Air Products to build new Texas methane reformer for downstream users

Hydrogen provider Air Products will invest between $350 million and $400 million to build, own and operate a world-scale steam methane reformer (SMR) in Baytown, Texas, the company announced on Monday.

The SMR will produce hydrogen and carbon monoxide (CO) to be supplied to customers from Air Products' US Gulf Coast hydrogen and CO pipeline networks. Both product capacities from the new facility are already sold-out, ahead of the plant's expected startup in 2018. 

"This plant demonstrates to our customers our dedication to providing them with excellent customer service," said Marie Ffolkes, president, of the Americas industrial gases business at Air Products. "This SMR strengthens our market-leading position and also Air Products' ability to serve the many customers on our pipeline networks with a new, efficient and reliable source of hydrogen and carbon monoxide, which will be owned and operated by Air Products."

The SMR and cold box will produce approximately 125 million standard cubic feet/day of hydrogen and a world-scale supply of carbon monoxide.

The new SMR will be built through the global hydrogen alliance between Air Products and Technip, a world leader in project management, engineering and construction. The plant will feature the latest technology to maximize energy efficiency and reduce emissions, and will include optimal heat integration, which in turn lowers feedstock consumption, according to project officials. The company says the plant configuration and deployed technologies support Air Products' overall sustainability goals of reducing energy consumption and emissions.

For over 20 years, the Air Products and Technip global alliance has provided the global refining industry with competitive technology and world-class safety. The alliance is responsible for over 35 hydrogen production plants located in 11 countries around the world and produces well over 2 billion standard cubic feet/day of hydrogen for clean fuels production. 

Technip provides the design and construction expertise for steam reformers, while Air Products provides the gas separation technology. Air Products, through its extensive operating network, and Technip, from its large reference base, also bring effective operational and engineering knowledge to "design-in" reliability and efficiency. The plants are operated and maintained by Air Products under long-term agreements with customers.

Ffolkes added that the ability for the new plant to connect to the Gulf Coast Pipeline (GCP), the world's largest hydrogen plant and pipeline network system, is always a value-added plus for hydrogen customers in terms of ensuring product reliability. Air Products officially dedicated its GCP in 2012. The 600-mile pipeline span stretches from the Houston Ship Channel in Texas to New Orleans, Louisiana, and supplies customers with over 1.4 billion feet/day of hydrogen from over 21 hydrogen production facilities. 

Pipelines offer a safe, robust and reliable supply of hydrogen to the refinery and petrochemical industries around the world. Globally, Air Products says its pipeline operational expertise is evidenced by its network of systems. Besides the GCP, Air Products also has a hydrogen pipeline in California in the US, in Sarnia, Ontario, Canada, and in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.  

Hydrogen is widely used in petroleum refining processes to remove impurities found in crude oil such as sulfur, olefins and aromatics to meet product fuels specifications. Removing these components allows gasoline and diesel to burn cleaner and thus makes hydrogen a critical component in the production of cleaner fuels needed by modern, efficient internal combustion engines