Air Liquide: Further development in the Hefei Industrial Basin

21-Jun-2011 - China

Air Liquide announces that it has signed a long-term agreement with IRICO Electronics, a subsidiary of the IRICO Group, to supply oxygen to its new glass plant located in the Hefei Xinzhan Comprehensive Experiment Zone (Anhui province, China) where many high-tech industries (semiconductors, thin-Film Transistor Crystal Display industry, plasma display panels, etc) are setting up bases. IRICO Electronics’ plant will produce glass for the photovoltaic market.

Under the terms of the agreement, Air Liquide will invest in an Air Separation Unit (ASU) with a capacity of 770 tonnes of oxygen per day in the same industrial zone. The ASU, which will be commissioned at the end of 2012, will also produce gaseous nitrogen, and liquid oxygen, nitrogen and argon for the dynamic local industrial market.

Air Liquide has also recently commissioned a large high-purity nitrogen plant in this zone to supply carrier gases through pipelines to the flat display panel plant of BOE (Beijing Oriental Electronics Technology Group). BOE is China’s largest domestic TFT-LCD (thin film transistor liquid crystal display) manufacturer.

Air Liquide’s total investment in the industrial basin of Hefei will come to around €50 million.

The photovoltaic project, a major investment for IRICO Electronics in Hefei, boasts three full oxygen burning glass melting furnaces, with a melting capacity of 500 tons per day each. Full oxygen technology brings energy efficiencies as well as reducing nitrous oxides (NOx) emissions. In addition, new glass production lines will be built as IRICO aims to build in Hefei a large solar photovoltaic glass factory.

https://www.chemeurope.com/en/news/133111/air-liquide-further-development-in-the-hefei-industrial-basin.html