Luxfer-GTM moves to efficient new facility

14 December 2016

PORT OF CATOOSA, Okla.—Luxfer-GTM Technologies, a joint venture between GTM Technologies and Luxfer Group (NYSE: LXFR), has moved into a new production facility here in a modern, 2,000-acre industrial park. Situated on the Arkansas River near Tulsa, Okla., the Port of Catoosa is the largest inland port in the USA.

Michael Koonce, president of Luxfer-GTM, said: “This move allowed us to consolidate three separate manufacturing facilities under one roof, which has streamlined and significantly improved our operating efficiencies at a time when our product line is expanding and our sales are growing.”

Located at 5785 Bird Creek Avenue, the new Luxfer-GTM facility features an array of modern material-handling equipment that can accommodate the company’s wide range of products from small pickup-towable trailers to 52-foot-long bulk gas transports. The new facility includes a welding and assembly shop, high-pressure testing equipment and a research and development and test lab, as well as high-pressure filling capabilities for the company’s growing line of hydrogen products.

The facility is now producing products for Luxfer-GTM’s three primary markets: compressed natural gas (CNG), hydrogen fuel cells and industrial gases. Luxfer-GTM products are either gas transports or systems, all of which use lightweight Type-3 carbon composite cylinder technology manufactured by Luxfer Gas Cylinders.

Overview of products produced at the new Oklahoma facility

• Small G-Pak™ gas transports, which fit in the back of a pickup truck, are used for refueling hydrogen and CNG vehicles and drones.

• At the other end of the hydrogen product spectrum is Luxfer-GTM’s Quadrum450™ transport, the largest hydrogen bulk gas transport on the market today with a capacity more than three times that of the largest steel tube trailer. “Our Quadrum450™ and its sister, the Tridum450™, are changing the way high-pressure gases such as hydrogen and helium are distributed throughout the USA by dramatically lowering distribution costs,” Koonce said.

• The GRC™ (gas-recovery cart), a new, portable solution for problems arising from CNG venting, allows natural-gas vehicle maintenance facilities to recover natural gas from a vehicle that is undergoing maintenance, to store the gas temporarily, and then to return the gas to the vehicle—thus mitigating unsafe emissions. “This is the only portable cart on the market that addresses growing concerns about venting gas to the environment,” Koonce said, “and it is out in front of new, stricter regulations mandating changes.”

• The CPR™ (constant-pressure refueler) supplies a continuous source of high-pressure hydrogen to fill 5,000-psig tanks used on hydrogen-powered forklifts that are replacing traditional battery-operated forklifts in warehouses of Walmart, Nike, BMW and other leading companies.

• ZeroSet™ hydrogen fuel cell generators are the first commercially available, portable, zero-emission, zero-noise power systems that can provide continuous electrical power for up to 18 days before refueling is needed. Fuel cells offer 60 percent operating efficiencies compared to traditional gasoline- or diesel-powered generators, which are only 20 to 25 percent efficient.

“Thanks to our new facility, we now have the capacity not only to build these existing products, but also to keep adding innovative new products to our line,” Koonce said.

About Luxfer-GTM Technologies and Luxfer Group

Luxfer-GTM Technologies (www.luxfergtm.com) was founded in 2013 as a joint venture between GTM Technologies and Luxfer Group. The company headquarters is in San Francisco, California. For more information about Luxfer-GTM products, call (415) 856-0570 or email sales@luxfergtm.com

U.K.-based Luxfer Group (www.luxfer.com) is an advanced materials technology company specializing in the design and manufacture of high-performance materials, components and gas-containment devices for environmental, healthcare, protection and specialty end-markets. The Group’s Luxfer Gas Cylinders Division is the world’s largest manufacturer of high-pressure aluminum and composite cylinders and a major supplier to the Luxfer-GTM joint venture.

*pictured right* Luxfer-GTM Technologies has moved its Oklahoma operations to a new, more efficient production facility in a modern industrial park at the Port of Catoosa near Tulsa.

The new Luxfer-GTM Technologies facility in Oklahoma produces a wide variety of products from small pickup-towable trailers (shown) to 52-foot-long bulk gas transports.