Air Products (Lehigh Valley, Pa.; www.airproducts.com) and Huntsman (The Woodlands, Tex.; www.huntsman.com) announced that they have signed a long-term agreement for Air Products to build, own and operate a new steam methane reformer (SMR) and cold box in Geismar, Louisiana. The Air Products facilities, targeted to be onstream in January of 2020, will supply hydrogen, carbon monoxide (CO) and steam to Huntsman’s Geismar operations.
The new facility, to be located on land leased from Huntsman, will produce approximately 6.5 million standard cubic feet per day (MMSCFD) of CO, 50 MMSCFD of hydrogen, and up to 50,000 pounds per hour of steam. There is also the ability for the facility to be expanded to increase CO in the future to support additional growth.
“We have a long relationship with Huntsman with other operations, so our track record of reliability and customer service were a big asset in being awarded this supply contract. We are pleased to expand this relationship with the new plant at Geismar. The new facility supporting Huntsman will be state-of-the-art in terms of high reliability and sustainability, with enhanced energy efficiency and reduced emissions,” said Marie Ffolkes, president, Industrial Gases Americas at Air Products.
Tony Hankins, president of Huntsman Polyurethanes said, “Geismar is one of our three world-scale MDI production facilities, which primarily serves North and South America. This investment will help underpin our global growth strategy, which involves strengthening our upstream assets, while at the same time rapidly building our downstream footprint and capabilities. We look forward to the technology and reliability that Air Products will bring to our Geismar facility.”