ExxonMobil will get hydrogen from Air Products in Gulf area
Is it just me or has there been a lot less hydrogen news coming out recently than usual? Finally, though, the drought has ended and we have ExxonMobil Refining and Supply Company to thank for bringing it up again. The news is that ExxonMobil will be getting a supply of hydrogen from Air Products (they of the mobile hydrogen refueling station) via a hydrogen pipeline network in the West Gulf Coast. ExxonMobil refineries in Baytown, Texas and Baton Rouge, Louisiana will get the hydrogen product starting in April 2010. The two companies also have a hydrogen deal in Joliet, Illinois. More details after the jump.
[Source: Air Products]
PRESS RELEASE:
Air Products Signs Long-Term Hydrogen Supply Agreement with ExxonMobil's Baytown Refinery
Established West Gulf Coast Hydrogen Pipeline Network to Provide Product
LEHIGH VALLEY, Pa., Oct. 22 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Air Products (NYSE: APD) , the leading global hydrogen provider, today announced the signing of a long-term hydrogen supply agreement with ExxonMobil Refining and Supply Company. Air Products is to supply ExxonMobil's Baytown, Texas refinery with additional hydrogen product from its extensive West Gulf Coast hydrogen pipeline network beginning in April 2010.
"Air Products has established relationships with refineries around the world based on meeting their growing demands for hydrogen from our highly reliable supply networks," said Alex Masetti, vice president - Tonnage Gases North America at Air Products. "We are pleased to be strengthening our global relationship with ExxonMobil at Baytown. Our West Gulf Coast hydrogen pipeline network positions us well to meet customers' needs for additional product." Supplying global refiners with hydrogen is one of the top growth businesses for Air Products.
This supply agreement follows Air Products' announcement yesterday (Oct. 21, 2008) that it will supply hydrogen to ExxonMobil's Baton Rouge, La. Refinery. Air Products also collaborated with ExxonMobil on hydrogen production projects brought on-stream in 2006 at Baytown and at Joliet, Illinois.
Air Products' West Gulf Coast pipeline network is part of its overall Gulf Coast pipeline network, which extends from the Houston Ship Channel in Texas to Lake Charles, La., and from Baton Rouge to Norco, La., and east of New Orleans. This pipeline network provides highly reliable hydrogen supply to approximately 50 refinery and process industry customers.
Air Products (NYSE:APD) serves customers in industrial, energy, technology and healthcare markets worldwide with a unique portfolio of atmospheric gases, process and specialty gases, performance materials, and equipment and services. Founded in 1940, Air Products has built leading positions in key growth markets such as semiconductor materials, refinery hydrogen, home healthcare services, natural gas liquefaction, and advanced coatings and adhesives. The company is recognized for its innovative culture, operational excellence and commitment to safety and the environment. Air Products has annual revenues of $10 billion, operations in over 40 countries, and 22,000 employees around the globe. For more information, visit www.airproducts.com.
***NOTE: This release may contain forward-looking statements. Actual results could vary materially, due to changes in current expectations.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Serge 3:28PM (10/22/2008)
This is not related to transportation. Back to the dustbin.
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gorr 3:36PM (10/22/2008)
So, it's never too late finnally. GM, Honda and toyota can begin the commercialisation of their fuellcell cars like they said when they asked to start the hydrogen refueling station networks. I hope they stop ranting and start evolution, and f&?k the volt, LOL.
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PERRY 3:46PM (10/22/2008)
Dummy this isnt hydrogen thats going to be used as a fuel. Its hydrogen thats going to be used to make gasoline and diesel from heavier crude. This isnt "green" technology just because it mentions hydrogen.
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TX CHL Instructor 7:25PM (10/22/2008)
Hydrogen isn't 'green' in ANY meaningful sense of the word.
Nick 2:59AM (10/23/2008)
Whether it's used for transportation, greenwashing a dirty company's image, or to make fossil fuels, there is not a drop of green in hydrogen.
Hydrogen is a SCAM, it will lead to nowhere....it is highly inefficient and extremely wasteful as it uses tons of energy to produce and store. It's another attempt by the car industry to mislead people.
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george 2:00PM (10/23/2008)
Hmmmm, hydrogen is a scam? Are you a scientist? Or do you work for big oil? Did you read the article? Do you understand what refining means? Oil companies have used hydrogen in refining for decades. Now, think about that for a while........ do you see the irony?
