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Tag: Air Products

Air Products extends CEO’s term to 2028

Allentown-based Air Products’ board of directors announced an amendment to the employment agreement with Air Products’ chairman, president and CEO, Seifi Ghasemi, further extending his term.

The amended agreement will initially extend Ghasemi’s employment term to Sept. 30, 2028. On Sept. 30, 2024 and each year thereafter, the contract term will automatically renew to be a five-year term unless either party terminates the agreement at the latest, four years ahead of its then-expiration date. Commenting on the board’s action, lead director Edward L. Monser said, “Since becoming Air Products’ chairman, president and CEO nearly nine years ago, Seifi has led the company’s transformation into the world’s most profitable industrial gases company. He is a model for creating shareholder value while building an inclusive culture where employees act with integrity, commitment and purpose. The board’s action to extend Seifi’s employment agreement while maintaining our strong focus on his succession provides clarity and certainty for years to come and reflects our continued confidence in his ability to deliver.”

Ghasemi added: “It has been an honor and a privilege for me to work alongside the dedicated, talented and motivated team at Air Products. Working together over the past nine years, we have increased the market capitalization of Air Products from about $20 billion to more than $60 billion. Air Products has a tremendous growth strategy, underpinned by our core industrial gas business and by being the leader in the production and distribution of low- and zero-carbon hydrogen that will help to decarbonize the world.”

Air Products had fiscal 2022 sales of $12.7 billion from operations in over 50 countries.

Paula Wolf is a freelance writer

Warehouse plans for former Air Products site move forward

Plans to construct three warehouses on the site of the former Air Products headquarters are moving forward. 

Wednesday night the Upper Macungie Township Planning board gave final approval for the plans to redevelop the property at 7201 Hamilton Blvd. 

The project consists of the demolition of existing structures and associated underground utilities and the development of three commercial warehouses an associated waterline, sanitary sewer, storm sewer, and stormwater management facilities. 

The three warehouses are expected to take up approximately 61of the 235 acres of the former Air Products property. 

With the planning commission approval, the plans will next be before the Upper Macungie Township board of Supervisors at their July 6 meeting. 

Air Products recently moved its headquarters to a new property approximately a mile away from this location. 

Air Products to supply technology, equipment for LNG plant in China

Allentown-based Air Products announced Monday it has signed an agreement to supply its proprietary liquefied natural gas (LNG) process technology and equipment to Technip Energies for the Xi’An LNG Emergency Reserve & Peak Regulation Project with Shaanxi LNG Reserves & Logistics Company Ltd., in ShaanXi Province, China.

Air Products’ technology will be vital for the liquefaction train producing 800,000 tons per year of LNG when the plant becomes operational.

According to a release, this will be the largest liquefaction unit worldwide using a single electric motor-driven mixed refrigerant compressor, which will enable low-carbon LNG production to help meet the growing demand for clean energy. The LNG produced will be distributed to the Chinese market for residential and industrial use.

Under the agreement, Air Products will supply AP-SMR LNG Process technology as well as the engineering, design and manufacturing of the coil-wound main cryogenic heat exchanger for the liquefaction section of the plant. Air Products will also provide technical advisory services for the installation and commissioning, and performance testing when operational.

“Air Products is honored to be selected for this project and again work with Technip Energies to provide our unrivaled liquefaction process technology and equipment to the dynamic Chinese mid-scale LNG market,” said Dr. Samir J. Serhan, Air Products’ chief operating officer. “This project demonstrates how we are helping customers to optimize their facility’s overall performance with safe, sustainable solutions to achieve both production and environmental goals.”

The Xi’An LNG Emergency Reserve & Peak Regulation Project is Air Products’ fourth mid-sized liquefaction train placement in China.

The LNG equipment will be built at Air Products’ Port Manatee, Florida, facility, which completed a 60% expansion in October 2019 to meet the needs of the ever-growing LNG industry.

New facilities in Texas

Air Products also announced it will build, own and operate two world-scale carbon monoxide production facilities in La Porte and Texas City, Texas. Combined, they will produce over 70 million standard cubic feet per day of CO and will be connected to Air Products’ existing Gulf Coast – the world’s largest – CO pipeline network.

In addition, Air Products has new long-term CO supply contracts with LyondellBasell and Eastman Chemical Co. Both customers will be connected to and draw significant additional product via these new facilities.

At La Porte, Air Products will produce over 30 million cubic square feet per day of CO, with a vast majority to be supplied to LyondellBasell.

