Air Chemicals builds new plant to supply industrial gas to Huntsman MDI unit

On April 3, local time, Air Products and Huntsman jointly held a groundbreaking ceremony for their new plant.
The ceremony was held at the location of Air Products' new steam methane reformer (SMR) and cold box
.
According to the long-term agreement, Air Products will build, own and operate the plant to provide industrial gases including carbon monoxide (CO), hydrogen and steam for Huntsman's production activities near Geismar
.
The new plant will be put into commercial operation in early 2020
.
Corning Painter, Executive Vice President of Air Products Co.
, Ltd.
said, "It is really exciting to build a world-class factory, especially in places with long-term partnerships
.
We have already supplied industrial gas to Huntsman's factories in other regions, We are very happy to further consolidate and expand our partnership
.
Our company is committed to improving energy efficiency, reducing emissions, and leading the way in reliability and sustainable development
.
" • Tony Hankins, President of Huntsman Polyurethanes, said: “The reliability and environmental protection and energy conservation of Air Products’ new industrial gas plant will become an important foundation for supporting our North American polyurethane business
.
As a chemical company, we are committed to rapidly expanding our Downstream business and production capacity
.
This strategic shift can only be achieved when our MDI plant in Geismar has a stable supply of raw materials
.
We look forward to the successful operation of the Air Products plant in 2020.

”? The new plant is located in Cong On the land leased by Huntsman, approximately 6.
5 million standard cubic feet (MMSCFD) of carbon monoxide, 50 MMSCFD of hydrogen and up to 50,000 lb/h of steam will be produced every day
.
In addition, the plant can be expanded to increase future carbon monoxide production and support additional growth
.
? In addition to supplying Huntsman’s Geismar plant, Air Chemical’s new plant will also be connected to the hydrogen pipeline and network system (GCP) along the Gulf of Mexico.

.
This 600-mile pipeline is a dedicated facility in 2012 and is the world's largest hydrogen plant and pipeline network system
.
The GCP system extends from the Houston shipping corridor in Texas to New Orleans, Louisiana, and provides customers with more than 1.
4 billion feet of hydrogen per day from 22 hydrogen production facilities
.
? Painter said, "We recently announced that we will increase the hydrogen production capacity of the Gulf Coast pipeline for our customers in a project in Texas.
Now, when the Geismar plant is put into operation, we will once again enhance the reliability of the pipeline network system.
The supply of hydrogen
.
We continue to seek additional sources of hydrogen in order to improve the pipeline network system along the Gulf of Mexico and increase product supply capacity
.
”