On July 28 2021, after one and a half years of preparation and seven months of construction, the first integrated natural gas hydrogen production and hydrogenation station in China was successfully put into trial operation in Nanzhuang, Foshan City! 

The 1000kg /day hydrogenation station is an integrated natural gas hydrogen production and hydrogenation station developed and constructed by Ally Hi-Tech Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Ally Hi-Tech) and invested and operated by Foshan Fuel Energy. Ally started its designing in October 2020 and its construction on December 28 2020. The installation of main equipment was completed on May 31 2021, the commissioning of main project was completed on June 28 2021 and the formal trial operation was completed on July 28 2021.

The smooth operation of the station is due to the overtime work of the Ally Hi-Tech team in the scorching sun and the strong support of departments of Foshan Fuel Energy!

After the project was established, Ally Hi-Tech and Foshan Fuel Energy had many technical exchanges on the hydrogen production process routes, standards and specifications, safety and other aspects of the station, and finally determined the newest domestic process route.

To subvert the industrial device into commercial equipment, under the pressure of time limit and only success is allowed, the R&D and engineering team of Ally Hi-Tech has made their great efforts. Learning from the experience of American Plugpower skid - mounted natural gas hydrogen production unit contracted by Ally, the team completed all engineering design in less than one and a half months.

Main features of the device:

1. The unit does not need steam supply. After the unit is started and reaches the set temperature, it can generate steam by itself. Also there is no exhausting steam so energy consumption is reduced. No gas drum and no waste heat boiler design with simple control saved the investment and land occupation area too. 

2. Raising the temperature of other processes to the working temperature while heating up the reforming simplifies the heating process of the traditional unit. The start-up time of the device is greatly reduced from 36 hours to less than 10 hours, and the system has high energy efficiency.

3. Using sulfur free and chromium free environment-friendly shift catalyst with wide temperature range independently developed by Ally for 7 years, compared with the traditional medium temperature conversion technology, the temperature controlled reforming technology can increase the CO conversion by more than 10% and the hydrogen efficiency by 2 ~ 5%.

4. The device can realize the function of hot standby. In short-term shutdown stage of the device, the equipment temperature of the device can be controlled near the working temperature through the low load operation of the burner. Feed gas can be directly fed in during the next start-up time, and qualified hydrogen can be produced within 2 hours. The usage efficiency of the device is improved.

5. The new heat exchange reforming technology reduces the height of the integrated reactor to 3.5m and the height of the reforming reactor. At the same time, there is no other equipment on the top of the reforming reactor so no high-altitude operation is required.

6. PSA system adopts 6 tower 3 times pressure equalization process, which can realize the "3 high" process of high purity, high yield hydrogen and high tail gas recovery. This process narrows down the range of pressure change in the adsorption tower, alleviates the scouring of gas flow on the adsorbent, prolongs the service life of the adsorbent and improves the yield.

7. The adsorbent has been strictly inspected and tested by our laboratory to ensure the adsorption and purification performance of the unit. The high-performance pneumatic control valve of PSA system is professionally manufactured by Ally, which has the characteristics of excellent sealing performance, invisible deformation of one million actions, two-year maintenance free time, etc.

This device has adopted 7 patents owned by Ally.

The completion and successful operation of the station represents that the domestic hydrogen energy industry has taken a milestone step in the technical and operational mode of the integrated hydrogen production and hydrogenation (gas filling and refueling) energy station, and realized the implementation of distributed hydrogen production and hydrogen supply. Nanzhuang station as a model has great value in demonstration  and promotion. 

Among the many restrictive factors in the development of hydrogen energy automobile industry, hydrogen cost is the top one. With the convenience of urban gas infrastructure, continuous hydrogen supply is one of the effective ways to reduce the end use price of hydrogen.

Ignoring the old-aged rules, daring to subvert tradition, willing to innovate and take the lead, Ally Hi-Tech becomes an important force to promote the development of the industry.

Ally Hi-Tech always adheres to its vision and never forgets the original intention: a green energy innovation technology company, providing sustainable green energy is our lifelong pursuit!