Air Products, a provider of atmospheric, process and specialty gases and performance materials, has signed another agreement withMotivato to deliver additional hydrogen to Motiva’s refinery based in Convent, Louisiana.
The additional hydrogen will be supplied from Air Products’Gulf Coast hydrogen pipeline supply network, which serves various refinery and petrochemical operations in the province. The latest contract allows the transfer of some of the hydrogen that is supplied to Convent Refinery to other Motiva’s refineries via Air Products’ hydrogen pipelines in Louisiana and Texas.
Air Products is currently working to connect the two pipelines with a new 180 mile extent to form an integrated system.The project is scheduled to commence operation in 2012 and once the project is completed, the integrated system will be the largest hydrogen facility and pipeline supply network in the world. The Gulf Coast hydrogen pipeline network will connect more than 20 hydrogen plants and more than 600 miles of pipelines. It will supply the refinery and petrochemical industries in Louisiana and Texas with more than 1.2 billion cubic feet of hydrogen gas per day.
Air Products also operates several hydrogen pipelines across the world, including Rotterdam, The Netherlands; Alberta, Canada;and Southern California, U.S. Hydrogen is significantly utilized in petroleum refining industries to remove impurities from crude oil, such as aromatics, olefins and sulfur to meet the fuel standards.Thus, hydrogen is used to produce cleaner fuels that are required by new, efficient internal combustion engines.