Texaco Inc. and Union Carbide Industrial Gases Inc. (UCIG) have formed a joint venture to develop and operate hydrogen plants.
The venture, named HydroGEN Supply Co., is owned by Texaco Hydrogen Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Texaco, and UCIG Hydrogen Services Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of UCIG.
Plants built by HydroGEN will combine Texaco's HyTEX technology for hydrogen production with UCIG's position in cryogenic and advanced air separation technology.
Texaco said U.S. demand for hydrogen is expected to increase sharply during the next decade, while refinery hydrogen supply is expected to drop.
The Clean Air Act amendments of 1990 require U.S. refiners to lower aromatics in gasoline, resulting in less hydrogen recovered by refiners from catalytic reforming units. Meanwhile, requirements to reduce sulfur in diesel fuel will require more hydrogen capacity.
Texaco estimates new hydrogen demand by U.S. refiners could exceed 4 bcfd during the next 10 years.
HydroGEN is negotiating with a number of refiners to develop HYTEX projects to meet their hydrogen needs.
The HyTEX process, developed by Texaco's alternate energy group, generates hydrogen from natural gas and refinery offgas streams.
Texaco said HyTEX, which employs the Texaco Gasification process, offers a number of advantages over conventional hydrogen generating technologies, including capital cost reductions, high reliability and feedstock and operating pressure flexibility.
In addition, the company said, nitrogen oxide emissions are far lower than traditional methods of hydrogen production. And carbon dioxide emissions are reduced due to the efficiency of the HyTEX process.
The HyTEX process uses oxygen to convert the feedstock to hydrogen.
The integration of UCIG's air separation technology to produce oxygen for the HyTEX process will reduce operating costs and improve efficiency, Texaco said. This includes UCIG's technology in the fields of turbomachinery, structured packing, and process design integration.
The Texaco gasification process can use different feedstocks, including coal, heavy oil, petroleum coke, waste gas, and other hydrocarbons. It produces a synthesis gas for use in the petroleum industry, chemical manufacturing, and electrical power generation.
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