Air Products, and its subsidiary Air Products Canada Ltd., today announced the signing of a long-term agreement to supply North West Redwater Partnership with approximately 25 million standard cubic feet per day (MMSCFD) of hydrogen for North West’s Sturgeon Refinery near Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
The hydrogen supply to North West will come both from the recently announced new world-scale hydrogen production plant Air Products Canada will build in Scotford, Canada, and from Air Products Canada’s existing Heartland Hydrogen Pipeline. The hydrogen supply to North West is expected to begin in 2016, soon after commercialization of the new Scotford plant.
Air Products plans to build, own and operate a new hydrogen production plant adjacent to the Shell Scotford refinery and upgrader complex in Scotford, Alberta, Canada. The new facility will produce over 150 MMSCFD of hydrogen and will be connected to Air Products Canada’s Heartland Hydrogen Pipeline system, which is also fed by two existing hydrogen production plants in Edmonton. The two Edmonton plants produce a combined 180 MMSCFD of hydrogen and supply refiners, upgraders, chemical processors and other industries in the Alberta Industrial Heartland region.
“We believe customers around the world recognize the supply reliability benefits of being connected to large hydrogen pipeline network systems, and that North West recognized the benefits of being supplied by our established system in the Heartland region. Air Products Canada plans to continue its support of the refinery and upgrading industry in this region, and we believe our new production facility and pipeline system shows that proactive commitment to assist in the production of cleaner burning transportation fuels,” said Wilbur Mok, vice president - North America Tonnage Gases at Air Products. Mok added that this follows Air Products’ well-established on-site business model of winning profitable projects by signing long-term agreements with reputable customers.
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 Heartland Hydrogen Pipeline, Air Products also has a hydrogen pipeline in Sarnia, Ontario, Canada, and operates the world’s largest hydrogen pipeline network in the United States Gulf Coast, as well as pipeline systems in California in the U.S. and Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
The new hydrogen facility at Scotford will be built through the global hydrogen alliance between Air Products and Technip, a world leader in project management, engineering and construction. The plant will feature the latest technology advancements to maximize energy efficiency and emissions reduction, and will include optimal heat integration, which in turn lowers feedstock consumption during production. The plant configuration and deployed technologies support Air Products’ overall sustainability goals of reducing energy consumption and emissions.
For 20 years the Air Products and Technip global alliance has provided the worldwide refining industry with competitive technology and world-class safety. The alliance is responsible for over 35 hydrogen production plants located in 11 countries around the world and produces well over two billion standard cubic feet of hydrogen per day for clean fuels production. 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.
Hydrogen 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.