Universal Industrial Gases, Inc... Project Showcase - Project Summaries

For almost 20 years, UIG has supplied industrial gas plants and equipment, and associated engineering, dismantlement, relocation, and installation services to end-user companies throughout the world.

UIG projects have included field work in the United States, Mexico, Canada, the Dominican Republic, Spain, Peru, Albania, Ukraine, Turkey, India, Saudi Arabia, Ireland and Poland.

UIG-supplied new, used, and refurbished plants produce gaseous and liquid oxygen, nitrogen, argon and CO2 for companies which produce an array of products; including steel, glass, ammonia, ethanol, Titanium Dioxide (TiO2), specialty chemicals and polymers, petroleum products and natural gas.

In addition to providing and installing plants to serve individual user operating sites, UIG supplies gas and bulk liquid production plants to distributors of packaged gases and bulk merchant liquid products to meet the needs of multiple end users located within the distributor's service area.

To meet the needs of companies which would like to enjoy the savings and convenience available from on-site gas production of nitrogen and/ or oxygen, but which would prefer not to have the responsibility of operating and maintaining a production plant, UIG teams with its plant operations affiliate, Universal Cryo Gas, to design and install industrial gases production plants at user sites. These UCG owned and operated facilities supply nitrogen and/ or oxygen to end-users in a utility-like fashion, under multiple-year supply agreements.

Examples of UIG plant supply, installation, relocation and upgrade projects follows.

Access extended descriptions by clicking on the title of the project summary.

UIG provided turnkey installation of an cryogenic oxygen and nitrogen production plant to Universal Cryo Gas to supply both oxygen and nitrogen to Hunt Refining to support an $835 million refinery expansion project in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Universal Cryo Gas is supplying the products to Hunt under a long term supply agreement.

The UIG scope of work included process engineering; relocation and upgrade of the cold box; development of the civil, mechanical, structural, electrical and instrumentation design packages; specification and procurement of mechanical, electrical and instrumentation equipment and the liquid oxygen and liquid nitrogen backup storage tanks and vaporizers, and management of all field services required during equipment installation, checkout and startup.

All-New ASU and NLU Plants to Produce Bulk Merchant Liquid Products and Supply On-site Gases

Multiple Sites - USA

Front view of completed air separation / bulk merchant liquid production plant

Raising the first ASU cold box module to the vertical. Tailing crane supports bottom of module.

Third ASU cold box module approaches first two modules. Observers ensure damage-free, sucessful mating.

Final ASU cold box module begins journey to the second tier of the ASU cold box module stack.

Completed ASU cold box for bulk liquid products plant

Cold boxes and molecular sieve vessels, with compressor building in rear - air separation and liquefier units by UIG

UIG supplied two all-new bulk liquids production plants to a major US manufacturer and distributor of industrial gases. The plants produce liquid oxygen, liquid nitrogen and liquid argon, and supply adjacent customers with gaseous nitrogen. The mix of products can be varied over a wide range to match changes in current demand and liquid inventory maintenance requirements.

The UIG scope of supply included overall engineering definition and design for the ASU / NLU facility. UIG supplied all of the process equipment, and also provided intensive field support during critical construction, commissioning and startup activities.

Each gas and bulk liquids production plant included two cold boxes, an air separation unit (ASU) box and a nitrogen liquefier (NLU) box. The ASU cold box was shop-fabricated and shipped to the site as four modules. The liquefier box was manufactured and shipped as a single unit. Portions of the cold box erection process are shown in the pictures above. Visit our New ASU / Bulk Liquids Plant Construction page for more photos and information.

UIG provided a major US manufacturer and distributor of industrial gases with a gaseous oxygen and merchant liquid plant consisting of a combination of refurbished and new components. The plant contains three cold boxes, two of which are refurbished. A new UIG-designed cold box contains an all-cryogenic pure argon production system and liquefier system components.

