Adapting to Changing Market Conditions, the Evolution of Reforming Technologies to Meet Today's Hydrogen Supply Requirements

For more than 30 years, Air Products has been supplying hydrogen to customers. Over that time market drivers have shifted, and Air Products adapted designs and operating facilities to meet those challenges. Whether that was with an innovative cycle design, recuperative reforming, or capturing CO₂ for beneficial use, Air Products has led the way in bringing cutting edge technology to provide customers with reliable and cost-effective hydrogen solutions. Remaining competitive in the market place is the life blood of any of the major industrial gas companies. Air Products’ evolution with the market to provide innovative solutions in the past, present, and future will be presented. Examples of innovations in our existing fleet and current state of our offerings will be discussed including our Port Arthur facility where CO₂ is captured from a steam methane reformer. Bringing technical innovations to our fleet of more than 60 SMRs will be covered with a focus on how our approach delivers solutions to our customer base.

Steam methane reforming has evolved over time from refinery operated, basic reformer furnaces with relatively poor efficiencies to today’s over the fence highly heat integrated offerings from industrial gas companies. Early on, reductions in natural gas usage per H₂ has driven the industry to conducting analysis of heat exchanger network design. Requirements on export steam purities have further tested the ability of suppliers to provide steam turbine quality steam for customers at an incremental cost. Steam to carbon ratios and elimination of waste heat from the plant have generated further changes to design conditions and flowsheets. The advancement of purification technologies and hydrogen recovery have generated constraints on the reforming process design and operability. Environmental regulations create opportunity for improvement, as well as a challenge to the economic design of the plant. Fundamentals are at the heart of providing the insight necessary for generating technoeconomic solutions. The application of heat integration, use of CFD models, imaging, internet of things, and detailed optimization and process monitoring software have driven innovation and built our fleet.