Lanka becomes self-sufficient in gases

Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa inaugurated air separation unit (ASU) installed at Sapugaskanda on May 7. The ASU a state of the art air separation plant - is the Ceylon Oxygen Limited's new flagship and its second and largest. Built at a cost of Rs 1.3 billion this energy-efficient unit is capable of producing 62 tons per day of oxygen, nitrogen and argon for the merchant gases market.

The new ASU represents a milestone in the industrial gases market and will make Sri Lanka fully self-sufficient in argon.

The new ASU will help to provide a better service in the hospital, ship-building and ship-repair, steel, glass, food and chemicals sectors.

Ceylon Oxygen's Chief Executive Niran Peiris said, "our new air separation plant in Colombo is COL's second and largest air separation plant in Sri Lanka and further reinforces COL's position as the leading industrial and medical gases player in the country.

This new plant also represents a milestone in the industrial gases market as it will produce argon and indeed it will make Sri Lanka fully self-sufficient in argon. The plant is also very energy efficient, allowing us to lower our energy input costs and also pass on the savings to our customers."