An investment of more than £1million in Luxfer Gas Cylinders’ European base in Nottingham has been announced, which will establish a new production facility to support ‘virtual’ gas pipelines that can distribute hydrogen across the UK and Europe.
Image Credit: Luxfer Gas Cylinders
Luxfer Gas Cylinders, which is a division of Luxfer Holdings PLC, is a world-leading manufacturer of high-pressure aluminium and composite cylinders. Its Nottingham manufacturing base produces up to one million cylinders each year - and is home to alternative fuel specialists who have embedded world-first hydrogen-powered systems into buses, trucks, trains, boats, tractors and even drones.
This new purpose-built facility will produce Multiple Element Gas Containers (MEGCs), with the very first units available from summer 2024.
Available in 20-foot, 40-foot and 45-foot solutions, the G-Stor™ Hydrosphere range can store between 0.5 and 1.4 tonnes of clean gas and transport it to where it’s needed, opening up access to hydrogen for companies targeting greener operations.
Mark Lawday, Vice President and General Manager of Luxfer Europe, explains: “This investment is the natural next step in continuing to build our European hydrogen capability and support the development of the hydrogen economy, which is going to be essential in enabling all of us to reach our decarbonisation goals in Europe in 2030 and beyond.”
With appropriate filling speeds and maximum gas capacity critical to suit different virtual gas pipeline requirements, Luxfer has drawn upon the engineering excellence of its global teams in the UK, Canada and North America, and can offer its trusted G-Stor™ Pro Type 3 cylinder, or the newly launched G-Stor™ Go Type 4 technology.
Mark adds: “Thanks to our industry-leading G-Stor Pro Type 3 and G-Stor Go Type 4 core cylinder technology, combined with decades of experience in alternative fuel systems design and development, we have a product range to provide customers with a choice of technology, module capacities and features, to match current and future needs.”
Ownership of core cylinder technology is fundamental to being able to meet customer needs, explains Nick Herbert, Sales Director at Luxfer Europe: “Because we can control the precise diameter of our cylinders through our proprietary liner manufacturing process, we can start with a blank piece of paper. It gives us the ability to develop the most efficient cylinder geometry to optimise our MEGC designs and deliver customers exceptional value.
“For example, our unit using Type 3 cylinder technology has significant operational and technical benefits, with a 5 m height model for UK roads providing more storage capacity than other models on the market at a 4m road height - plus a lower cost per kilogram of gas storage.”
Luxfer Gas Cylinders has been operating for over 80 years and has sites across the world, but makes Nottingham its European base, where it employs over 230 people from the region. The new hub will see a number of additional jobs created at the Colwick site, as the facility steps up its operation.
The million-pound investment is just the latest commitment from Luxfer Gas Cylinders to support the hydrogen economy and champion alternative fuel adoption though virtual gas pipeline options.
Earlier this year the company launched its G-Stor™ Pro Bundle – a multiple cylinder package (MCP) comprised of a modular, interconnected system of cylinders, It is designed to meet demand for smaller volumes of hydrogen gas, as a crucial stepping stone in the hydrogen supply chain.