsung Heavy Industries and Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co., Ltd (DSME).

The contract covers delivery of nitrogen generator sets for use on the large-scale Australian offshore Ichtys LNG Project, and confirms Air Products’ position as a world leader in the liquefied natural gas (LNG) equipment field. Air Products previously signed a contract with Shell for a similar delivery to the company’s huge Prelude LNG Project. The newest contract, with Samsung and DSME, has a minimum value of NOK 35 million (US $6 million).

Tom Cantero, CEO and Managing Director of Air Products Norway says: “We are very glad that Samsung and DSME have recognised the high quality of our nitrogen generator sets and we look forward to future cooperation. There is growing global demand for LNG and we feel that the positive trends within this segment will accelerate in coming years. We find ourselves very well positioned to play a key role in this development as Air Products has a very clear focus, a dedicated team and a strong work ethic.”

LNG is gaining a reputation as an environmentally friendly source of energy that has now been adopted by a number of sectors, including commercial shipping, which is seeing an influx of LNG powered and dual-fuel vessels. The latter use diesel fuel to start up power generation and then switch to LNG. Another important driver for LNG demand has been the widespread distrust of nuclear power generation following the 2012 earthquake disaster in Japan.

The Inpex manufacturing facility in Darwin Harbour, Australia, will contribute towards meeting Japan’s LNG requirements. When the plant is launched in 2017, it will supply 70% of its 8.4 million ton annual production to Japan through a pipeline. The offshore plant consists of a drilling unit and a production vessel, both of which will be equipped with nitrogen generator packages from Air Products.

“Our agreement with Samsung is the result of intense work and development. We feel that our specially developed membrane-based nitrogen generator sets are setting the industry standard for use in the LNG sector. The contract to supply to the world’s leading developers of LNG production plants confirms the quality of our products,” Tom Cantero adds.

Air Products was the first company to introduce compact systems for membrane-based production of nitrogen for use onboard ships and offshore installations. Initially the equipment was used as a method for choking gas during loading and unloading in order to prevent explosions onboard the vessels. However the product has been shown to have additional uses, such as treatment of water in ballast tanks, extended preservation of food during transport, and increasing the lifetimes of ships’ tanks.

Air Products’ nitrogen plant is a vital link in the LNG safety chain as there is a considerable risk of explosions during the loading and unloading of a vessel. Accordingly, many LNG tankers that are built or on order from shipyards around the world are fitted with nitrogen plants from Air Products.

“Globally, there is an increased focus on LNG and we are very happy to be a preferred supplier to both the shipping and processing industries,” says Tom Cantero.