Air Products expanding LNG equipment facility

Air Products to Increase production capacity at its LNG equipment manufacturing facility in Port Manatee, Florida. (Image: Air Products)

Air Products, a leader in liquefied natural gas (LNG) technology and equipment, said it would make a significant investment to meet industry demand with increased winding capacity at its LNG equipment manufacturing facility located in Port Manatee, Florida.

Air Products expects that this increase in capacity, coupled with new proprietary innovations in fabrication methods, will enable Air Products to improve equipment delivery schedules.

Winding is a fabrication process for the internal components of coil-wound heat exchangers (CWHE) in which layers of tubes are wound around a central mandrel. This investment will increase Air Products’ manufacturing capacity by almost 20%. This is on top of a previous expansion completed in 2019 that increased the facility’s original capacity by 60%. 

“This continued investment in our manufacturing capacity reflects Air Products’ commitment to serving the needs of the LNG industry with unrivaled liquefaction process technology and equipment,” said Dr. John Palamara, Air Products’ general manager, LNG. “As the use of LNG continues to increase around the world with strong demands for clean, reliable, and affordable energy, we are investing in our business to ensure we meet the needs of our customers with proven reliability and on-time delivery of our world-leading technology.”

Air Products opened its LNG equipment manufacturing facility in Port Manatee in January 2014 and rolled out its first LNG heat exchanger from the facility in September 2016. Over 20 CWHEs have been shipped since. In October 2019, the first plant expansion was completed, following the installation of a new LNG Equipment Test Facility (ETF). The ETF allows for the collection of data to develop the next generation of innovative CWHEs. The Port Manatee facility also builds other specialty cryogenic and gas processing equipment for air separation and hydrocarbons, including columns, vessels, cold boxes, prefabricated plant modules, and skids.

For over 50 years Air Products has manufactured LNG heat exchangers, which currently operate in over 100 LNG trains in 20 countries around the world.

Typically, an LNG heat exchanger can be as large as over 15 feet (5 meters) in diameter and 180 feet (55 meters) long. A finished unit can weigh as much as 500 tons. 

In support of the LNG industry, Air Products provides process technology and key equipment for the natural gas liquefaction process for large export plants, small and mid-sized LNG plants, floating LNG plants and LNG peak shavers. Upstream, Air Products provides both nitrogen and natural gas dehydration membrane systems for offshore platforms. Downstream, Air Products provides membrane nitrogen generators for LNG carriers and land-based membrane and cryogenic nitrogen systems for LNG import terminals and baseload LNG plants.