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ASU structural construction completed

AIR SEPARATION UNIT The plant will assist in supplying gas to the Eastern Cape
MIKE HELLYAR Putting safety at the top of the agenda is paramount to achieving sustainable success in the marketplace

Air Products South Africa MD Mike Hellyar discusses the company's 2013 fortunes and 2014 prospects. Camerawork: Nicholas Boyd. Editing: Shane Williams.

AIR SEPARATION UNIT The plant will assist in supplying gas to the Eastern Cape

MIKE HELLYAR Putting safety at the top of the agenda is paramount to achieving sustainable success in the marketplace

31st January 2014

By: Ilan Solomons

Creamer Media Staff Writer

  

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The structural construction of industrial and speciality gas manufacturer and supplier Air Products South Africa’s R300million air separation unit (ASU), in Zone 3 of the Coega industrial development zone, in the Nelson Mandela metropolitan municipality, in the Eastern Cape, has been completed.

Air Products South Africa MD Mike Hellyar tells Engineering News that the delivery of the ASU’s equipment will begin in early March and adds that commissioning of the unit is on track to take place in the third quarter of this year.

“Ordering of the equipment for the ASU from local and international suppliers is well under way,” explains Hellyar.

“The first flow of gas production is scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2014 and this, together with other key investments, will form part of our national footprint of sound gas-producing infrastructure across South Africa,” he states.

Last year, Engineering News reported that the company had broken ground at the site, in the Eastern Cape, in May 2013. The project will enable Air Products South Africa to directly supply its customers with industrial gases – oxygen, nitrogen, argon and carbon dioxide – and reduce its carbon emissions, as a result of fewer supply chain risks in the transporting of gases from Gauteng to the Eastern Cape.

The company’s market research, conducted over the last decade, indicates that substantial volumes of gas are delivered to the Eastern Cape.

“Our research has shown that the Eastern Cape presents a significant business opportunity for the company to expand its existing gas distribution network in the province. We have received a positive response from industry in the province and from potential customers who recognise that the ASU will assist in ensuring the security of their gas supply. Clients realise that a consistent and reliable supply of gas will also benefit their business operations,” states Hellyar.

He notes that the ASU will assist in supplying gas to the large automotive manufacturing factories, agroprocessing facilities, food and beverage factories and renewable-energy plants in the Eastern Cape.

ASU Environmental Impact

Hellyar comments that the ASU will discharge only atmospheric gases, such as nitrogen and oxygen, which are not harmful to the environment.

However, he explains that a significant amount of the ASU’s equipment is cooled by water. Therefore, the plant has been designed to ensure that continuous treatment of the water is undertaken and that the untreated water to be used in the ASU is securely contained.

Further, he notes that all water, which may have to be removed from site, will be undertaken in accordance with the National Environmental Management: Waste Act, No 59 of 2008 and all other relevant laws and regulations.

Hellyar stresses that the amount of water that will be disposed of will be kept to “the absolute minimum”, as the cost of water use is high, which is why the plant is built to recycle as much water as possible.

Overcoming Challenges

Hellyar tells Engineering News that one of the biggest challenges the company faced during 2013 was ensuring that customers received deliveries on time, despite intermittent strikes by truck drivers.

“This meant we had to make after hours and weekend deliveries, thereby averting possible productivity downtime in customers’ operations,” he states.

Hellyar says the company registered a decline in oxygen and nitrogen sales, owing to the downturn in the steel industry last year.

Health and Safety Emphasis

Air Products South Africa states that, in an industry such as industrial gas, safety is paramount to achieving sustainable success in the marketplace.

Simultaneously, the quality and calibre of a company’s managers and staff play an equally crucial role, Hellyar adds.

“We regularly honour our employees who rise above their peers in demonstrating a commitment to the principles of safety and quality,” he states.

The company’s yearly Safety and Quality Awards event reinforces the company’s view that, for each and every employee, safety and quality should be a way of life.

“We are immensely proud of our safety track record,” says Hellyar, noting that the company was a multi-award winner at the 2012 Regional National Occupational Safety Association (Nosa) awards.

“Our ongoing corporate safety programmes have resulted in the integration of safety into all the company’s activities. Safety and quality have become underlying business principles for Air Products and are firmly entrenched in the mindset and work habits of all our employees.”

Air Products South Africa central services GM Josua le Roux says safety and quality awareness run through the entire organisation’s daily operations and “it often happens that an individual or a team stands out for extraordinary contributions to the company’s ethos”.

“We value commitment, dedication and effort in sustaining good, long-term customer relationships and the Safety and Quality Awards are our way of recognising those who go the extra mile and demonstrate an exemplary passion for the business and the values for which Air Products stands,” he says.

Moreover, he says, key to the company’s “industry leadership, in addition to retaining the highest safety standards, are the reliability and consistent excellence of our customer service”.

The 2013 winner of the Air Products South Africa’s Dexter Baker individual award was Christo van der Mescht, who was commended for his dedication to mentoring and developing employees, while the Dexter Baker team award went to the management accounts team of Peter Cameron, Michael Ras, Kobus Bester and Jason Williams for their commitment to improving their service to the business units.

Other awards included the Near Miss safety award, which went to Carel Adams, who reported the most near misses, thereby helping to ensure that these at-risk situations do not reoccur.

Air Products South Africa’s Cape Town branch received the Chairperson’s Shield safety award for its ongoing commitment to improving the overall environment and health and safety at the facility, while the Vanderbijlpark branch won the Leonard Parker Poole award, based on the Nosa audit year-on-year improvement.

Air Products states that, with its strong focus on customer service excellence, the company recognises achievements in this area through the in-house staff and external customer Geoff Prevett Customer Service Awards, which are based on the results of Air Products’ yearly cross-functional in-house and external customer satisfaction surveys.

The Geoff Prevett internal award for 2013 went to the management accounts team, under the leadership of last year’s Dexter Baker individual award winner, Gaetano Perillo, while the Port Elizabeth Facility team received the External Geoff Prevett customer service award.

The MD’s Special Awards to individuals went to Kaushik Tailor, in recognition of his demonstrated commitment to key management information system projects, and to Mike du Toit, for his leadership role in numerous maintenance improvement projects.

The MD’s Special Awards for teamwork went to the speciality gas sales team, the ASU 2012 maintenance shutdown team, the receivables team and the packaged gases contingency plan team. The individual members of these teams were recognised for their cooperation, excellence and dedication to driving performance efficiency within their teams.

“The total commitment to quality, demonstrated by the 2013 winners, creates value for our customers and differentiates us from our competitors,” emphasises Le Roux.

“The commitment to best practice principles in safety and quality, as demonstrated by all the 2013 winners, will serve as an inspiration to all staff at the company in our quest for ever higher standards. “However, it is ultimately our customers who are the real winners, as they are the recipients of Air Products’ reliable and dedicated service, and the stringent safety and quality procedures,” Hellyar concludes.

Edited by Megan van Wyngaardt
Creamer Media Contributing Editor Online

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