Honeywell announced that ENEOS, a leading energy company in Japan, will develop a commercial scale liquid organic H₂ carrier (LOHC) project using Honeywell’s solution at multiple sites.

The LOHC solution enables the long-distance transportation of clean H₂ and can help meet the growing requirements for H₂ use across various industries by leveraging existing refining assets and infrastructure. The project supports Honeywell’s alignment of its portfolio to three compelling megatrends: automation, the future of aviation and energy transition.

“With more cost-effective long-distance transport, our LOHC provides a method of more closely matching international supply and demand for H₂ which enables H₂ to play a critical role in the energy mix as we move toward lower-carbon economies,” said Ken West, president and CEO of Honeywell Energy and Sustainability Solutions. “By providing solutions to help overcome the challenges of H₂ transportation, Honeywell is supporting ENEOS in transitioning to a H₂-powered future.”

This is one of multiple H₂ transportation projects on which Honeywell and ENEOS are collaborating. In the Honeywell LOHC solution, H₂ gas is combined chemically through the Honeywell Toluene hydrogenation process into methylcyclohexane (MCH) – a convenient liquid carrier – compatible with existing infrastructure. The H₂ at these sites will be exported – in the same way as petrochemical products – to ENEOS in Japan in the form of MCH. Once at its destination, the H₂ will be recovered using the Honeywell MCH Dehydrogenation process and released for use, while the toluene can be sent back for additional cycles.

H₂ is expected to play a critical role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. At standard conditions, H₂ is a flammable gas with low density and cannot be efficiently or easily transported. Current solutions available for transporting H₂ include liquifying the H₂ and using chemical carriers such as ammonia, each of which requires additional infrastructure to produce and transport H₂.