Major expansion of hydrogen system in Texas

Air Liquide announces a major investment program of €140 million to expand the production, storage and pipeline delivery capacity of its Gulf Coast hydrogen system.

These new facilities will serve to meet new contract demand and grow Air Liquide’s hydrogen business in this important refining market, where nine million barrels of crude oil are refined daily.

This investment will allow Air Liquide to serve new clients by increasing its hydrogen production capacity by 100,000 Nm³/hour, to reach a total capacity of more than 380,000 Nm³/hour. As part of this expansion, Air Liquide will add a large hydrogen storage cavern on the Gulf Coast to enhance its flexibility in meeting increasing customer demand for hydrogen. As well, the pipeline network that presently covers 240 miles along the Gulf Coast will be extended 90 miles from Bayport to southeast Texas.

Over the past three years, Air Liquide has increased the worldwide production capacity of its hydrogen systems by 50 percent. Air Liquide presently operates 12 hydrogen production units in the U.S.

Pierre Dufour, Air Liquide Group Executive Vice President, said: “In the U.S., where our sales of hydrogen have more than doubled since 2000, we are expanding our hydrogen system with the most efficient and reliable production, storage and delivery infrastructure possible for this crucial molecule. As a worldwide leader in the hydrogen market, we are actively applying our best technologies and expertise to help our world-class refinery and petrochemical customers around the world improve their process efficiencies and meet their environmental responsibilities.”