Air Products to build hydrogen plant in Texas
US-based industrial gas company Air Products plans to build a new liquid hydrogen plant at its La Porte, Texas, industrial gas facility to meet increasing product demand from several customer markets. The liquid hydrogen plant will produce approximately 30 tonnes/day, will draw its hydrogen to be liquefied from Air Products’ existing Gulf Coast hydrogen pipeline system network, and is to be on-stream in 2021.
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“The investment in this new liquid hydrogen production facility in Texas will assist with meeting current customer demand, as well as capture the increased growth that we see coming from several markets. Logistically, our La Porte plant has several operational benefits which make the site selection for this new facility a good choice. We are confident with this additional capacity that we will be able to meet the projected growing liquid hydrogen needs coming from the varied industries in the US for which a reliable source of this product is vitally important to our customers’ manufacturing operations,” said Marie Ffolkes, President, Americas at Air Products.
Once liquefied at La Porte, the hydrogen will be delivered in trailers to customers in industries including: electronics, chemical and petrochemical, metals, material handling, float glass, edible fats and oils, and utilities. Air Products also has liquid hydrogen production plants operating in New Orleans, Louisiana; Sacramento, California; Sarnia, Ontario, Canada; and Rotterdam in the Netherlands.
The new facility at La Porte will join Air Products’ existing hydrogen and syngas production operations, as well as an air separation unit. The liquid hydrogen plant will be connected to, and draw hydrogen from, Air Products’ Gulf Coast Pipeline (GCP), the world’s largest hydrogen plant and pipeline network system. 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 ft of hydrogen per day from 23 hydrogen production facilities.
Pipelines offer a safe, robust and reliable supply of hydrogen to industries around the world. Globally, Air Products’ 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 and Alberta, Canada, and in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.