Air Liquide announces the start-up of its global-scale hydrogen production site in Yanbu Industrial City. Announced in 2010, this investment of more than 350 million euros represents both the largest industrial investment and largest “over the fence” hydrogen contract of the group.

In the context of a long-term agreement, Air Liquide Arabia will supply hydrogen to the new YASREF refinery, a joint venture between Saudi Aramco and Sinopec, located in Yanbu, one of the main industrial areas of the country and a high growth area for refining and petrochemicals.

YASREF is the largest refinery in the region and will process 400,000 barrels of heavy crude oil per day. Hydrogen will allow the reduction of the sulfur content of the produced fuels, and meet the environmental standards for cleaner transportation fuels.

With two global-scale hydrogen production units and one purification unit, the Air Liquide site has a total hydrogen capacity of 340,000 Nm3/hour. The production will ramp up, according to the needs of YASREF, during the course of 2015.

The units were designed and built by Air Liquide Engineering & Construction teams using proprietary technology. Construction of the complex is characterized by an excellent safety record with over 6.2 million hours worked with zero lost time accidents.

Its start-up illustrates Air Liquide’s capacity to execute very large projects on time and on budget.

Pierre Dufour, senior executive vice president of the Air Liquide Group, said: “This new global-scale project reinforces our strategic presence in the Middle East, where we continue to develop our industrial gas infrastructure. The decision by such a large refinery to outsource its hydrogen production is a first in the Middle East, and representative of a growing trend in the region.”