Chart Energy and Chemicals: Worldwide Presence
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By Fernie Tiflis   
Friday, 03 October 2008
smc Chart Energy and Chemicals Inc., The Woodlands, Texas
Chart Energy and Chemicals sets itself apart as a vertically integrated company capable of offering complete process systems from process design through mechanical engineering, procurement, project management, fabrication and supply.
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A world leader in the design, engineering and fabrication of custom process systems for energy related markets that include industrial gas, liquefied natural gas (LNG), petrochemical and natural gas processing, Chart Energy and Chemicals says it is focused on providing value-added, packaged solutions to its customers.
   
Chart says its “concept-to-reality” approach coupled with its vertical integration and ability to add equipment for the storage and transportation of gases via its distribution and storage segment to its project scope makes the company unique. The company’s manufactured products include brazed aluminum heat exchangers, Core-in-Kettles®, cold boxes, air-cooled heat exchangers and LNG vacuum-insulated pipe.
   
Chart Energy and Chemicals is one of the three business segments of Cleveland, Ohio-based Chart Industries Inc. Chart Industries is expecting its 2008 revenues to be in the range of $770 million to $800 million.
   
Vice President of Sales and Marketing Kevin Blount spoke with Exploration + Processing about the company’s capabilities, challenges and vision of the future.

Exploration and Processing: What distinguishes Chart Energy and Chemicals from the competition?

Kevin Blount: Probably the biggest single factor is our vertical integration – we are able to offer complete process systems from process design through mechanical engineering, procurement, project management and fabrication, to supply, all under our own control. We not only offer the design and engineering, (but) we also are building most of the key equipment – heat exchangers, cold boxes, pipework, and process vessels – in our own shops. We are happy to supply just a heat exchanger or just a cold box if that’s what the customer really wants,  but where we believe we add most value to our customers is when we are allowed to work closely with them to provide complete packaged solutions as opposed to simply responding to an equipment inquiry.
   
We ask a lot of questions to properly understand (our customers’) requirements in terms of what exactly (they) are trying to do.  This approach very often leads to a real win-win situation.

EP: Can you provide an example of the company’s “concept-to-reality” approach.

KB: A really good example of this approach is a project we are currently involved with for Energy World Corp. The project is for the supply of four 500,000 LNG liquefaction trains for Indonesia, including gas pre-treatment, mixed refrigerant compression, air-cooled heat exchangers, the LNG cold box, incorporating Chart’s brazed aluminum heat exchangers and process vessels, and the interconnecting pipework. Chart’s scope includes all of this together with the process design work and engineering. I should emphasize here that we are not an EPC (engineering, procurement and construction), we are not involved in any site construction activities, simply because this is not our field of expertise and there are many EPC contractors much more qualified than Chart to handle the site construction of these plants.
   
We worked with Energy World very early on to bring their concept – to monetize their gas field – to reality. They had limited expertise in LNG liquefaction design and we were able to bring our experience and knowledge to help them by working very closely with (each other) to offer a solution that they are very happy with. This is a perfect example of what we’re all about.

EP: What is the company’s biggest challenge today?

KB: Our biggest challenge today is undoubtedly growing our business to meet the global growth in our markets. We are looking to expand and grow to support the market growth and our customers. We’ve already added manufacturing capacity in many areas and we are well set up for brazed aluminum heat exchangers, in particular, which is a key component. We’ve also got plans ready to go forward with four additional manufacturing capacity both in the U.S and in Asia. 
   
We’ve seen strong growth in many of our markets, particularly in small- to mid-scale LNG and the natural gas segments of the hydrocarbon processing market, as well as the industrial gas market in Asia. We are also seeing growth in the development of clean coal processes including Coal to Liquids and IGCC (integrated gasification and combined cycle) power projects. Our challenge is to meet this growing demand.

EP: What are some of the market trends?

KB: As I have said, we’re seeing growth in small- and mid-scale LNG applications. That’s a big driver for our business. What people like Energy World are doing is taking gas from offshore remote areas – stranded gas – cleaning the gas up and producing LNG, which can then either be shipped to an import terminal, regasified and fed into pipelines for domestic and/or industrial use, or transported by truck or rail (the cryogenic transport vessels are manufactured by Chart’s D&S segment) to end-users in remote areas to create a “virtual pipeline.” We are essentially providing the process and the equipment to bring gas to areas of the world where there is demand or where in the past it has never been available.

EP: What are some of the advantages of being part of the Chart family of companies?

KB: We are very fortunate to be part of Chart Industries Inc. Having a solid financial platform gives us the ability to invest in the business in order to capitalize on the robust markets in which we play. Chart operates in three segments: energy and chemicals, distribution and storage, and biomedical. We are therefore able to offer products right across the liquid gas supply chain. We also have a truly global presence with domestic operations in eight U.S states and an international presence in Australia, China, the Czech Republic, Germany and the United Kingdom.  

EP: What is in store for Chart Energy and Chemicals?

KB: In a word – growth. As I have mentioned, we have bold plans to grow the business both organically and by acquisition. There are clearly some gaps in our product portfolio and opportunities to expand our product portfolio, which we’re currently looking at, all part of our goal to provide “concept-to-reality” value-added solutions to our customers and increase shareholder value. In the meantime, we continue to focus on booking new business, building backlog and delivering world-class products that consistently meet or exceed our customers’ expectations.
 
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