Oct 21 2008
Air Products, the leading global hydrogen provider, today announced a long-term supply contract and plans to construct a new world scale hydrogen production facility, which will be connected to Air Products' extensive Louisiana Hydrogen Pipeline Network, to serve ExxonMobil's Baton Rouge, Louisiana refinery and additional customers in the region. The facility is expected to be on-stream in March 2010.
"We are very pleased to expand our global business relationship with ExxonMobil. Air Products takes great pride in its production facilities and hydrogen supply reliability, and this project will enable us to demonstrate the added value of our expanded Louisiana Hydrogen Pipeline Network," said Alex Masetti, vice president, North America Tonnage Gases for Air Products. Air Products' most recent collaboration with ExxonMobil included hydrogen production facilities brought on-stream in 2006 in Baytown, Texas and Joliet, Illinois.
"This will become the third world-scale hydrogen facility Air Products has built in the Mississippi river corridor in four years, joining the Convent facility which came on-stream in 2006 and the Garyville facility which will come on-stream in 2009. This newest expansion of our infrastructure in Louisiana continues to build upon our multi-source hydrogen network with over 650 MMSCFD of capacity, which provides enhanced flexibility and supply reliability to our customers," said Thomas Wendahl, manager -- Tonnage Business, East Gulf Coast Area for Air Products. Supplying global refiners with hydrogen to make cleaner burning transportation fuels is one of the top growth businesses for Air Products.
Air Products has the largest hydrogen pipeline network in the U.S. Gulf Coast. Air Products' Gulf Coast pipeline network extends from the Houston Ship Channel in Texas to Lake Charles, La., and from Baton Rouge to Norco, La., and east of New Orleans. This pipeline network provides highly reliable hydrogen supply to approximately 50 refinery and process industry customers.
Air Products' hydrogen facility at Baton Rouge will be the 30th plant to be built through the global alliance between Air Products and Technip. This alliance continues to provide the worldwide refining industry with competitive technology and world-class safety. 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" high reliability and efficiency. The plants are operated and maintained by Air Products under long-term agreements with customers.