Air Products wins hydrogen supply agreement for Pallas' Texas Project

Air Products has announced it has signed a long-term hydrogen supply agreement with Pallas Nitrogen Texas LLC. Air Products will supply 44 million standard ft³/d of hydrogen from its existing Gulf Coast Pipeline (GCP) to Pallas. The supply is to begin in mid-2016 when Pallas begins ammonia production operations at their plant, which will be located on land leased from Air Products at its established Pasadena, Texas industrial gas manufacturing location.

"This contract further loads our Gulf Coast hydrogen pipeline and network system, and at the same time makes use of some available land at our Pasadena plant that we were able to lease to the customer. It is really a win-win for us and our customer, and illustrates our continuous improvement approach to optimise our capabilities and assets," said Bill Hammarstrom, Vice President, HyCO Americas at Air Products.

"We are excited to have Air Products, a premier global hydrogen producer, as Pallas' host and hydrogen supplier for our Pasadena ammonia plant. The strategic location and direct access to their Gulf Coast Pipeline affords us great confidence with respect to safe, reliable and economic delivery of hydrogen to the Pallas ammonia plant. We look forward to a long-term, mutually successful relationship for this plant and our future work with Air Products," said Steve Dopuch, CEO at Pallas.

Hammarstrom said this agreement again demonstrates the value of the GCP, which is the world's largest hydrogen plant and pipeline network system. The GCP allows customers to easily be connected to the system and be assured of unparalleled 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 ft of hydrogen per day from over 21 hydrogen production facilities.

Pipelines offer a safe, robust and reliable supply of hydrogen to the refinery and petrochemical industry 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, Canada, and in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

Hydrogen, to be used in this instance by Pallas for ammonia production, is widely used in petroleum refining processes to remove impurities found in crude oil such as sulphur, 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.

Edited from press release by Angharad Lock

Read the article online at: https://www.hydrocarbonengineering.com/refining/23102015/air-products-wins-hydrogen-supply-agreement-for-pallas-texas-project-1446/