Air Liquide to build two CO2 capture-equipped hydrogen units in Shanghai
Air Liquide has announced plans to invest more than €200mn ($205mn) in the development of two blue hydrogen units at the Shanghai chemical industry park that will be equipped with carbon capture and recycle capabilities.
The units, will replace a third-party coal-based gasification unit, will provide hydrogen and carbon monoxide to Covestro China and Shanghai Lianheng Isocyanate Co, a joint venture between BASF and Huntsman, which are both based at the park, under 15-year contracts. They will also serve mobility, other industry and electronics customers in the Yangtze River Delta area.
Due to come online in phases starting at the end of 2023, the steam methane reformers will produce around 70,000 nm3/hour of hydrogen, while the carbon-capture units will produce 28,000 nm3/h of carbon monoxide. Their deployment will avoid some 350,000 metric tons/year of CO2 emissions annually – equivalent to the emissions of 1mn Chinese households.
“These new investments further enhance Air Liquide’s long-term collaboration with Covestro, SLIC and Shanghai chemical industry park," Air Liquide executive committee member for Asia Pacific, Francois Abrial, said in a statement on July 19. "Leveraging our expertise in hydrogen production as well as carbon capture and utilisation, the project demonstrates our capacity to bring solutions for our customers which are reliable, competitive, and beneficial to the environment."
Elsewhere in Asia, Air Liquide is studying the construction of a carbon capture and utilisation facility at Pertamina's oil refinery in Balikpapan, in Indonesia.