Air Products to Build World-Scale Liquid Hydrogen Plant at its La Porte, Texas Facility

New Liquid Hydrogen Capacity Needed to Meet Increasing Market Demand

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Sep 11, 2018, 11:00 ET

LEHIGH VALLEY, Pa., Sept. 11, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Air Products (NYSE: APD), the leading global hydrogen provider, today announced plans to build a new liquid hydrogen plant at its La Porte, Texas industrial gas facility to meet increasing product demand from several customer markets. The liquid hydrogen plant will produce approximately 30 tons per day, will draw its hydrogen to be liquefied from Air Products' existing Gulf Coast hydrogen pipeline system network, and is to be onstream in 2021.

"The investment in this new liquid hydrogen production facility in Texas will assist with meeting current customer demand, as well as capture the increased growth that we see coming from several markets. Logistically, our La Porte plant has several operational benefits which make the site selection for this new facility a good choice. We are confident with this additional capacity that we will be able to meet the projected growing liquid hydrogen needs coming from the varied industries in the United States for which a reliable source of this product is vitally important to our customers' manufacturing operations," said Marie Ffolkes, president, Americas at Air Products.

Once liquefied at La Porte, the hydrogen will be delivered in trailers to customers in industries including: electronics, chemical and petrochemical, metals, material handling, float glass, edible fats and oils, and utilities. Air Products also has liquid hydrogen production plants operating in New Orleans, Louisiana; Sacramento, California; Sarnia, Ontario, Canada; and Rotterdam in The Netherlands.

The new facility at La Porte will join Air Products' existing hydrogen and syngas production operations, as well as an air separation unit. The liquid hydrogen plant will be connected to, and draw hydrogen from, Air Products' Gulf Coast Pipeline (GCP), the world's largest hydrogen plant and pipeline network system. The 600-mile pipeline span stretches from the Houston Ship Channel in Texas to New Orleans, Louisiana, and supplies customers with over 1.4 billion feet of hydrogen per day from 23 hydrogen production facilities.

Pipelines offer a safe, robust and reliable supply of hydrogen to industries around the world. Globally, Air Products' pipeline operational expertise is evidenced by its network of systems. Besides the GCP, Air Products also has a hydrogen pipeline in California in the U.S., in Sarnia, Ontario and Alberta, Canada, and in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

About Air Products
Air Products (NYSE:APD) is a world-leading Industrial Gases company in operation for over 75 years. The Company's core industrial gases business provides atmospheric and process gases and related equipment to manufacturing markets, including refining and petrochemical, metals, electronics, and food and beverage. Air Products is also the world's leading supplier of liquefied natural gas process technology and equipment.

The Company had fiscal 2017 sales of $8.2 billion from continuing operations in 50 countries and has a current market capitalization of about $35 billion. Approximately 15,000 passionate, talented and committed employees from a diversity of backgrounds are driven by Air Products' higher purpose to create innovative solutions that benefit the environment, enhance sustainability and address the challenges facing customers, communities and the world. For more information, visit www.airproducts.com.

NOTE: This release may contain forward-looking statements within the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are based on management's reasonable expectations and assumptions as of the date of this release regarding important risk factors. Actual performance and financial results may differ materially from projections and estimates expressed in the forward-looking statements because of many factors not anticipated by management, including risk factors described in the company's Form 10K for its fiscal year ended September 30, 2017.

SOURCE Air Products