Baytown breakthrough: Our next-generation hydrogen burner can help decarbonize a key industry

• Our new burner for steam crackers can run up to 100% hydrogen fuel.
• At our Baytown Olefins Plant, we’re the first to demonstrate this technology at industrial scale.
• Our demonstration achieved a 90%* reduction in direct CO₂ emissions.
• We’ve reached another milestone in our mission to help reduce emissions from key industries.

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Any list of “hard-to-decarbonize” sectors typically includes the chemical industry.  That’s because producing olefins–the building blocks for plastics and other modern materials–requires a large amount of heat. In fact, temperatures inside the furnaces that “crack” hydrocarbon molecules into olefins exceed 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit.

But what if these furnaces could run on hydrogen, a fuel that produces no CO₂ emissions when combusted?

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That would be a game changer.

And that’s exactly what ExxonMobil is doing right now at our olefins plant in Baytown, Texas, where we’ve designed and installed pyrolysis burners that can operate on up to 100% hydrogen fuel. A total of 44 burners were installed in one of the plant’s steam cracking furnaces.

Commercial testing of these next-generation burners began in December. We tested at 98% hydrogen, which is the maximum hydrogen concentration currently available for commercial demonstration at the site, and we were able to produce ethylene and other olefins identical to those produced via traditional methods.

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We’re proud to be the first company in the world to successfully demonstrate this technology at industrial scale.

“We’re leading the way on hydrogen because with global demand for plastics continuing to grow, finding ways to reduce emissions from olefins production is crucial,“ said Dan Holton, senior vice president of ExxonMobil Low Carbon Solutions.

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Getting “hydrogen-ready”

What’s next? We plan to install these 100% hydrogen-capable burners in additional steam cracking furnaces at our Baytown Olefins Plant over the next few years.

We’re getting “hydrogen-ready” because we’re planning to build a plant at Baytown that would produce up to 1 billion cubic feet per day of hydrogen. And not just any hydrogen: Ours will have very low carbon intensity because we will capture and store more than 98% of the CO₂ emissions associated with its production.

Switching to hydrogen can significantly reduce CO₂ emissions. For example, at the furnace in which we installed the new burners, we demonstrated a 90%* reduction in direct CO₂ emissions from the furnace during our tests.

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We hope our successful commercial test can encourage other manufacturers to make a similar switch. By using hydrogen to reduce emissions from olefins production, we can help reduce the carbon footprint of many essential products – everything from food packaging to car parts to medical equipment.

Today, pyrolysis burners are largely fueled by hydrocarbons, particularly natural gas.

The successful demonstration of these burners was the culmination of more than four years of work by our scientists, engineers and other specialists.

We are proud to be leading the way on hydrogen. As a landmark report by the National Petroleum Council said, hydrogen can reduce emissions at a lower cost to society than other options – while also supporting economic growth, creating jobs and strengthening energy security.

Like your stove’s burner, only much bigger  

Here are a few more things to know about our new burner technology:

• They’re big: Each burner has more than 500 times the heat output of the largest burners on a typical kitchen stove.
• They’re advanced: Typical pyrolysis burners can’t handle the unique challenges posed by high concentrations of hydrogen, which burns faster and hotter than traditional fuels like natural gas. Our new burners can do this reliably and safely – and our furnaces are designed to withstand those temperatures.
• They’re our design: We don’t just operate these burners – we also designed them. ExxonMobil is the world’s only operator of steam cracking furnaces with in-house furnace and burner technology, with more than 45 years of design and operating experience.

Learn more about how we are delivering emission solutions for key industries

Learn more about our Baytown operations

*ExxonMobil calculation based on fuel composition during testing relative to the baseline average fuel composition of the furnace. 

Source – ExxonMobile