As a subsidiary of the international gas company Messer Group, Messer BH Gas supplies countless customers in Bosnia-Herzegovina with a wide variety of industrial gases. ASCO CARBON DIOXIDE LTD, also a Messer subsidiary, specializes in the recovery of carbon dioxide from various sources. Therefore, it was a good coincidence that Messer BH Gas and ASCO joined forces for the ambitious goal of becoming the exclusive CO2 supplier for Coca-Cola in Bosnia-Herzegovina. To supply the required quantities of high-quality carbon dioxide, Messer BH Gas invested in a modern ASCO CO2 Recovery Plant. In this case, the CO2 raw gas is extracted from an earth source. For this purpose, a well of up to 500 m is drilled into the soil. Thereupon, warm thermal water of 38°C as well as a high proportion of CO2 gas leak out into the air. Directly at the outlet of the well is a precipitator for separating the gas from the thermal water. The raw gas is then transported via a 200 m long pipeline to the ASCO CO2 Recovery Plant. In different purification steps, the CO2 is purified of various contaminants such as sulfur compounds and various hydrocarbons and then completely recovered and processed. In the case of Messer BH Gas, the processed carbon dioxide fully complies with the specification of the ISBT and the high purity standards of the Coca-Cola Company, which are regularly controlled by an independent laboratory. The recycled CO2 is then delivered to Coca-Cola for flowing into their beverage production as well as to other customers. The remaining thermal water is used for agriculture purposes.
Caption: ASCO CO2 liquefaction plant (left) and ASCO CO2 compressor station (right)
ASCO Managing Director Marco Pellegrino is proud that Messer BH Gas has chosen ASCO as its partner for the implementation of the large-scale project and knows the reasons: "In the complex field of CO2 recovery, we are able to meet the economic and ecological customer needs with innovative solutions. Thanks to our ASCO CO2 Recovery Plant, Messer BH Gas is able to meet the strict CO2 delivery times of the Coca-Cola Company. Furthermore, Messer BH Gas incidentally improves its CO2 balance.”
In addition to the CO2 recovery from earth sources, biogas, ethanol or methane fermentation, ASCO is also a specialist in the field of CO2 stack gas recovery or for the CO2 recovery from waste products with highly concentrated carbon dioxide. For ASCO, CO2 recovery options and ecological approaches are always tied together, "because today, no one can deny the importance of sustainability," concludes Pellegrino.
The delivery and commissioning of the ASCO plant system took place in autumn 2017.