Aviation among sectors to be served by Texas hydrogen production plant

A trio of partners is developing a new hydrogen production plant in Houston, Texas, that will serve aviation and other industries.

HNO International, a green hydrogen systems design, integration and product development company, is working with two other US-based partners to develop what it says will be “the world’s first 500kg per day green hydrogen production facility” in Houston, Texas. The hydrogen produced by this new facility will be made available to the civil aviation market, among other industries.

Having joined forces with Element One Energy, an expert in the design and manufacturing of electrolyzers and solid-state hydrogen storage systems, and Pneumatic and Hydraulic Company, which boasts a 60-year legacy in the compressed gas industry, HNO International says construction of the Houston plant is scheduled to be completed in the second quarter of this year, and will open to the public in June.

“This state-of-the-art facility is the inaugural installation in HNO International’s Scalable Hydrogen Energy Platform (SHEP), a modular and scalable hydrogen energy system designed to efficiently produce, store, and dispense green hydrogen from water using a 1.25MW electrolyzer,” explains HNO International. An electrolyzer uses electricity to split water into hydrogen and oxygen.

HNO International suggests that SHEP is “an ideal solution” for various industrial and commercial applications.

Civil aviation is among those industries. Against a backdrop of increasing interest and investment in hydrogen-powered aircraft — and some notable gains by stakeholders including European airframer Airbus and British hydrogen-electric aircraft developer ZeroAvia — a HNO spokesperson tells RGN: “Our facility will produce fuel cell grade hydrogen, which can apply to a range of applications, including hydrogen-powered aircraft.”

Headquartered in Temecula, California, HNO International has already made some notable achievements to advance decarbonization and Net Zero goals. It recently successfully demonstrated the clean hydrogen refueling of a Toyota Mirai utilizing its own Compact Hydrogen Refueling Station.

Though HNO International is not in any way affiliated with Toyota, its choice of the Mirai for this refueling test makes sense. In 2021, the Mirai set a Guinness World Record  for achieving the longest distance by a hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicle without refueling.

Pneumatic and Hydraulic Company, meanwhile, boasts a hydrogen division called Total Hydrogen Solutions, which already serves a broad range of industries, including notable aerospace clients like SpaceX, Blue Origin and NASA.

“Their extensive experience in fluid power solutions and high-pressure systems, along with their distribution lines of over 40 industry-leading brands of related equipment will be instrumental in this project,” says HNO International.