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BOC Immingham Dissolved Acetylene Project Environmental Statement: Vol. 2 Main Text
Rationale and Need
1.9 Acetylene is a key raw material in support of the UK’s renewable energy policy, specifically in the
manufacture of wind turbines.
1.10 BOC has historically manufactured acetylene gas at its Bristol site. BOC does not have any other
acetylene production facilities in the UK. However, following a major incident at the Bristol site in
January 2010, BOC’s acetylene manufacturing capability has ceased. There is one other
acetylene production plant in UK, which is located in Leicestershire and is operated by Air
Products. The Air Products plant was constructed in the early 1990s and is not capable of meeting
the total UK demand and since 2010 BOC has had to import the gas from continental Europe.
1.11 The proposed Dissolved Acetylene Project near Immingham has a design life of 25 years and a
gas production rate of 300 kg/hr. The new facility has been designed to have the capacity to meet
100% of the anticipated UK product demand and hence will assist to ensure security and
continuity of acetylene supply to the UK market.
1.12 In addition, the Dissolved Acetylene Project would assist with safeguarding manufacturing roles
within the 160,000 fabrication customers for acetylene in the UK, all of which would be impacted
by the failure to invest in a new acetylene manufacturing facility.
Existing Site and its Connection to the Proposed
Site
Existing Site
1.13 BOC's existing site near Immingham is one of the world’s largest and most advanced compressed
speciality gases facilities. The sophistication of the facility’s gas analysis systems is second to
none, and the site is the global centre of excellence for the preparation, filling and analysis of
complex gas mixtures. The existing site is dedicated to the production and purification of a wide
range of high technology gases and gas mixtures; its activities extending from the preparation of
cylinders to analysis of the end products. The main activities carried out on site involve filling
cylinders and drums with gaseous chemicals, specialised gas mixtures and refrigerant gases.
Support functions are provided by maintenance, administration and technical teams. The existing
site has its own staff amenity facilities (offices, mess room etc.).
1.14 The address of the existing site is Hobson Way, Stallingborough, Grimsby, DN41 8DZ and the
approximate grid reference for the centre of the site is Ordnance Survey (OS) Grid Reference
TA 219 137 (National Grid Reference (NGR) 521961 413772).
1.15 Access to the site is off Hobson Way. Parking facilities are provided to the right hand side of the
entrance. BOC is planning to apply for consent to extend the existing car park (this project is
separate from and independent of the Dissolved Acetylene Project).
1.16 The existing site has a Hazardous Substances Consent (HSC) and is a ‘Top-tier’ site under the
Control of Major Accident Hazards (COMAH) Regulations 1999. Under the Environmental
Permitting Regulations 1 the existing site is classified as a Low Impact Installation. It has an
Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC) Environmental Permit (EP) (permit number
PP3935LN) to operate from the Environment Agency (EA) for the recovery of anhydrous ammonia
from used cylinders and for refrigerant reclamation and recovery. The existing site has two live
consents to discharge water to Middle Drain. The site has an Environmental Management System
(EMS), which is externally accredited to ISO14001 through Lloyds Register Quality Assurance
(LRQA).
5100935.404 Environmental Statement August 2011 3