West Coast Hydrogen Producer Considers Doubling Hydrogen Capacity

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Researched by Industrialinfo.com (Industrial Information Resources, Incorporated; Houston, Texas). Air Liquide America Corporation (Houston, Texas), a subsidiary of Air Liquide S A (Paris: FR: 006691), is considering plans to double its current 7.5 million cubic foot per year hydrogen capacity at the Anacortes, Washington, plant. Currently, Air Liquide supplies hydrogen to the neighboring Puget Sound Refinery, owned and operated by Shell Oil Products (Houston, Texas), for use in the production of clean fuels.

This hydrogen project is in the very early stages of planning and construction and will not begin before Summer 2006. Air Liquide's Anacortes plant was commissioned only last November 2003 and cost an estimated $20 million to construct. This expansion project, which would require a new Pressure Swing Absorption Unit (PSA), along with columns and towers, will have an estimated $10 million price tag. Air Liquide anticipates that Shell, its neighbor, will need this additional capacity to meet future federal emissions requirements for gasoline and diesel fuels.

The world leader in industrial and medical gases, Air Liquide provides hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, and other gases to the oil refining and chemical industries as well as to the electronics, healthcare and aerospace industries. With over 100 years experience in the industrial gases industries, Air Liquide has over 130 subsidiaries, operating in over 65 countries. Their environmentally conscious nature is not limited to the sulfur-free fuels produced by hydrogen, but also by using oxygen to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in glass furnaces.