on air

C o v e r S t o r y

Gases are used in many different ways in winemaking.

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14

CO2 helps flowers and vegetablesgrow faster.

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Manfred Neubck on gas applications in aircraft construction.

No. 4 July 2007 The magazine for industrial gases

E

C o v e r S t o r y : 8 - 11

on air 04 2007

2 : C o n t e n t s

ImprintPublished by:Messer Group GmbH Corporate CommunicationsOtto-Volger-Strae 3c D65843 SulzbachGermany

Editorial Team: Diana Buss Editor-in-chief Tel.: +49 6196 7760-361diana.buss@messergroup.com Benjamin Auweiler, ThomasBckler, Marc Dierckx, Dr. Christoph Erdmann, MichaelHoly, Anita Ktl, MonikaLammertz, Joachim Rohovec,Marlen Schfer

Concept and Realization:Maenken Kommunikation GmbHVon-der-Wettern-Strae 25D51149 CologneGermany

Translation:Context GmbH Elisenstrae 410 D50667 Cologne Germany

Photo credits:Coca-Cola GmbH; FACC

Many thanks to all the contributors!

Go to www.messergroup.comfor comprehensive informationabout on air, as well as thecontact details of the editorialteam.

on air is published four times a year in German, English andHungarian.

Marlen Schfer from the Corporate Office at Messer (left) and Anita Ktl from Messer Hungarogz with the precious raw materialfrom which wine-growers make fine wine. Gases from Messer helpensure perfect wine enjoyment.

Stefan Messer (l.) and Thomas Trachsel

Engine cowl at FACC

CO2 promotes tomato growth.

E d i t o r i a l : 3

N e w s : 4 - 5

I n t e r v i e w : 6 - 7 Nitrogen on tapManfred Neubck, the Chief Technology

Officer of FACC, on gas applications in aircraft

construction and working with Messer.

M e s s e r W o r l d : 1 2 - 1 3Everything to do with CO2Messer acquires the CO2 specialist

Asco in Switzerland.

The allure of growing marketsPerus economy is booming.

G a s - o - t h e q u e : 1 4An advantage ripe for the pickingGrowing plants and vegetables cheaply and

easily with carbon dioxide.

G a s e t t e : 1 5Tips, dates, things to know

Gas the good spirit of wineThere is a growing interest in gas applications in todays wine

technology. Wine growers can use gases in the different stages of

winemaking. An overview.

E d i t o r i a l : 3

on air 04 2007

Wine connoisseurs are used to testing

and judging the appearance, bouquet

and flavor of wines. Meanwhile, the

wine growers rely on their know-how

and a little luck to ensure that their

product is of the best possible quality.

Gases can have a positive effect on qual-

ity at every stage between harvesting

and bottling, and can give the wine its

special character. In this issue of on air,

you can read about wine treatment

from the grape to the invisible cork.

A smooth gas supply is absolutely

vital, and this is certainly the case at

FACC, a global supplier to the aerospace

industry. In an interview with on air, Manfred Neubck, the Chief Technology Officer

of FACC, describes it as having nitrogen on tap. The Austrian company uses the

inert properties of nitrogen to ensure safe manufacturing processes, and has decided

in favor of installing nitrogen generators at its own premises.

on air shows you the diversity of applications with industrial gases worldwide:

in Polish steelworks, French canteens, Swiss warehouses, Romanian soft drinks,

Croatian glass furnaces, Peruvian mining trucks or Belgian greenhouses. Huge bene-

fits are ripe for the picking as a result of the natural fertilization of flowers and

vegetables with pure carbon dioxide. This saves energy and costs, and the CO2 is

completely absorbed by the plants.

I hope you enjoy reading this issue of on air!

Best Regards,

Stefan Messer

Dear Readers,Editor-in-chief:

The editorial team

Diana Buss

Corporate Office:

Benjamin Auweiler

Marlen Schfer

Application Technology:

Thomas Bckler

Monika Lammertz

Production & Engineering:

Dr. Christoph Erdmann

Western Europe region:

Marc Dierckx

Central Europe region:

Michael Holy

Joachim Rohovec

Southeastern Europe region:

Anita Ktl

Stefan Messer

4 : N e w s

on air 04 2007

Rapid success with customer

Staff restaurants, hospitals and school canteens

are benefiting from the new Snowline technol-

ogy, a joint development by Messer and its partner

Electrocalorique. Centrally prepared meals are

chilled in special carts during transportation to

the consumer and later heated automatically.

