Howden has signed a contract to supply hydrogen reciprocating compressors for Motor Spirits Block (MSB) Unit for the Numaligarh Refinery Expansion Project (NREP) in India.

Numaligarh Refinery Limited is expanding its refining capacity from its current three million to nine million metric tons per annum (MMTPA) by installing a new six MMTPA capacity Crude Oil Distillation Unit / Vacuum Distillation Unit and associated downstream process units as part of the NREP.

The hydrogen rich gas compressor supplied by Howden will be used in a Continuous Catalytic Reforming (CCR) process, which is part of MSB Unit for compressing the hydrogen rich gas. This is a unique compressor with six large cylinders to handle the high volume of hydrogen. In this process application, reciprocating piston type compressors are used for low pressure and high capacity hydrogen application. This results in large cylinders of approximately one meter in diameter, for which Howden is known to be the most experienced manufacturer.

One of the major factors for awarding this contract to Howden was our proven equipment reliability at competitive pricing, whilst meeting all the contractual requirements. With this contract we have demonstrated that we can be competitive in the local market by considering the right approach to address individual requirements.

Parvesh Mittal, Managing Director of Howden’s India business, comments: “Howden has proudly supported our customers in this region for over five decades. As a leading global provider of mission critical air and gas handling products, we work in partnership with our customers to deliver sustainable and customised solutions for their needs. With four sites in India - Chennai, Delhi, Hosur and Pune - we have responsive local service and delivery teams ready to support our customers.”

Howden equipment operates safely across a wide range of applications within the refining industry - Find out more.