Honeywell Technology will work with leading Japanese energy company ENEOS to develop the first Liquid Organic Hydrogen Carrier (LOHC). The project in the first in the world at a commercial scale, which will allow H2 to be sent by pipeline over long distances like oil or gas.
The revolutionary project plans to enable the type of long-distance H2 transportation that will be needed to meet the rising demands for this green hydrogen across a number of industries worldwide. It will use an updated version of exiting infrastructure and refining assets. H2 demand is expected to see substantial growth in coming years due to its role in global decarbonisation efforts.
The LOHC project is in alignment with the company’s portfolio of three growth area including aviation, automative and the way energy is supplied to industry.
“With more cost-effective long-distance transport, our Liquid Organic Hydrogen Carrier provides a method of more closely matching international supply and demand for hydrogen which enables hydrogen to play a critical role in the energy mix as we move toward lower-carbon economies,” said Honeywell Energy and Sustainability Solutions president and CEO Ken West.
“By providing solutions to help overcome the challenges of hydrogen transportation, Honeywell is supporting ENEOS in transitioning to a hydrogen-powered future.”
The LOHC solution uses the Honeywell Toluene Hydrogenation process to chemically combine H2 as a gas with methylcyclohexane (MCH), which acts as a convenient carrier with compatibility with existing infrastructure.
Hydrogen will be liquefied at the sites for the purpose of export comparable to the way petrochemical products are produced and shipped out. They will be sent to ENEOS in Japan in MCH form. Once it arrives, the Honeywell MCH Dehydrogenation process will be used to recover the H2. The toluene is then returned to Honeywell to be reused in the same process.
