John Crane awarded 5-year maintenance contract from SK Advanced in South Korea

John Crane, a global leader in mission-critical flow-control technologies, and a business of Smiths Group Plc, has been awarded a substantial, multi-year Gas Seal Management Programme (GSMP) contract from SK Advanced, a major producer and seller of propylene, located in Ulsan, South Korea.

John Crane already provides SK Advanced with its entire installed base of Dry Gas Seals. These mechanical seals are critical pieces of machinery embedded within the heart of a wide variety of industrial processes, ensuring the safe and efficient flow of gas and preventing contamination.

The latest GSMP contract is to provide maintenance and refurbishment of these seals. Maintaining dry gas seals in the field can be difficult due to the harsh environments in which industrial processes operate. John Crane’s maintenance programmes help preserve and extend the life of equipment, increase reliability and avoid unscheduled down time, leading to better productivity.

The maintenance programme is gearing up to two significant ‘turnaround’ events for SK Advanced. These are scheduled events where a process unit of the industrial plant is taken offline for maintenance, inspection, and upgrades. For SK Advanced, 10 of its Dry Gas Seals are scheduled for turnaround in 2024, and another 10 four years later, in 2028.

President of John Crane, Bernard Cicut, said: “We are proud that John Crane is trusted by SK Advanced to ensure the stability and reliability of its critical plant equipment. We know this will enable maximum productivity and efficiency. We are looking forward to supporting SK Advanced and serving other customers in the region.”

Propylene is an organic compound used widely in the packaging, consumer products and automotive industries. The global demand for propylene is expected to grow in the coming period driven by demand in key markets including the US, China and India.

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About John Crane
John Crane is a global leader in mission-critical technologies for the energy and process industries and an innovator in rotating equipment, encompassing mechanical seals, couplings, filtration systems and cutting-edge asset management and digital diagnostics solutions. Blending a rich legacy of innovation with a commitment to service excellence, we have enabled our customer’s reliable and sustainable operations for over a century. While recognizing the role of traditional energy, we are pioneering solutions that enable cleaner alternatives, crafting a vision for a sustainable energy future. Our extensive global presence underscores our promise to customers, with over 200 service centres in 50 countries. With over £1 billion in revenue in 2023, we are an integral pillar of Smiths Group plc, a FTSE 100 listed company dedicated to improving our world through smarter engineering.

About Smiths Group
For over 170 years, Smiths Group has been pioneering progress by improving our world through smarter engineering. We serve millions of people every year, to help create a safer, more efficient, and better-connected world, across four global markets: Energy, General Industry, Safety & Security, and Aerospace. Listed on the London Stock Exchange, Smiths employs more than 15,000 colleagues in over 50 countries. For more information visit www.smiths.com.