Hydrogen – thyssenkrupp Uhde's hydrogen technology portfolio

World scale thyssenkrupp Uhde steam reformer

Hydrogen production: steam reforming, autothermal reforming and water electrolysis

thyssenkrupp Uhde offers the full range of large scale process technologies for the production of hydrogen. The process portfolio includes hydrogen production via water electrolysis (green hydrogen), steam reforming or autothermal reforming manufactured hydrogen with CO2 capture (blue hydrogen) or without CO2 capture (grey hydrogen). thyssenkrupp Uhde has built the first hydrogen plant in the 1960s. One hydrogen plant designed and built in 1967 for a refinery in Japan is still in operation and producing good quality hydrogen with great efficiency. We have built hydrogen plants all over the world and under all climatic conditions (e.g. on the cold side Canada and Finland and on the hot side Qatar and Thailand).

Project scope

We offer any project scope envisaged by our customers, from conceptual studies to complete EPC projects. The services offered by thyssenkrupp Uhde are not limited to hydrogen production technology. Also all required offsites and utilities can be provided. Therefore, our customers can get the entire hydrogen, engineering, procurement and construction know-how from one hand:

  • Conceptual studies; Revamp studies

  • Engineering (Process Design Packages, Basic Eng., Detail Eng.)

  • Procurement of equipment, bulk material and external services

  • Construction

  • Commissioning and plant start-up

  • Operator training

  • Project management consulting (PMC)

From grey to blue to green hydrogen: Revamps and customer support

thyssenkrupp Uhde has also experience in revamping of grey hydrogen assets and transform them into blue hydrogen facilities. With thyssenkrupp’s blue hydrogen revamp approach it is possible to retain existing plant configuration with only minor modifications to existing equipment. At the same time NOx emissions are reduced and reliable operation of the existing plant is ensured.

Green hydrogen through water electrolysis

Water electrolysis - splitting water in into Oxygen and Hydrogen - produces emission-free green hydrogen if renewable energy sources are used.

With our know-how in e.g. ammonia, fertilizer and methanol production we can even enable green chemicals production. Find out more here:

> Water electrolysis and green chemicals

Blue hydrogen for large scale hydrogen production

The transition of the energy sector from fossil fuels to hydrogen requires substantial amounts of hydrogen. In the short and mid run these quantities of hydrogen will be obtained from fossil fuels based on conventional process technologies for generating hydrogen. The carbon dioxide produced along with the hydrogen can be captured efficiently from the hydrogen production process. The captured CO2 can either be processed for long term storage or it can be used as a feedstock in industry. Examples of CO2 utilization include the production of methanol and urea, as well as the addition of CO2 to beverages.

thyssenkrupp Uhde has designed and built many world scale hydrogen plants around the globe. Some of these plants were designed with facilities to capture CO2 and have proven successful operation, their reliability and availability since years. Although, public opinion considers blue hydrogen as a new technology, thyssenkrupp Uhde has references and all required competences to design and build such blue hydrogen plants.

For small to large scale single train hydrogen production thyssenkrupp Uhde offers the uhde® Steam Reforming Technology. For very large scale hydrogen production either multiple steam reformers, also for redundancy reasons, can be installed or a single autothermal reformer can be used. For reforming based hydrogen production, the feedstock ranges from natural gas, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and refinery offgas to naphtha.

thyssenkrupp Uhde has developed an own CO2 removal technology which perfectly fits into new build and into existing hydrogen plants. The high degree of process integration ensures a maximum efficiency and the entire CO2 capture process is driven by waste energy from the hydrogen production process. 

Benefits of thyssenkrupp Uhde's blue hydrogen technology

  • Well-proven technology and decades of successful operation, with many world-scale references and experience

  • Dual steam system for reducing environmental impact and (by-)production of high quality superheated steam

  • All required process technologies inhouse including hydrogen manufacturing, CO2 capture and offsites/utilities for supplying the entire plant from one hand

thyssenkrupp's contribution to a green future

Here is how it works:

Water is split into Hydrogen and Oxygen using state of the art process technology. It is then combined with CO2 emissions inside a Methanol Plant to create environmentally friendly fuel for the future.

Learn more on our Power-to-X page.