The Linde Group (Munich, Germany; www.linde.com) has signed a longterm contract with Nynas AB, who specializes in naphthenic specialty oils (NSP) and bitumen, for the onsite supply of hydrogen at Nynas’ refinery in Hamburg, Germany. To this end, the Linde Engineering Division will build a state-of-the-art steam methane reformer plant with total investments of approximately €30 million.
The project is part of a major restructuring of the Hamburg-Harburg refinery, which over the next two years will be converted into a specialized NSP production site. By this, Nynas will increase its overall NSP production capacity by 40%. These specialty oils are used for many different applications, such as tires, transformers, printing inks, industrial rubber and lubricants.
The new hydrogen facility is scheduled to go on-stream in the fourth quarter of 2015 and will be operated by the Linde Gases Division. With a capacity of 400,000 m³/d of hydrogen, it will be able to also supply other hydrogen customers in the Hamburg harbor area.