MechChem Africa September-October 2025

Air Products launches Midlands CO 2 Facility Air Products’ launch of its latest production asset, the Midlands Carbon Dioxide (CO 2 ) Facility in Sasolburg, underscores its strategic decision to diversify its CO 2 sources to fill market gaps during peak summer demand periods or when existing sources are unavailable. ⎪ Local manufacturing and food processing ⎪

project development stages through to design, construction, commissioning and then the long term operation and maintenance of the facility”. The completion of the Midlands CO 2 Facility journey, according to Dos Santos, is testimony to the collaborative efforts and persistence of the teams involved. “The Air Products and Sasol teams worked closely to optimally define the project interfaces and integrate the new Air Products CO 2 facility into the Sasol Midlands complex. Air Products appreciates and acknowl edges the support provided by the Sasol teams.” The key equipment was designed and fabri cated by a carefully selected global technology partner that provided innovative, best-in-class technology underpinning the design of the plant. Utilising in-house resources, the Air Products team project-managed the overall execution phase over 24 months and undertook all procurement activities, including designing storage facilities and utility systems such as cooling and safety systems. “Air Products is known for its highly skilled in-house engineering and project execution teams, and once again, they ensured that the project was executed ac cording to the company’s high-quality and safety

standards”. The project was executed safely with no injuries being recorded. True to its ethos of emphasising safety, health, the environment and quality to drive continuous improvement and sustainability, Air Products is in the final stages of obtaining FSSC 22 000 certification. This food safety manage ment certification demonstrates the company’s alignment with both local and global safety standards, ensuring that the product is suitable for use in the food and beverage industry. The Midlands CO 2 Facility is a further exten sion of Air Products’ relationship with Sasol, which dates back to 1997 when two 20 km pipelines to supply the Sasolburg facility with oxygen and nitrogen were commissioned. This was followed by the commissioning of an ASU on Sasol’s Sasolburg facility in 1998. “We are proud to launch the Air Products Midlands CO 2 Facility as it is not only a testi mony to Air Products’ commitment to supply high-quality liquid product to the market but also a demonstration of engineering excellence and the power of collaboration,” concludes Dos Santos. https://airproducts.co.za

T he Midlands CO 2 Facility, which was successfully commissioned in April 2025, enables Air Products to provide a secure supply of product to current and potential new customers. The company embarked on this journey in 2019, when a potentially rich source of CO 2 gas from the Sasol Midlands N-Butanol plant was identified. The raw CO 2 gas was recognised as being suitable for recovery, purification and liquefaction. After an extensive investigation into the composition, quantity, and reliability of this source, it was found that the gas was suitable for producing food and beverage-grade liquid CO 2 . Engineering, innovation and collaboration Air Products’ Managing Director, Charles Dos Santos, comments: “A project of this nature demands collaboration between multiple par ties, bringing know-how, assets, technology, specialised resources and skills from the initial Air Products’ new Midlands CO 2 Facility in Sasolburg.

Air Products’ Executive Team during a recent visit to the Midlands CO 2 Facility, Back row, from left: Dumisa Gina, Charles Dos Santos and Maropeng Bahula; front row: Sizwe Nkonde, Yukisha Chettiar, Gift Nyambe and Arthi Govender.

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