Hydroedge: Construction of Hydrogen Production Plant

HydroEdge Corporation was established in April 2005 as a joint venture between Iwatani International Corporation and the Sakai LNG Company of the Kansai Power Company Group. Its gas separation facility and liquified production facility was established using Sakai LNG Company's cooling and heating system, and it supplies liquified oxygen, liquified nitrogen, liquified argon and liquified hydrogen. We have been involved since the planning stages of the establishment of HydroEdge, and in 2004 were given an order for our well-regarded hydrogen production plant.

Our plant produces hydrogen gas, which is the feedstock for the production of liquified hydrogen, and consists of a feedstock supplier, reformer, waste heat recovery plant and hydrogen purification equipment. The heart of the plant is the reformer. It employs the Howe-Baker method of steam reforming, with which we have a proven track record. In addition, we have adopted the PSA process made by Iwatani International's affiliate QuestAire Corporation, for hydrogen purification.
This PSA process, as opposed to the usual exchange method of automatic valves, uses a separation mechanism known as rotary valves for gas exchange. This result is far more compact equipment.

Since this project was the construction of a brand-new facility, many independent contractors were involved in activities including public-works construction, electrical work, facility construction, etc. Since our client's schedule was very tight and the project be completed for operation in April 2006, we proceeded immediately. Working closely together with the client and the contracting firms, by December 2005 we were able to deliver without any accident the facility, including performance testing, to the client.
The client was pleased that we were able to deliver the facility within the project schedule.