When was the last time there was a war over hydrogen- the most abundant element in the universe? By the way, it's not trendy to bash hydrogen anymore, it's just plain ignorant. I suggest all you hydrogen critics do a little more research. What are your suggestions for alternatives? Poisonous batteries? Ethanol? Natural gas or other HYDRO-carbons? What happened to corn prices? What will happen to natural gas prices? Open your mind a little bit. Try being optimistic and proactive for a change seriously, name a better alternative to something as versatile as hydrogen.
Chris M 6:00PM (10/23/2008)
I wouldn't say H2 fuel was a "scam", as there is no deliberate attempt to defraud, but it is a very bad automotive fuel, being ridiculously bulky, inefficient, expensive to store, and expensive to use.
H2 isn't an energy source, it must be made using up electrical or chemical energy. As an energy carrier, it isn't particularly efficient (24%) compared to batteries (85%) and is even worse used to fuel an IC engine (less than 7%).
The most efficient alternatives are high performance batteries, with an overall efficiency of charger and batteries of 85% compared to 24% or less for water electrolyzer and H2 compressor and H2 fuel cell. The toxicity of batteries is a moot point if they are handled properly and recycled or disposed of properly, automotive parts were never meant to be eaten.
While corn based ethanol has turned into a boondoggle, other biofuels may well prove worthwhile, particularly biofuels from non-food sources such as farm waste and algae.
Compressed natural gas has more than twice the energy per liter (and twice as much hydrogen atoms per liter!) than compressed H2 gas at the same pressure and temperature. Moreover, using CNG in an IC engine is about as efficient as running an H2 fuel cell from steam reformed natural gas, due to the energy losses in reforming natural gas into H2 - and the IC engine is a fraction of the cost of a fuel cell!
I have studied use of H2 fuel quite extensively, that's why I know it is a very poor automotive fuel.
gorr 5:36PM (10/23/2008)
There is numerous methods to make hydrogen, I'll give you a link from coreens scientists that make it from water. They say that it take 30 times less electricity then the crackpot-anti-hydrogen say it take to separate it. They are more polite then me.
http://www.fuelcellsworks.com/Supppage9286.html
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Chris M 6:12PM (10/23/2008)
You ought to read more carefully, Gorr. They claimed an efficiency of 90%, which is about 2x more efficient than the standard 40% to 60% water electrolysis efficiency.
They claimed the COST reduction would be 20 to 30 times, which unfortunately still makes H2 twice as expensive as electricity by unit of energy, and nearly 4x as expensive per mile after the fuel cell energy losses are accounted for, and 24x as expensive per mile if burned in an IC engine.
H2 fuel can NEVER be cheaper than its source of energy! The future is electric.
george 11:23PM (10/23/2008)
in response to Chris M:
yep, the future is electric...... electric made from fuel cells powered by hydrogen made from nuclear power....... ha ha ha..
you have some good points in response to my post. CNG is good stuff and it is cheaper..... for now, but you see, there's not enough to go around if its used in cars too (I heat my house, my hot water and also cook with it) So if the demand goes up by 10,000%, how much will it cost? hmm....
Electric vehicles are the future. For now, fuel cells are winning against batteries in a big way. How long do the batteries take to recharge? How far can you go? um, um...
hey! what's that big bright thing in the sky that life can't exist without? oh, it's just a giant ball of burning hydrogen.....
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Chris M 12:47AM (10/24/2008)
Sorry, but it is batteries winning against H2 fuel cells. Both can achieve over 200 miles per charge/fillup, but the long distance record is still held by the batteries at over 800 miles. It is a challenge to pack enough bulky H2 on board, even when compressed to 10,000 PSI, the record for H2 fuel cell cars is a little over 350 miles.
Yes, refilling that high pressure H2 tank is a fraction faster than a 10 minute fast charge and much faster than a standard 4 to 8 hour charge, but slower than a battery swap.
But where batteries really shine in comparison is cost. The most expensive LiIon battery pack currently proposed for automotive use cost about $75,000, the cheapest automotive H2 fuel cell is a cool half million dollars - about 6x more! The LiIon battery pack for the Tesla Roadster is about $22,000. You could buy 22 Tesla batteries or 4 complete Tesla Roadsters for the price of just one automotive H2 fuel cell - and have change left over!
