Air Products to Build New Hydrogen Plant in Malaysia

Air Products, a hydrogen provider, announced earlier this week that it is building a new hydrogen production facility in West Port, Selangor, Malaysia to support increasing product demand in the region.

"The new facility will increase our production capacity in West Port and strengthen Air Products' leading hydrogen position in Malaysia," said Douglas Hayes, vice president and general manager of Asia Tonnage at Air Products. "Our customers in this region have growing businesses, and they expect their hydrogen supplier to grow with them and continue to provide them with reliable supply."

The new facility will be Air Products' second hydrogen plant in West Port.

The steam methane reformer (SMR) will have a hydrogen production capacity of more than 1.5 million standard cubic feet per day and is projected to be completed in the first quarter of 2011. It will supply high purity hydrogen and steam to its on-site customer and also supply the fast growing merchant hydrogen market in central Malaysia.

The hydrogen produced by the SMR is used by a variety of industries including oleochemical manufacturers who produce fatty alcohols, fatty acid and methyl esters. Ultimately these products are used to manufacture surfactants and derivatives for a variety of end use markets including cosmetics, toiletries, detergents, plasticizers, lubricants and disinfectants.