South African industrial gas major Afrox has invested in technologies and equipment to support large-scale renewable-energy project developments in South Africa, such as solar and wind energy developments, says Afrox sales and marketing GM Nazmi Adams.

Concentrated solar energy plants that use molten salt require large amounts of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) to melt the salt prior to the start of operations and after routine maintenance periods.

Any risk – such as an insufficient supply of LPG – to the melting process represents a significant operational risk for the project. Gigajoules of LPG are typically required and, as the largest supplier of LPG in South Africa, Afrox has both local and imported sources and a dedicated tanker fleet to support the growing concentrated solar power industry.

Afrox has the necessary experience, scale of equipment, infrastructure and delivery record to ensure that these salt-melting processes are done correctly first time, including modular and skid-mounted LPG systems for critical project phases, explains Adams.

The company also provides the more conventional welding and industrial gases required by these large infrastructure projects, as well as the welding equipment and processes required for wind energy projects.

Wind turbines have to be meticulously welded on site and often have columns higher than 100 m and blades up to 30 m in length. This requires high-level technical welding skills, and Afrox provides technical consulting services for customers.

Further, the company’s Lindoflamm process, which is used to preheat the components prior to welding, reduces the typical preheating time required for this process by 40%, representing a significant reduction in fabrication costs.

“Our Germany-based parent company Linde invests significant revenue in research and development and we can offer a number of these high-tech processes to our customers in Africa,” says Adams.

Afrox can also provide large-scale gas supply services for all renewable-energy projects in the Southern Africa region, as well as the gases required for daily operations, through its extensive cross-border distribution network.

Alternative energy sources are also an area of significant focus for Afrox, alongside renewable energy. Adams notes that Afrox has significant capabilities in the handling of hydrogen, commonly used in industry.

“Linde has also developed high-technology hydrogen gas systems for automotive and other applications,” says Adams.

“There are significant safety considerations when using a highly flammable gas such as hydrogen, and due consideration must be given to the electrostatic characteristics of the containers and couplings of high-pressure equipment.”

Linde and Afrox place significant emphasis on intrinsically safe design criteria, with all designs tested to extreme specifications to ensure that there is no risk during their eventual industrial and commercial use, he highlights.

“While hydrogen requires significant technological know-how to handle safely, we have done exhaustive development and testing to allow for the gas to be used in commercial applications.”

Afrox has high-pressure couplings and storage equipment that can be used in the recharging of hydrogen gas vehicles. These systems can safely be deployed at existing fuelling stations, concludes Adams.