Air Products has launched the Midlands Carbon Dioxide (CO2) Facility in Sasolburg, underscoring its strategic decision to diversify its CO2 sources to fill market gaps.
The Midlands CO2 Facility, which was successfully commissioned in April 2025, enables Air Products to provide a secure supply of product to current and potential new customers. The company embarked on this journey in 2019, when a potentially rich source of CO2 gas from the Sasol Midlands N-Butanol plant was identified. The raw CO2 gas was recognised as being suitable for recovery, purification and liquefaction.
After an extensive investigation into the composition, quantity, and reliability of this source, it was found that the gas was suitable for producing food and beverage-grade liquid CO2.
Engineering, innovation and collaboration
Air Products’ Managing Director, Charles Dos Santos, comments: “A project of this nature demands collaboration between multiple parties, bringing know-how, assets, technology, specialised resources and skills from the initial project development stages through to design, construction, commissioning and then the long-term operation and maintenance of the facility”.
The completion of the Midlands CO2 Facility journey, according to Dos Santos, is testimony to the collaborative efforts and persistence of the teams involved. “The Air Products and Sasol teams worked closely to optimally define the project interfaces and integrate the new Air Products CO2 facility into the Sasol Midlands complex. Air Products appreciates and acknowledges the support provided by the Sasol teams.”
The key equipment was designed and fabricated by a carefully selected global technology partner that provided innovative, best-in-class technology underpinning the design of the plant.
Utilising in-house resources, the Air Products team project-managed the overall execution phase over 24 months and undertook all procurement activities, including designing storage facilities and utility systems such as cooling and safety systems. “Air Products is known for its highly skilled in-house engineering and project execution teams, and once again, they ensured that the project was executed according to the company’s high-quality and safety standards”. The project was executed safely with no injuries being recorded.
True to its ethos of emphasising safety, health, the environment and quality to drive continuous improvement and sustainability, Air Products is in the final stages of obtaining FSSC 22 000 certification. This food safety management certification demonstrates the company’s alignment with both local and global safety standards, ensuring that the product is suitable for use in the food and beverage industry.
The Midlands CO2 Facility is a further extension of Air Products’ relationship with Sasol, which dates back to 1997 when two 20 km pipelines were commissioned to supply the Sasolburg facility with oxygen and nitrogen. This was followed by the commissioning of an ASU on Sasol’s Sasolburg facility in 1998.
“We are proud to launch the Air Products Midlands CO2 Facility as it is not only a testimony to Air Products’ commitment to supply high-quality liquid product to the market but also a demonstration of engineering excellence and the power of collaboration,” concludes Dos Santos.
