South Korea's LG Chem to build 50,000 mt/year blue hydrogen plant

South Korea's leading chemicals maker LG Chem has decided to build a methane-fed hydrogen plant with a capacity of 50,000 mt/year at its complex on the country's west coast, in line with its long-term carbon emission reduction goals, the company said June 22.

"The company plans to break ground for the hydrogen plant at the Daesan complex in the first half of next year with an aim to finish construction by the second quarter of 2024," the company said in a statement.

It will be LG Chem's first plant to produce pure hydrogen, aside from byproduct produced from the company's existing petrochemical production, it said.

The hydrogen plant will use methane gas produced at the company's naphtha-fed steam cracker as feedstock for hydrogen.

"Hydrogen produced at the plant will be sent back to the naphtha-fed steam cracker to be used as its pyrolysis fuel, a process to reduce 140,000 mt/year of carbon emissions," the statement said.

LG Chem runs a naphtha-fed steam cracker at Daesan which has a production capacity of 1.27 million mt/year of ethylene and 650,000 mt/year of propylene.

"We will capture carbon dioxide emitted in the process of producing hydrogen from methane, which makes it blue hydrogen," it said.

Blue hydrogen refers to hydrogen produced from fossil fuels in a process that captures carbon dioxide emissions, while grey hydrogen is produced from fossil fuel such as natural gas, oil or coal, which generates carbon emissions in its production process.

Green hydrogen refers to hydrogen produced by splitting water through electrolysis, using renewable energy sources, such as wind power, without emitting carbon dioxide.

LG Chem also plans to use hydrogen to produce biofuels, the company said. "Hydrogen and other clean energy sources would account for 70% of fuels for the company's naphtha cracking center by 2025," it said.