Linde has inked a contract with PT. Smelting (PTS) to supply additional oxygen to support the expansion of PTS’ copper smelter operations at Gresik, East Java.
“This new, long-term contract demonstrates the trust between Linde Indonesia and PT Smelting developed during our partnership spanning almost 25 years,” President Director of Linde Indonesia and Cluster Head for Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam Vinayak Kembhavi noted in a statement received in Jakarta on Friday.
Kembhavi said that Linde was delighted to further intensify this relationship. The plant will utilize Linde’s Vacuum Pressure Swing Adsorption (VPSA) technology.
The VPSA plant is a packaged, non-cryogenic production plant producing oxygen using an adsorption process. The new plant is expected to be completed and go onstream by October 2023.
Linde currently operates an integrated oxygen and power generation plant at Gresik, supplying over one thousand tons per day of oxygen and around 35 MW of power to PTS. As part of this new contract, Linde will increase production capacity by almost 50 percent.
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PT Smelting will increase production of their main product, copper cathode, to around 350 thousand tons per year.
Linde’s oxygen is used in the smelting of copper concentrate, one of the first steps in the PTS production process. Copper cathode is used as the raw material for several industries, including the manufacturing of wire, cable, and tubing, he noted.
The implementation of Linde’s leading VPSA technology is designed to improve efficiency and reduce the energy required to produce oxygen by approximately 20 percent.
The new plant will be integrated into Linde’s Remote Operating Centre (ROC). Through remote network access, employees at the ROC monitor, operate, and control systems and equipment at over 100 Linde plants across the ASEAN and South Pacific regions.
This approach will result in greater operational efficiency, optimization of resources, and reduced downtime.
By optimizing existing facilities Linde is also able to install the new VPSA plant, administration building, and workshop without the need for additional land, he noted.
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Reporter: Azis Kurmala
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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