Air Products has signed a long-term agreement to build, own and operate a new steam methane reformer (SMR) and cold box for Huntsman in Geismar, Louisiana, USA.

The facility will be located on land leased from Huntsman and will produce about 6.5 million standard cubic feet per day (MMSCFD) of carbon monoxide (CO), 50 MMSCFD of hydrogen and up to 50,000 lbs per hour of steam. There will also be an in-built ability for CO output to be increased in the future to support additional growth. The plant’s targeted on-stream date is January 2020.

Marie Ffolkes, president of Industrial Gases Americas at Air Products, said its long relationship with Huntsman and track record of reliability and customer service were a big asset in being awarded the contract.

Huntsman is currently building a 400,000 t/y MDI plant at Geismar, which is expected to start operations in 2018. One of three world-scale MDI facilities (the others are in Rotterdam, the Netherlands and Shanghai, China), the Geismar plant primarily serves markets in 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,” said Tony Hankins, president of Huntsman Polyurethanes.

As well as supplying Geismar, Air Products’ new plant will also be connected to its Gulf Coast hydrogen pipeline and network system. The 600-mile pipeline is the world’s largest hydrogen network system, according to the gases producer, stretching from the Houston Ship Channel in Texas to New Orleans in Louisiana. It supplies more than 1.4 billion cubic feet of hydrogen per day from over 22 hydrogen plants.