French firm subsidiary Air Liquide Arabia has began producing hydrogen from Yanbu Industrial City, located on the west coast of Saudi Arabia
Air Liquide Arabia is a joint venture company incorporated in 2008 in Saudi Arabia, between France’s Air Liquide and Saudi Arabian company TAQA.
Announced in 2010, this investment of more than €350mn (US$393mn at current exchange rates) represents both the largest industrial investment and largest hydrogen contract of the group.
As stated in the long-term agreement, Air Liquide Arabia will supply hydrogen to the new YASREF refinery, joint venture between Saudi Aramco and Sinopec, located in Yanbu.
YASREF will process 400,000 barrels of heavy crude oil per day and the hydrogen will allow the reduction of the sulfur content of the produced fuels, and meet the environmental standards for cleaner transportation fuels, the French multinational company said.
With two global-scale hydrogen production units and one purification unit, the Air Liquide site has a total hydrogen capacity of 340,000 cu/m per hour. The production will ramp up, according to the needs of YASREF, during the course of 2015.
The units were designed and built by Air Liquide Engineering & Construction teams using proprietary technology.
Pierre Dufour, senior executive V-P of Air Liquide Group, said, “This new global-scale project reinforces our strategic presence in the Middle East, where we continue to develop our industrial gas infrastructure. The decision by such a large refinery to outsource its hydrogen production is a first in the Middle East, and representative of a growing trend in the region. Thanks to its technologies and operational know-how, Air Liquide offers its customers high value-added solutions that contribute to their competitiveness in the long run.”
According to the company, the new project also demonstrates Air Liquide’s capacity to deliver reliable, energy efficient and competitive industrial gas supply solutions that enable its customers to concentrate on their core business. The presence of significant industries such as refining or petrochemical in the industrial basin of Yanbu will allow Air Liquide to further develop and optimise the hydrogen supply to its customers in this region.
