French industrial gases group Air Liquide has opened a new engineering and construction manufacturing facility in Ras al-Khaimah in the UAE.

The plant is designed to produce equipment for large air separation units including cryogenics columns and cold boxes.

The facility includes a private jetty, allowing equipment to be loaded directly on barges, and will employ 64 permanent staff.

In July, Air Liquide opened the world’s largest helium purification and liquefaction unit in Qatar. Helium is used in in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), semiconductors, fibre-optics, space exploration and scientific research.