At Texas City, the new unit will produce over 40 million cubic square feet per day of CO, with a vast majority to be supplied to Eastman. Once onstream in 2026, the CO facility will be the world’s largest single source of CO production.

Paula Wolf is a freelance writer

Air Products to build commercial-scale hydrogen refueling station in Alberta

Allentown-based Air Products, the world’s largest producer of hydrogen, announced plans to build a multi-modal hydrogen refueling station near its new net-zero hydrogen energy complex under construction in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

The hydrogen refueling station, scheduled to open in 2025, will be Air Products’ first in Canada and the first commercial-scale hydrogen refueling station in Alberta, a release noted.

“This station is the next step in Air Products’ commitment to Edmonton and the province of Alberta and will serve as a model that can be replicated throughout Canada to grow the hydrogen economy, reduce emissions and assist Canada on its path to achieving net-zero by 2050,” said Eric Guter, Air Products’ global vice president, hydrogen for mobility. “Canada is well-positioned to be a leader in the clean energy future, and we are proud to build on Air Products’ investment in Western Canada to help accelerate the use of hydrogen as an emissions-free transportation fuel across the nation.”

The hydrogen refueling station is supported in part by $1 million (Canadian dollars) in funding from Natural Resources Canada’s Zero Emission Vehicle Infrastructure Program.

The state-of-the-art, high-efficiency station will include two hydrogen refueling lanes with dispensers for heavy-duty vehicles such as commercial and municipal trucks, and Air Products’ own truck fleet, with a filling time comparable to conventionally fueled heavy-duty trucks. The station also will have two fueling positions for light-duty hydrogen fuel cell cars and be available to retail customers.

The net-zero facility will connect to Air Products’ existing 55-kilometer pipeline network in the Alberta heartland to help refining and petrochemical customers reduce the carbon intensity of their operations and products.

Air Products currently operates three hydrogen production facilities in Alberta, as well as a hydrogen production facility, a 30-kilometer pipeline network and a liquefaction facility in Sarnia, Ontario.

Paula Wolf is a freelance writer

Air Products gets over $130M in NASA supply contracts

Allentown-based Air Products was awarded supply contracts from NASA totaling more than $130 million to provide liquid hydrogen for several NASA locations, including the Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

In a release, Air Products describes itself as the world’s largest producer of hydrogen and a first-mover in energy transition projects.

Under one public contract, which is already in effect and includes a maximum value of approximately $75 million, the company will supply NASA liquid hydrogen to support operations at the Kennedy Space Center and nearby Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

NASA also awarded Air Products a separate public contract, with a maximum value of over $57 million, to supply liquid hydrogen to facilities across the agency, including NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, and the Stennis Space Center in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi.

NASA uses liquid hydrogen, combined with liquid oxygen, as fuel in cryogenic rocket engines because its unique properties support the development of aeronautics.

“Air Products has a long history of working with NASA, stretching from the very beginning of the United States’ space program, to the Apollo 11 moon landing, and to the more recent missions to study Mars,” Francesco Maione, Air Products’ president, Americas said in the release. “We are proud to provide NASA with the industrial gases they need for their important work and look forward to continuing our many decades-long working relationship with the U.S. space program.”

Paula Wolf is a freelance writer

Air Products to further expand, open facilities in Buffalo, Edmonton

Allentown-based Air Products announced plans Monday to establish new Project Delivery offices in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, and Buffalo, New York.

A world-leading industrial gases company in operation for over 80 years, Air Products is focused on serving energy, environmental and emerging markets, a release said.

“Given the increasing number of projects in the United States and Canada, and the evolving footprint of our industrial gas business, additional offices in these locations will place our business in a strong position,” said Anthony Buzzeo, Air Products’ general manager – Americas. “We have strategically located these new execution offices close to our project sites, which has several benefits including access to a strong technical talent pool and proximity to several distinguished engineering schools.”

The Buffalo office will initially have approximately 75 employees, and the Alberta office will include over 40 employees. The Global Engineering and Manufacturing Technology Equipment offices will be a cross-functional space including executives, engineering, product, process gas, and air separation unit product line functions. The expansions will further strengthen collaboration between Air Products’ existing technical and large-project teams in the United States (Allentown, Houston), Europe (Hersham (UK) and Netherlands), Asia (Shanghai, Nanjing) and India (Pune, Vadodara).

The Alberta facility will make Edmonton the center of Canada’s hydrogen economy and “set the stage for Air Products to operate one of the most competitive and lowest-carbon-intensity hydrogen networks in the world,” the release said.

These two hydrogen projects are among several announced by Air Products and already in execution around the world.