Other equipment included a new centrifugal air compressor, new direct contact air cooler, new molecular sieve drier and impurity removal system, refurbished air separation module, new UIG-designed liquefier system, new nitrogen refrigeration compressor and compander, and the UIG-designed cryogenic argon recovery and purification system.

GOX is produced by vaporization of LOX, followed by compression to final delivery pressure with a refurbished oxygen compressor. This "piggyback" merchant liquid and onsite plant supplies gaseous oxygen to an on-site customer and liquid oxygen and pure liquid argon to cost-effectively serve the local bulk merchant liquid market.

UIG relocated a merchant liquid plant from the Western United States to the Southeast under a very tight schedule (16 weeks). The project included upgrading instrumentation and controls, refurbishing or replacing mechanical equipment as required. The plant is configured as a "piggyback" merchant liquid and onsite oxygen plant combination.

UIG supplied all project management, process and detailed design engineering, construction labor and field supervision required to dismantle, relocate, refurbish and upgrade the plant. New equipment included an oxygen compressor, a Siemens DCS system, a Marley cooling water tower and a molecular sieve air purification unit (PPU). The original rotating equipment was refurbished.

A steel manufacturer in the Dominican Republic required 50 tpd of gaseous oxygen. UIG had a used plant in inventory that would meet this requirement at far less cost than a new plant. In addition to cost, schedule was very important to the customer.

UIG procured optimally-sized new mechanical equipment (Main Air Compressor, Nitrogen Compressor and Oxygen compressor). These new equipment items gave the customer excellent efficiency and reliability.

The UIG scope of supply included all engineering, project management, dismantling, relocation, commissioning and start up supervision plus liquid storage and vaporization equipment.

UIG sold a 100 tpd gaseous oxygen plant located in Mexico to a Saudi Arabian company producing titanium dioxide. The plant was dismantled and relocated to Saudi Arabia. Instrumentation and controls systems were upgraded. UIG supplied a used oxygen compressor to meet the required delivery pressure.

UIG provided project management, design engineering and field support throughout the dismantlement, shipment, construction, upgrade, commissioning and startup process. The plant began operation in late 2002.

UIG provided a new Liquid Carbon Dioxide plant and its turnkey installation to a grass-roots ethanol project in Wisconsin, USA. The plant scope included CO2 feed gas compression, purification, drying and condensing equipment, an ammonia refrigeration system, computer process control system, a product analyzer panel, two 500 ton liquid CO2 storage tanks and loading pumps.

UIG was responsible for project management, overall process and mechanical design of the plant, fabrication and procurement plus field support during construction. UIG was also responsible for commissioning, operator training and plant startup. Following startup, in 2003, UIG provided ongoing technical support to the owner's operations personnel and marketed the liquid CO2 product to end users and established CO2 distributors.

UIG provided a used oxygen PSA plant to a steel company in Albania. UIG had the plant available for rapid shipment, having purchased it from the original builder/ owner/ operator and disassembled it immediately following plant shutdown.

The customer purchased the equipment, including a companion oxygen compressor “as-is” to minimize the value of imported items and take maximum advantage of low-cost equipment and services available in Albania.

UIG arranged transportation and provided in-house engineering design services plus field supervision at the new location. The relocated plant began oxygen production in late 2002.

UIG supplied a small cryogenic nitrogen plant to a medium-sized industrial gas company to supply onsite-produced nitrogen to a new customer. Because the required project schedule was very tight, UIG made arrangements to begin relocation of a soon-to-be idled plant immediately after it was taken out of service.

Nine weeks after starting the relocation project the plant was ready for installation in Texas - as promised in our proposal and guaranteed in our agreement with the buyer.

UIG provided engineering, equipment supply, erection, commissioning and start up services

Universal Industrial Gases, Inc.
Universal Cryo Gas, LLC
2200 Northwood Ave. Suite 3
Easton, Pennsylvania 18045-2239 USA