Air Products brought its third air separation unit (ASU) on-stream in Tangshan, Hebei Province, China. The new unit will supply oxygen, nitrogen and liquid argon to Tangshan Guofeng Steel Co. Ltd. and other local customers. Air Products was awarded three long-term industrial-gas-supply contracts to support the business growth plans of Guofeng Steel. With these contracts, three ASUs adjacent to the Guofeng Steel mills were built, with the first two ASUs placed on-stream in mid-2005 and at the end of 2007, respectively. The on-site gases supplied by Air Products are used in Guofeng Steel’s blast furnace and basic oxygen furnace for iron and steel making.

The new ASU was designed and built primarily by Air Products’ engineering center in Shanghai and its cryogenic manufacturing center in Caojing, near Shanghai. Air Products has been supplying customers in Tangshan since 1997.