ABB offers a range of services in industries ranging from battery manufacturing to oil and gas, and food and beverage.
The past year has seen the company go from strength to strength with its clean energy solutions technology, in addition to developing carbon dioxide (CO2) measuring equipment to be used in line with carbon capture projects.
In gasworld’s latest edition of our 12 Days of Content features, Ben Goossens, Strategic Business Development Manager for Continuous Gas Analysers at ABB, gave an insightful account of the company’s new developments alongside its plans for 2022.
gasworld (GW): What kind of year has it been for ABB?
Ben Goossens (BG): 2021 has been a remarkable year for our Continuous Gas Analyzer business. Despite the “social” distance we had to keep from our valued customers, we have never felt more connected. Thanks to virtual meeting platforms we were able to bridge the distance and tried to be as close as possible to our industrial gas customers worldwide and have had many conversations around new products, project engineering and technical specifications with them. And on-line meetings cannot replace personal encounters, but the camera function and the possibility to meet from home with the whole world, has also brought us closer together in a way and in some instances even enabled a much closer relationships as we have intensified the number of “virtual” visits.
GW: What are three highlights of 2021?
BG: To support the evolving green hydrogen industry, we have worked on our thermal conductivity Caldos27 and paramagnetic Magnos28 analysers to make them fit perfectly into one single housing. This new design allows us to meet all measurement requirements of purity and impurities – of both hydrogen and oxygen – in the electrolysis application in a very compact configuration.
As we shift more and more towards a net-zero carbon economy, we have had one of the best years ever to supply continuous emission monitoring systems to the largest industrial gas suppliers for their steam methane reforming and boiler installations. And last but not least, this leads me directly to our last highlight: Our infrared Uras26 analyser, which is well positioned to measure the CO2 purity and other impurities in carbon capture projects.
GW: In terms of ABB’s gas analyser technology, what can the industrial gas sector look forward to in 2022?
BG: After launching our new flame ionisation detector for hazardous areas, Fidas24Ex, we are excited to see the continued success of its global roll-out in 2022. As we have many differentiators that make our solution technically and commercially the logical first choice for users and buyers, we see an especially good opportunity in the hydrocarbon measurement in air separation units to prevent explosions in liquid oxygen.
GW: Which new industrial technology developments are you personally most excited about?
BG: In collaboration with one of the global key players in industrial gases, we have worked closely together to better understand the actual need and value of digital solutions when it comes to analyser availability, performance, historical calibration data, health status of the device and an overview of the whole fleet of analysers on a plant. Or even several plants at the same time. Here, our new ABB AbilityTM Genix Datalyzer solution comes into play. This solution is an asset management tool, that is specially developed to answer customer demand for their analytical installed base – no matter where they are. I am really thrilled and convinced that this solution will benefit customers greatly and bring the next level of digitisation into the industrial gas market and beyond.
GW: In the spirit of the time of year and theme of the series, if you could make one Christmas wish for the industrial gases industry, what would it be and why?
BG: Having all knowledge in place about gases and knowing that the challenge we face related to climate change are mostly connected to the abundant presence of certain gases in the atmosphere, I really wish that the industrial gases industry will continue to lead the way with technology and innovations to support the energy transition and specifically emissions monitoring. I know all industrial gas companies have their focus on these challenges and are working hard to make their contribution, but I just want to wish them a very prosperous and successful year. For the sake of the world!
The 12 Days of Content series continues tomorrow with an interview with Eric Wise, Vice-President of Industrial Solutions at Otodata.