Sep 10 2007
Air Products today announced it has signed a co-operation agreement with HyGear B.V., a Dutch company based in Arnhem. This agreement includes the sales and marketing of HyGear’s mini-steam methane reforming technology (5-10 Nm3/h) into various application areas including hydrogen fueling stations.
Large scale steam methane reforming of natural gas is the most common method of producing commercial bulk hydrogen in use today. HyGear's hydrogen generators produce hydrogen from a natural gas stream in a clean and efficient process using a proprietary reactor technology. It will be used for the first time under the agreement between Air Products and HyGear at a fueling station in Toulouse, France by the end of 2007. This station is to be built as part of the AltHyTude Project, led by Gaz de France, as announced last year at the World Hydrogen Economy Congress in Lyon (France). The contract covers a phased deployment of HyGear’s products by Air Products at customers’ sites.
“Air Products brings a wealth of knowledge and experience of hydrogen fuel cell projects, having already installed over 70 fueling stations and been involved in over 33,000 vehicle fuelings intheworld. HyGear brings a product which has impressed us with its compactness and initial operational performance,” said Ian Williamson, business development manager, Hydrogen Energy Systems at Air Products.
Jacques Smolenaars, managing director Marketing and Sales at HyGear, added: “The collaboration with Air Products is a major initiative for our company. Our joint efforts will create a new approach to provide hydrogen up to fuel cell quality on-site for various applications. We look forward to our collaboration to bring the hydrogen economy closer to us.”