Air Products has announced signing up of a new contract for its integrated oxy-fuel combustion solution with Techpack Solutions, the largest packaging materials manufacturer in South Korea. It is Air Products’ third project to support Techpack Solutions to convert its furnace from air-fuel to oxy-fuel for enhanced sustainability and competitiveness. When the project comes onstream, Air Products will supply the oxygen and combustion systems required by Teckpack Solutions at its manufacturing complex.  

 

The integrated solution encompasses Air Products’ advanced oxy-fuel combustion system, including the Cleanfire HRi and latest Cleanfire HRx oxy‐fuel burners and an automatic flow control skid, as well as a PRISM vacuum swing adsorption (VSA) oxygen generator to supply reliable and economical on-site oxygen used to power the oxy-fuel burners for melting glass. 

 

With expanded functionality and flexibility, the patent-pending Cleanfire HRx oxy-fuel burner enables glass manufacturers to control both the magnitude and location of oxygen staging up to 95% of the combustion oxygen, resulting in ultra-low nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions, higher fuel efficiency, enhanced productivity, and better product quality. This latest model can further reduce NOx emissions by 40%. 

 

“With Air Products’ support, we have successfully converted two furnaces from air-fuel to oxy-fuel combustion and achieved remarkable improvements in NOx emission reductions, energy efficiency and productivity,” said Young-Min Kim, technical team general manager of Techpack Solutions. “We are confident in Air Products’ innovative technologies, in-depth expertise and professional team, and are pleased to continue working with them on our third furnace.” 

 

Oxy-fuel combustion technology is proven to bring multiple benefits, such as over 80% reduction in NOx emissions, 10-35% energy savings, about 25% increase in productivity, and improved energy efficiency and glass quality. 

 

“We are honored to have Techpack Solutions’ continued trust in our capabilities to support their oxy-fuel conversion over the years, from their first and second furnaces to this latest project,” said Kyo-Yung Kim, president of Air Products Korea. “We will persistently leverage our extensive experience, advanced technologies and deep local understanding to help Korean glass manufacturers optimize their furnace performance to reduce environmental footprint and strengthen competitiveness.”