Air Liquide has started production at its $392 million hydrogen site in Yanbu Industrial City, Saudi Arabia.
The French gases producer firm will supply hydrogen to the new Yasref refinery, a joint venture between Saudi Aramco and Chinese state-owned Sinopec.
Saudi officials hope Yanbu will become one of the main industrial areas of the country and a high growth area for refining and petrochemicals.
Largest refinery in the region, Yasref will process 400,000 barrels of heavy crude oil per day. Hydrogen will allow the sulfur content of the fuels produced to be reduced, in order to meet environmental standards for cleaner transportation fuels.
The Air Liquide site with two global-scale hydrogen production units and one purification unit, has a total hydrogen capacity of 340,000 Nm3 per hour.
Production is planned to be ramped up in line with the Yasref’s requirements over the course of this year, increasing Air Liquide’s hydrogen production capacity by nearly 20%.
Air Liquide’s senior executive vice president, Pierre Dufour, said the new global-scale project reinforces the company’s strategic presence in the Middle East.