Denmark’s Topsoe will be delivering its hydrogen production SynCOR technology to Exxon Mobil’s planned low carbon hydrogen production facility in Baytown, Texas under an agreement announced by Topsoe in a Feb. 15 press release. 

Topsoe’s SynCOR technology uses autothermal reforming principles to produce low-carbon hydrogen by converting natural gas into hydrogen and CO2 in the presence of steam at a large scale. 

Exxon anticipates the planned low-carbon hydrogen, ammonia and carbon capture facility built at the company’s integrated refining and petrochemical facility in Baytown will produce 1 Bcf/d of hydrogen. The low-carbon fuel will be delivered to nearby Houston-area facilities such as the Baytown olefins plant, potentially reducing CO2 emissions at the plant by up to 30%. 

“Once complete, this ambitious project will result in hydrogen that can be used for low-carbon fuels and chemicals to help meet global net zero targets,” said Elena Scaltritti, Topsoe chief commercial officer. “We are eager to start working with Exxon Mobil and to enable the capturing of massive volumes of CO2 emissions from the hydrogen production.”

SynCOR will enable Exxon to produce hydrogen at its Baytown facility at a mega scale and store approximately 7 million metric tons per year (mtpy) of CO2, more than 98% of associated emissions.  

“The scale of this project is expected to enable up to a 30% reduction in Scope 1 and 2 emissions from our Baytown facility by switching from natural gas as a fuel source to low-carbon hydrogen,” said Dan Ammann, president of Exxon Mobil Low Carbon Solutions.

The Exxon facility has a planned start-up in 2027-2028 and is expected to be the largest low-carbon hydrogen project in the world. 

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