An integrated computer system regulates the

temperature through the injection of dry ice snow.

The heating element is only activated shortly

before consumption, thus ensuring that the fresh

part of the meal is cool while the cooked part is

served hot.

Marc Dierckx, Messer France

Perfect for precooked meals

In the Huta Sendzimira works of Mittal Steel in the Polish city of Krakow,

nitrogen has been used for heat treatment since the beginning of May another

milestone in a dynamic collaboration. Mittal Steel is by far the biggest steel

producer in Poland. Messer has been supplying the Huta Cedler plant with liquid

nitrogen and hydrogen for six years,

while the Huta Sendzimira steel plant

has been receiving cylinder gases since

2005. At the beginning of 2006, both

sides expanded this collaboration

significantly: Messer has since been

supplying gas to all the Polish steel

plants of Mittal Steel.

Danuta Dzierzak, Messer PolskaSpeed can be a decisive factor. The willingness of

Messer in Romania to make decisions at short notice

has convinced Gormet, the Romanian subsidiary of the

German company IEV, to enter into a long-term part-

nership. The metalworking company in Cluj needs the

liquid gases argon, oxygen and carbon dioxide as well

as acetylene in its production processes; and Messer

was able to help out at short notice.

Florentin Bombita, Messer Romania Gaz

Gormet also uses liquid argon and liquid carbondioxide in its production processes.

Reliable fire prevention

Extinguishing fires with water usually causes a lot of damage to stock.

In 2004, Emmi Frischprodukte from Ostermundigen in Switzerland decided that

it would rather prevent fires than extinguish them. This is achieved by reducing

the oxygen content in the warehouse from 21 to 13 to 17 per cent through the

controlled addition of nitrogen into the air. In this atmosphere, it is practically

impossible for a fire to start. The conditions

in the warehouse are then similar to those

encountered at an altitude of 3,000 meters.

It is therefore safe for people to enter the

warehouse. Messer has so far installed another

six fire prevention systems in Switzerland.

Robert Schlatter, Messer Schweiz

The Snowline technol-ogy ensures that dif-ferent foods are kept

at the right temperature.

All works supplied

Substantial damage can be avoided by preventing fires in warehouses instead of extinguishing them.

Messer supplies gas to all theplants of Mittal Steel, Polandslargest steel producer.

N e w s : 5

on air 04 2007

Pharmaceutical manufacturerprotects the environment

Oxyfuel technology heats glass furnace

The most important Hungarian pharmaceutical

manufacturer, Richter Gedeon, uses solvents in the

production of pharmaceutical products and chemical

materials, as well as nitrogen for inerting. Richter

wanted to reduce the solvent-contaminated waste

gas for the sake of the environment. Successful tests

with DuoCondex have shown that emissions can

be reduced by cooling the condensers with liquid

nitrogen. The solvents that are condensed out are

collected in the DuoCondex plant and either recycled

or disposed of in a special furnace.

Anita Ktl, Messer Hungarogz

Sparkling carbonic acid for Coca-Cola

The youngest of Messers 15 subsidiaries in China,

Zhangjiagang Messer (ZhMG), celebrated the official

opening of its air separator in the Zhangjiagang

Chemical Park. ZhMG also produces hydrogen in the

industrial park, which is located 150 kilometers to the

north west of Shanghai.

As part of the ceremony, ZhMG donated motorized

bicycles to the Zhangjiagang child welfare service in

order to make the long journey to school easier for five

pupils with slight disabilities. The donation was accepted

by Gu Huijuan, president of the child welfare service.

Yolanda Zhou, Messer China

Youngest subsidiary in China

Five motorized bicycles were donated to children withslight disabilities in order to make their long journeyto school easier.

Installation of hardware at the glass-packagingmanufacturer Vetropack.Messer is the largest gasproducer and supplier inCroatia, employingaround 250 people atseven locations.

The pharmaceutical industry not only uses nitrogen for inerting but also for reducing solvent-contaminated waste gas.

A major step forward has been taken

in the fiercely competitive Romanian

beverage market. Since March, the

soft drinks producer Coca-Cola has

been procuring its carbon dioxide from

Messer in Romania. Key to this suc-

cess was our excellent relationship

with Coca-Cola in Serbia. Until the

transport capacity