Hydrogen plant set for Edmonton

upgrading • Global gas producer Air Products said Thursday it will build its second large hydrogen-producing plant in the Edmonton region as demand continues to grow.

Hydrogen is used in the bitumen upgrading and oil refining process, and also in the fertilizer industry.

The new plant will be adjacent to Shell’s Scotford facility, with a link to the Air Products existing hydrogen pipeline system.

Air Products also has a plant adjacent to the Suncor refinery and supplies hydrogen to that facility and the nearby Imperial refinery.

Neil Shelly, executive director of Alberta’s Industrial Heartland Association, said Air Products takes natural gas and splits the methane component, which is composed of one carbon molecule and four hydrogen molecules.

Hydrogen allows upgraders to crack the heavy carbon molecular chain of bitumen to produce a lighter, refinery-ready crude oil.

The new Air Products plant will produce 150 million standard cubic feet per day of hydrogen.

The firm’s existing steam methane reformers next to Suncor produce about 180 million cubic feet.

The new plant, to be commissioned in late 2015 pending regulatory approval, will be built by France’s Technip.