INGASCO pours P1.35-b for air separation plant in Clark

CLARK FREEPORT – A leading Japanese industrial gas firm will be investing P1.35 billion for the establishment of an air separation facility here, the Clark Development Corporation (CDC) announced.

Masahiko Kitabatake, president of INGASCO, Inc., on Monday led the groundbreaking ceremony for the establishment of an air separation facility project of Taiyo Nippon Sanso Clark, Inc., a whole subsidiary of INGASCO, Inc.

According to Project Manager Noel Ret Sampol, Taiyo Nippon Sanso Clark, Inc. will pour P1.35 billion for the project and will employ some 30 personnel during its initial construction phase and at least 300 workers once the facility is fully operational.

CDC President Arthur P. Tugade, in his speech, described the groundbreaking ceremony as a timely event. At the same, Tugade also pledged the CDC’s commitment and support to the company.

In 2011, President Benigno Simeon C. Aquino III witnessed the signing of a reservation agreement and term sheet between INGASCO and CDC during the Chief Executive’s state visit to Japan.

The fuel facility will be located in a 32,928-square-meter area along Panday Pira Avenue here.

The project would include the installation of mechanical and electrical equipment used for air separation such as cryogenic distillation column, column, multi-stage air compressors, pumps, electrical substation, cooling towers, and cryogenic storage tanks, among others.

Once fully operational, INGASCO will be capable of supplying nitrogen, argon, and oxygen to big Clark-based firms like Texas Instruments (TI) and Phoenix Semiconductor Philippines Corporation (PSPC), and other electronic and semiconductor companies.

The facility will have an output capacity of 10,100 Nm3 per hour for the production of liquid oxygen (LOX), liquid nitrogen (LIN), and liquid argon (LAR), including major process areas in filtration, air compression, pre-purification, liquefaction and separation/distillation, storage and product loading.

INGASCO is 70 percent owned by its mother company Taiyo Nippon Sanso Corporation (TNSC), a major supplier of industrial gases such as oxygen, nitrogen and argon to a wide range of industries, including the steel, chemical, electronics, automobile, construction, shipbuilding, and food industries.

The company also develops and manufactures gas-applied devices and equipment and plays a vital role in the frontiers of science and environmental preservation, as well as the Japan National Hydrogen Project.

Aside from its industrial gas business, the corporation is also involved in the supplying medical oxygen and other high-quality gases to medical institutions.