AM-99-07 NEW HYDROGEN PLANT DESIGN ACHIEVES LOW COST AND HIGH EFFICIENCY

Description:

In September 1997, a new grassroots H2 plant was commissioned by a joint venture between BOC and Foster Wheeler. The joint venture was formed to capitalize on the strengths of BOC, a leading gas supply company, and Foster Wheeler, a major engineering contractor. Both are worldwide companies: BOC operates over 600 on-site gas supply units, and Foster Wheeler has designed over 80 hydrogen and syngas plants. The Compagnia Hidrogeno de Paraguana (CHP) plant (Figure 1) was completed 2 months ahead of schedule, and under budget. It is currently delivering up to 50 MMSCFD of high-purity hydrogen to PDVSA’s Paraguana Refining Center in Venezuela. PDVSA operates two of the world’s largest refineries at Amuay and Cardon on the Paraguana Peninsula. Both of them are complex refineries that make a wide range of products for Venezuelan domestic use and for export to the US market. In 1994 the Amuay refinery (Lagoven at the time) already had over 100 MMSCFD of H2 capacity, and more H2 was needed to meet US gasoline specs.