Air Products to Build and Operate New Hydrogen Plant
Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. announced it has entered into an agreement with Catlettsburg Refining, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Marathon Ashland Petroleum LLC (MAP), to build, own and operate a 34 million standard-cubic-feet-per-day (MMSCFD) hydrogen facility adjacent to MAP's refinery in Catlettsburg, Kentucky. The facility, a natural gas-based hydrogen steam methane reformer, is expected to be on-stream in November 2003, and Air Products will supply hydrogen to MAP's 220,000 barrel-per-day refinery under a long-term agreement.
Air Products' hydrogen production will assist MAP's second largest United States refinery to produce cleaner transportation fuels from heavier sour crude feedstocks. The supply arrangement is one of over 20 that the company has undertaken with worldwide refiners in the past 10 years.
The Catlettsburg hydrogen facility will be the 20th to be built through an alliance between Air Products and Technip-Coflexip Group. Last year, Air Products and Technip-Coflexip announced an extension to this alliance through a new 10-year agreement to continue to provide the worldwide refining industry with competitive technology, plus world-class safety and reliability with "over the fence" hydrogen supply. Both companies bring a long history of hydrogen experience to their role in the alliance. Technip-Coflexip provides the design and construction expertise for steam methane reformers. Air Products provides the gas clean-up technology and, through its operating network, brings operational and engineering knowledge to "design-in" high reliability and efficiency, and then operates and maintains the facilities for customers under long-term agreements.
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