Project Overview
A major industrial gas supplier supporting Vertex Energy’s refinery conversion to renewable diesel production needed substantial hydrogen capacity on an aggressive project schedule. Procuring comparable new equipment would have required significantly more capital and a much longer engineering and fabrication timeline.
Phoenix Equipment offered an alternative: an unused, never-installed 35,000 Nm³/hr hydrogen plant originally manufactured for the Saras refinery in Sardinia, Italy. The plant had been built in 2009 for a project that was never completed, leaving major hydrogen-production equipment in storage for more than a decade.
Phoenix acquired the complete plant, matched it with a U.S. industrial gas supplier supporting the Vertex renewable diesel conversion, and managed the transaction and international relocation from Italy to the United States.
The Challenge
The buyer needed substantial hydrogen capacity, but the solution also had to fit the process and integration requirements of a refinery conversion project. Nameplate capacity alone was not enough. The process design, equipment condition, documentation, configuration, and ability to incorporate the existing assets into a different facility all had to be evaluated before the acquisition could move forward.
The buyer also needed a solution that could support the project schedule without committing the capital and time required for a completely new hydrogen plant.
Why the Saras Hydrogen Plant Fit the Project
The available plant provided 35,000 Nm³/hr of hydrogen production capacity and included major equipment from established technology providers. The system featured a UHDE-designed syngas reformer and a Linde-designed pressure swing adsorption (PSA) unit.
Although the equipment had been manufactured in 2009, it had never been installed or operated. That gave the buyer access to major equipment from an already engineered hydrogen system without waiting for comparable new equipment to be manufactured.
For Saras, the transaction addressed a different problem. The company had valuable process equipment that had remained unused in storage for more than a decade with no planned internal application.
Technical Evaluation & Integration
Reusing a complete hydrogen plant required more than confirming nameplate capacity. The buyer had to evaluate the existing process design, equipment condition, configuration, documentation, and how the assets could be incorporated into the new hydrogen supply project.
The Saras equipment was evaluated for use in the hydrogen infrastructure supporting the Vertex renewable diesel conversion. ThyssenKrupp AG provided technical services to the new plant owner to support integration of the existing hydrogen plant assets into the new project.
That engineering work supported the integration of equipment originally manufactured for one refinery project into a different facility and operating application.
Plant Acquisition & International Relocation
Phoenix managed the acquisition and relocation of the complete plant from Italy to the United States. Because the major equipment had already been engineered and manufactured, the buyer could focus on technical integration, transportation, and installation rather than beginning a new fabrication cycle.
The project ran from September 2021 through November 2022, covering the commercial transaction and international movement of the equipment.
Project Outcome
The buyer acquired substantial hydrogen production capacity at significantly lower capital cost than comparable new equipment while reducing equipment lead time to months rather than the substantially longer schedule associated with a new plant.
For Saras, the transaction recovered significant value from a capital asset that had remained unused for more than a decade. Instead of continuing to store equipment with no planned operational use, the company was able to sell the complete plant for redeployment into a new industrial application.
Project Highlights
- Plant: 35,000 Nm³/hr Hydrogen Plant (Stock # 522)
- Application: Hydrogen Supply for Vertex Renewable Diesel Refinery Conversion
- Original Owner: Saras
- Original Location: Sardinia, Italy
- New Location: United States
- Process Equipment: UHDE-Designed Syngas Reformer and Linde-Designed PSA
- Condition: Unused / Never Installed
- Major Equipment Manufactured: 2009
- Phoenix Scope: Plant Acquisition, Commercial Coordination and International Relocation
- Technical Integration Support: ThyssenKrupp AG
- Project Timeframe: September 2021 – November 2022
- Project Value: Approximately $10 Million
- Buyer Benefit: Lower Capital Cost and Shorter Equipment Lead Time Versus New
From Stranded Capital to New Hydrogen Capacity
A process plant does not necessarily lose its value because the project it was built for never moves forward. In this case, major hydrogen-production equipment remained unused for more than a decade before a new application emerged.
Phoenix connected that stranded capacity with a U.S. project that needed hydrogen on a shorter schedule and at lower capital cost than new equipment. The result was an unused plant redirected into productive service rather than remaining indefinitely in storage.