Welding, cutting and gas products giant African Oxygen (Afrox) operates a helium facility from its Germiston operations centre, based in Germiston, east of Johannesburg.

From this facility, Afrox supplies instrument helium gas for use in laboratories; balloon helium gas for the inflation of aerial display balloons; and liquid helium for the cooling of magnetic resonance imaging magnets.
Afrox supplied the helium used in the aerial display balloons at the opening and closing ceremonies of this year’s FIFA Confederations Cup tournament, held in June.

The factory, which started operating a few months ago, is 350 m2 in size, and the production process entails filling high-pressure gas cylinders and liquid Dewars with helium.

The expected turnover of this helium facility is R25-million a year. The facility is operated by five highly trained staff.
Afrox boasts the ISO 9001 quality management certification and is a member of The Linde Group, an international industrial gases and engineering company. The helium factory complies with Linde’s internal safety standards.

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