As for that daytime illuminator, that thing is fusing, not burning, hydrogen. There is a significant difference.
george 3:51AM (10/24/2008)
Chris,
Great, your stats are a little subjective and skewed, but that's okay. I could also buy about 10 used Geo Metros for the price of a Tesla battery and give 9 away to people who need a car, what's the point?.. .. We aren't the ones with the real money anyways, right?
The advantages of storing excess power from a renewable source (solar panels, for instance) in the form of hydrogen, in a big storage tank is far superior and more versatile than a battery bank. So, theoretically, when your local Wally-World isn't using all the power produced by its massive array of panels (after the batteries are full) then, the excess electricity, is either: #1): put back into the miles of aging inefficient grid for which it is paid a fraction of what it's worth. Or, B):inefficiently electrolyzed into hydrogen which it can freely use or sell at any time.
Electric cars are great, and they are the best option for a short daily commute for some (aside from public trans.), they are part of a solution, but not the whole. Of course a hybrid fuel cell / plug-in battery car covered in solar panels is the ultimate choice, right?
Chris M 1:33AM (10/25/2008)
George:
The disadvantages of storing surplus energy in the form of H2 includes the considerably lower efficiency and the considerably greater storage volume and the considerably higher price.
The 85% efficiency for charger and batteries comes from Tesla Motors, and the efficiency of electrolysis, compression and fuel cell comes from Joseph Romm, an expert on Hydrogen. I didn't make that stuff up.
Bulky storage is inherent in the nature of hydrogen as the worlds least dense gas. To get any reasonable range requires large tanks at very high pressures, 7,000 to 10,000 psi, which of course means very expensive storage! Moreover, H2 is the smallest of molecules and leaks through the tiniest pores and dissolves right into steel.
The prices on batteries was also from public sources, and the price for fuel cells was calculated by price quotes of $5 per watt on standard fuel cells multiplied by the 100,000 watt output of a typical automotive fuel cell.
It is easy to sing the praises of hydrogen, if you ignore all the serious disadvantages and the high costs involved.
gorr 9:51PM (10/24/2008)
Just a mystycal point for a change.
h2o is the old symbol for marriage in old catholic church that was invented by jesus millions of years ago. H= one humain and h2o is 2 humains united in a o and o is a state of mind. The laws of the church have created the physical universe. People in a trouble situation confess by putting some holy water toward their forehead. to end a marriage you separate the h2o in 2 and the o become o2( 2 different universes). h is never alone.
All in all the anti-hydrogen crisis is coming from people having a big urge to confess but don't find any confessor because the sins are a little too heavy and there is not a single confessor worth it on earth except jesus and even him is having trouble finding someone in a good shape to have some fun time.
So the mysticality is that some million desparates are having nightmares and their screems toward hydrogen is a final cry to find jesus and they think that hydrogen got them and it have absolutely nothing to do with cars or a kind of gas that can propel a car forward. Their needs to confess have errased all other needs and gasoline, battery and hydrogen gas are just a way to talk about crimes and confessions. If you just look an actual hydrogen car with a tank of hydrogen, and look at the different methods to make hydrogen from water then after 10 minutes studies without listening to the various screems from the ' losts'
then after 10 minutes your studies are finnish because it's very simple as the technology part of it. Water , then separate the water molecule, then burn that then it come back to water. It's the first physical energetic phenomena that created the universe.
that's why no one is selling a complete package that use water separation as an energy creation devise, they think that jesus must come in person and take their hand and make it for them. Stan mayer and some other did good but didn't succeded in putting that on the market because they were invaded by ' unable to confess' people that just talk of mystical crimes instead and cannot see the gadjet working proporly for any seconds. They must feel they have to break the gadjet if the innocent is having a good time with h2o while them screem inside for centuries just thinking of it.
I tell you: when someone will sell for real a lawnmower or a scooter propel by water then the sins will explose on the public place for a while then after i will buy the gadjet because anyway in less then 1 000 years there will be no fossil fuels available or maybe if some fool start green algae farming then maybe we will have liquid fuel available for more then 1000 years but anyway water is still less complicated.
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george 1:39PM (10/27/2008)
HALLELUJAH2O!