Air Products pens deal to provide technology to Texas port project

Air Products will provide its liquified natural gas (LNG) technology to Sempra Infrastructure’s Port Arthur LNG Phase I project in Jefferson County, Texas. 

Air Products said it has signed an agreement with Bechtel Energy Inc. to provide the work. 

The Port Arthur LNG Phase 1 project is designed to include two natural gas liquefaction trains, two liquefied natural gas (LNG) storage tanks and associated facilities with a nameplate capacity of approximately 13 million tonnes per annum (MTPA). 

Air Products’ LNG equipment manufacturing facility in Port Manatee, Florida will manufacture two main cryogenic heat exchangers for its AP-C3MR LNG process technology.  

The expected commercial operation dates for Trains 1 and 2 for Port Arthur LNG are projected for 2027 and 2028, Air Products said.  

“We are honored to be selected for the Port Arthur LNG Phase 1 project and this opportunity to further support the North American LNG production market in the Gulf Coast. Our proven large-scale heat exchangers and unrivaled process technology are at the heart of the majority of LNG export facilities around the world, both on and offshore,” said Samir Serhan, Air Products COO.   

Serhan said the Port Manatee facility expansion in 2019 enabled it to meet the growing demand for LNG.  

This is the third Sempra Infrastructure project for which Air Products’ LNG technology was selected, the first being the three trains at the Cameron, Louisiana LNG facility that have been operating with AP-C3MR technology since 2019, and the second being the Energia Costa Azul (ECA) liquefaction project in Mexico. 

Under the agreement, Air Products will provide engineering, design and manufacturing of the heat exchanger equipment for the liquefaction sections of two large trains, which will use Air Products’ proprietary AP-C3MR propane pre-cooled mixed refrigerant liquefaction process technology.  

In addition, Air Products said it will provide engineering studies and technical advisory services for the installation and startup of each LNG train.  

Air Products opened its Port Manatee facility in January 2014 and completed a 60% expansion in October 2019 to meet the needs of the ever-growing LNG industry. In October 2018, a new LNG equipment test facility (ETF) was dedicated, which enables Air Products to continually improve the reliability and yield produced from its LNG equipment and to design new equipment, the company said.