Paula Wolf is a freelance writer

Rotoflow opens global turbomachinery hub in Shanghai

Bethlehem-based Rotoflow, an Air Products business, has opened a new Solutions Center in the Qingpu district of Shanghai, China, to better serve the turbomachinery needs of customers in Asia.

Using a local supply chain, the Shanghai facility will repair and service rotating machinery to serve the Asia market. The new Solutions Center features state-of-the-art diagnostic, testing, balancing and machining equipment and also will provide assembly and part cleaning as well as optimization and troubleshooting of equipment.

“Rotoflow is excited to open to our new Shanghai facility,” Aimee White, general manager of Gardner/Rotoflow & Standard Products, said in a release. “This new Solutions Center is an example of Rotoflow’s commitment to the region and will help Rotoflow meet customer needs and project demands quickly and efficiently.”

This will be Rotoflow’s fourth global hub, complementing ones in Bethlehem, Houston and Dhahran, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Rotoflow also has field service technicians located around the world.

The Shanghai facility will be staffed with production technicians, machinery and operations engineers, a machinery designer and a customer care specialist; it will also be used to build equipment for high-purity nitrogen plants and support Air Products equipment for Hydrogen for Mobility.

In addition, the Solutions Center will service turboexpanders, centrifugal compressors, reciprocating compressors, cryogenic pumps, small steam and gas turbines, gearboxes, fans and blowers.

Paula Wolf is a freelance writer

Canadian government investing $475M in Air Products project

The Canadian federal and provincial governments have announced approximately $475 million Canadian in project funding for Air Products’ multi-billion-dollar landmark net-zero hydrogen energy complex in Alberta.  

The facility, already under construction, will make Edmonton, Alberta the center of western Canada’s hydrogen economy and set the stage for Air Products to operate one of the most competitive and lowest-carbon-intensity hydrogen networks in the world. 

Under separate agreements, Air Products will receive: 

$300 million (CAD) from the Strategic Innovation Fund, Canada’s program designed to spur innovation for a better Canada by providing funding for large projects and national innovation ecosystems.  

Air Products’ project funding specifically comes from the Net-Zero Accelerator Program targeting industrial decarbonization in support of Canada’s 2030 greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets and its 2050 net zero emissions goal, among other objectives. 

Air Products will also receive more than $160 million (CAD) from the Alberta Petrochemicals Incentive Program, part of Alberta’s Recovery Plan to bring multi-billion dollar investments to industrial projects throughout Alberta, add value to natural gas production in the province, and help to strengthen, diversify and bring new life into the province’s economy and create new opportunities and jobs for Albertans. 

It will al so receive $15 million (CAD), which was previously announced, from Emissions Reduction Alberta’s Shovel-Ready Challenge, which aims to help deliver on the province’s environmental and economic goals by investing in clean technology that cuts greenhouse gases, attracts investment and creates jobs in Alberta. 

 

Air Products to build $500M green liquid hydrogen plant in New York

Allentown-based Air Products announced that it will invest approximately $500 million to build, own and operate a 35-metric-ton-per-day facility at a greenfield site in Massena, New York, to produce, distribute and dispense green liquid hydrogen. 

The plant is expected to begin commercial operation in 2026-2027. 

A release said Air Products is the world leader in hydrogen production and “a first mover developing and executing low carbon hydrogen megaprojects driving the energy transition.” 

This summer, the New York Power Authority approved 94 megawatts of low-cost St. Lawrence hydroelectric power to Air Products to support the project for its investment and creation of 90 jobs. 

The release noted that the facility will further New York state’s goal of becoming a Regional Clean Energy Hydrogen Hub. 

Product from the facility is expected to be sold to the mobility market in New York state and other industrial markets in the Northeast. If all the hydrogen is used for the heavy-duty truck market, climate benefits over the project’s lifetime would include avoiding more than 6 million tons of carbon dioxide – equivalent to emissions from over 600 million gallons of diesel. 

“We are very pleased to announce this proposed project as this shows our commitment to work closely with New York state to support its energy transition program by making real investments and creating highly paid jobs with our Massena green hydrogen project,” said Air Products Chairman, President and CEO Seifi Ghasemi. 

“This project is another demonstration of our leadership role in the low-carbon hydrogen and the hydrogen for mobility markets.” 

Air Products is also investigating the feasibility of establishing a hydrogen fueling station network in the Northeast. The company has announced plans to convert its global fleet of approximately 2,000 trucks to hydrogen fuel cell zero-emission vehicles. 

Paula Wolf is a freelance writer 

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