In industry as in life, there is perhaps no gas more essential than oxygen. From ultra-pure medical oxygen to the vast volumes consumed by steelmakers and other heavy industries, demand for the molecule remains strong and is expected to grow.
That demand, increasingly shaped by tighter quality requirements, energy costs and decarbonisation pressures, places fresh focus on how oxygen is produced, supplied and managed across Europe.
These themes will be in sharp focus at the European Industrial Gases Association (EIGA) Winter Summit, taking place on 28 January in Antwerp, Belgium, under the overarching theme of ‘mastering oxygen safely’.
The day opens with a welcome and scene-setting from EIGA President Adolf Walth, followed by a short historical reflection on EIGA and oxygen from Secretary General Philippe Cornille.
Attention then turns to the present, with a focus on how safety, innovation and leadership are shaping oxygen’s role across the industry, led by summit organising committee chair Sabrina Zucchelli of SIAD.
Market context comes into sharper view with gasworld’s Global Content Director Rob Cockerill, who will present a recorded overview of the oxygen market and the forces influencing demand, supply and investment across regions.
That perspective fits closely with the company’s wider ambitions.
“Continuing our mission to be the focal point for global industrial gas news, views and intelligence, Pulse is your definitive guide to the industrial gas landscape across countries,” said Aiden Sparrowhawk, gasworld’s Data Intelligence Director.
From there, the focus shifts upstream to oxygen production, with sessions examining how digitalisation and automation are being applied by companies like SIAD to air separation units to improve performance and efficiency.
“[This functionality] allows us to monitor, predict and optimise every phase of the air separation process,” said SIAD’s Massimo Nessi in an interview with gasworld last year.
The programme also addresses the challenges of manufacturing and supplying medical oxygen at scale, reflecting the operational, regulatory and logistical pressures involved in ensuring reliable access across healthcare systems.
Attention then moves to packaging and distribution, where safety and application-critical use cases come to the fore. Sessions will explore lessons learned from oxygen incidents in filling plants, alongside a broader discussion on the most critical oxygen applications and where vulnerabilities remain across the cylinder supply chain.
The final session of the first day turns to oxygen applications, spanning both established and emerging use cases. Speakers from companies including SOL, SIAD, Nippon Gases, Linde, Air Liquide and Messer will examine industrial oxyfuel technologies from a joint perspective, alongside a strong focus on homecare and medicinal oxygen.
The agenda will then shift as it looks beyond Earth to consider oxygen’s role in space applications and the technical challenges involved.
A dedicated deep-dive session follows on 29 January, shifting the focus firmly to oxygen safety and risk management.
Speakers from Nippon Gases, WHA, Air Products and Linde will examine fundamentals and failure modes in oxygen systems, with sessions covering fire and ignition risks, material compatibility, electrolyser-related hazards and lessons learned from packaged gas filling operations.
The programme is designed as a practical, technical forum, drilling into real-world incidents, inspection standards and the limits of existing guidance.