LEHIGH VALLEY, Pa.,
June 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Air
Products (NYSE: APD) announced today it has been selected to
receive $253 million in Phase 2
funding from the United States Department of Energy (DOE) under the
Industrial Carbon Capture and Sequestration (ICCS) Program for its
ICCS project in Port Arthur,
Texas. The funding from the American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act-funded ICCS Program will be used for final
engineering, design, construction and operation of the project
through September 2015.
Air Products' project was the only industrial gas company-led
undertaking selected by DOE. The project is one of three to
receive Phase 2 funding from the DOE's Office of Fossil Energy's
National Energy Technology Laboratory, and to advance from the
initial 12-project Phase 1 selections announced last October.
DOE is funding 66 percent of the approximate $384 million project.
Air Products will design, construct and operate a
state-of-the-art system to capture carbon dioxide (CO2) from its
two steam methane reformers (SMR) located within the Valero
Refinery in Port Arthur. The
SMRs produce hydrogen to assist in the making of cleaner burning
transportation fuels by refinery customers on Air Products' Gulf
Coast hydrogen pipeline network. The recovered and purified
CO2 would then be transported by Denbury Green Pipeline-Texas, LLC
for use in enhanced oil recovery. The CO2 removal units will
be designed by Air Products and use technology to be retrofitted to
each SMR unit. Approximately one million tons of CO2 annually
will be recovered, purified and delivered via the pipeline for
injection into Denbury Onshore's enhanced oil recovery projects in
Texas.
"Air Products has been an integral team member of several carbon
capture demonstration projects around the world. We believe
the capabilities of our technology and experience were key factors
in gaining DOE funding to make this project possible. With
the Phase 2 selection in place, we are preparing to move forward
with this important project and look forward to achieving the
sustainability gains the project has to offer," said Wilbur Mok, vice president, North America
Tonnage Gases for Air Products. Details on Air Products' CO2
purification technologies can be found at
www.airproducts.com/CO2_capture.
DOE said in its Phase 2 selection announcement that successful
development of advanced technologies and innovative concepts
reducing CO2 atmospheric emissions is a key objective of the Obama
Administration's efforts to help mitigate the effects of climate
change. Carbon capture and storage (CCS) – which includes
technologies for capturing, transporting, and permanently storing
carbon dioxide emissions in geological formations – is viewed by
many experts as an important part of a portfolio strategy for
confronting the challenge. The projects announced today are
aimed at testing large-scale industrial carbon capture and storage,
an important step in moving CCS technology toward eventual
commercial deployment. DOE's announcement can be found at
http://fossil.energy.gov/news/techlines/2010/10017-DOE_Selects_Industrial_CCS_Project.html.
Air Products is currently working on several CCS demonstration
projects around the world for the power market. These
projects include:
- The world's first full demonstration of oxyfuel carbon capture
and sequestration with Vattenfall AB, one of Europe's leading energy companies. Air
Products is installing its proprietary CO2 capture, purification
and compression system at Vattenfall's research and development
facility in Schwarze Pumpe, Germany, which is viewed globally as the
preeminent CO2 oxyfuel project. Air Products' pilot plant is
to be operational in 2010.
- In cooperation with DOE, a 2010 project to design and construct
a CO2 purification system in support of an oxyfuel technology
development project at a boiler simulation facility in Windsor, Connecticut.
- In collaboration with the Alberta Energy Research Institute, a
2010 study focusing on advanced CO2 capture technology for use with
gasification.
- Air Products demonstrated oxyfuel sour compression technology
in experimental work (2008) carried out by Imperial College London
with flue gas from a 160 kilowatt coal-fired combustion
installation at Doosan Babcock's facility in Renfrew, Scotland, as part of the Oxycoal-UK
Project.
Additionally, a team led by Air Products and including Imperial
College London and Doosan Babcock Energy Ltd. was presented the
Rushlight Carbon Capture and Storage Award 2008 for work addressing
impurity removal in CO2 waste streams from coal-fired power plants.
The Rushlight Awards promote and celebrate the leading
environmental technologies and innovations by organizations
throughout the UK and Ireland.
Air Products (NYSE: APD) serves customers in industrial, energy,
technology and healthcare markets worldwide with a unique portfolio
of atmospheric gases, process and specialty gases, performance
materials, and equipment and services. Founded in 1940,
Air Products has built leading positions in key growth markets
such as semiconductor materials, refinery hydrogen, home healthcare
services, natural gas liquefaction, and advanced coatings and
adhesives. The company is recognized for its innovative
culture, operational excellence and commitment to safety and the
environment. In fiscal 2009, Air Products had revenues of
$8.3 billion, operations in over 40
countries, and 18,900 employees around the globe. For more
information, visit www.airproducts.com.
***NOTE: This release may contain forward-looking statements.
Actual results could vary materially, due to changes in current
expectations.
SOURCE Air Products