Introduction
Oxygen is the second most widely used industrial gas, after nitrogen. It is commonly accepted to have been discovered by Joseph Priestley in 1774. It constitutes 21 percent of the Earth’s atmosphere and over the past 100 years has grown to be consumed by a wide range of industries, including steel and non-ferrous metals, chemicals, petrochemicals, glass, ceramics, paper and healthcare.
Market growth
The global oxygen market has maintained a steady 5-6 percent growth over the last ten years. Worldwide oxygen capacity rose from 0.75 to 1.2 million tpd from 1996 to 2006. The focus of this growth has, however, shifted, with marginal growth in some developed countries balanced by massive growth in developing economies. The oxygen supply in Western Europe, for example, has grown by 46 percent over the last ten years, but grew by less than 1 percent from 2005 to 2006.
Meanwhile, the North Pacific Rim is experiencing significant growth, with a capacity increase of 16 percent over the last year.
This demand for oxygen in such places as China is confirmed by the recent trend towards gas companies establishing ASU production facilities in the country together with the high output of plants and equipment by local manufacturers.
We believe it is important to cover two of the major consuming sectors and look at what trends are taking place that will impact on oxygen demand in the near future. We also address the swing towards huge
oxygen demand from the gas-to-liquids sector.
... to continue reading you must be subscribed
