LEHIGH VALLEY, Pa. (May 27, 1997) -- Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. announced today that it is pleased to have been selected by the U.S. Department of Energy to head a technology and business team that will develop a novel ionic ceramic membrane technology that could significantly reduce the cost of converting natural gas to synthesis gas for the production of transportation-grade liquid fuels and premium chemicals. The membrane could also offer a lower-cost way to produce hydrogen from natural gas. This technology combines an oxygen production process with a partial oxidation process.
The DOE cost-shared program will be conducted in three phases over eight years, leading to the construction of a pre-commercial-scale plant. The program is projected to cost $84 million, of which the DOE will contribute $30 million to the development effort.
Current members of Air Products' technology and business team include: ARCO (Plano, Texas); Argonne National Laboratory (Argonne, Ill.); Babcock & Wilcox, a subsidiary of McDermott International (Alliance, Ohio); Ceramatec (Salt Lake City, Utah); Chevron (San Francisco, Calif.); Eltron Research (Boulder, Colo.); Norsk Hydro (Oslo, Norway); Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (Richland, Wash.); Pennsylvania State University (State College, Pa.); and the University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, Pa.). |
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