Air Liquide joins Baytown mega-project

Large-scale air separation units to enable hydrogen, ammonia production

Click to learn more. Air Liquide will build, own and operate four large air separation units in Baytown Texas, producing feedstocks for hydrogen and ammonia production by ExxonMobil at an adjacent plant. Source: Air Liquide.

Air Liquide will invest up to $850 million to build, own and operate four large air separation units as part of ExxonMobil’s low-carbon hydrogen project in Baytown, Texas. The units will provide nitrogen and oxygen feedstock to ExxonMobil, which will be used to produce hydrogen (high-purity oxygen is required for the autothermal reforming process), and subsequently ammonia. The “low-carbon industrial gas platform” will produce up to 9,000 tons per day of oxygen, and up to 6,500 tons per day of nitrogen. As part of the agreement, ExxonMobil will also leverage Air Liquide’s existing pipeline infrastructure in Baytown and surrounds.

Our Baytown Low Carbon platform project demonstrates our capacity to innovate and leverage on our footprint in the U.S. to actively contribute to the decarbonization of the industry. Through this new agreement with ExxonMobil, Air Liquide is proud to support the development of what is poised to be the world’s largest low-carbon platform while reinforcing its gas offering in this key industrial basin. In line with our strategic plan ADVANCE, this major investment is a concrete example of our determination to embark on first-mover projects to contribute to the emergence of a low-carbon future.

François Jackow, CEO of Air Liquide in his organisation’s official press release, 24 June 2024

The four units will be what Air Liquide terms “Large Modular Air” separation units. These reportedly use 25% less electricity per ton of oxygen produced, further reducing the carbon footprint of the feedstock when powered with low-carbon or renewable electricity. Significant volumes of Argon and rare gases such as Krypton and Xenon will also be produced for Air Liquide’s other customers. Once FID is achieved, this will represent Air Liquide’s largest-ever industrial investment, as well as increasing its oxygen production capacity by 50% in Texas.

In February, Korea-based SK Inc. Materials announced that it would act as an off-taker for low-carbon ammonia from Baytown, which will be imported to Korea and used in power generation applications. JERA (which just concluded successful ammonia co-firing trials at the Hekinan power plant) is also considering part-ownership and off-take from the Baytown project. In Singapore, ExxonMobil also has an exploratory partnership with Keppel focused on hydrogen-fired power generation on Jurong Island.