Linde to build two large ASUs in China  

The technology company The Linde Group (Munich, Germany; www.linde.com) has been commissioned to build and operate two large air-separation units (ASUs) to supply gases on site to the Chinese company Yantai Wanhua in Shandong (East China). The contract for the project, which will involve investment of around EUR 130 million, was signed on 26 July 2011. The two plants, which are to be built by Linde’s Engineering Division, each have a capacity of 55,000 normal cubic metres of oxygen per hour. They are expected to come on stream between end 2013 and at the start of 2014, when they will supply oxygen and nitrogen to Yantai Wanhua’s production plants. In addition, Linde will produce liquefied products for the open market in the Shandong region. The project includes the construction of a 20-km pipeline in the Yantai Economic and Technology Park. Yantai Wanhua is the only Chinese company that has the technical know-how to produce MDI — an intermediate product in the manufacture of polyurethane, which is used in large quantities for example in the construction and automobile industries. China is in the process of becoming one of the principal markets for MDI. The Shandong province in the east of China is the third largest…