Engineering & Technologies

Delivering the future, today

Deploying a century of deep expertise and innovation, Air Liquide turns ambitious ideas into reality. Our innovations and technologies drive progress, advance industries, boost semiconductors, and enable the energy transition. Our people turn global challenges into opportunities. We deliver solutions that create real and lasting impact for our customers and society at large.

Delivering innovation

Our Engineering & Technologies (E&T) activity brings together Air Liquide’s expertise in technology, engineering, construction and project development and execution, to design and deliver cutting-edge industrial solutions.

With its unique portfolio of technologies and expertise, E&T offers a wide range of solutions to accompany the growth and meet the evolving needs of our customers, from the design of industrial gas production units to the manufacture of cryogenic equipment for space and energy applications, as well as low-carbon technologies such as electrolyzers and CO₂ capture solution or technologies for the semiconductor industry. 

E&T’s ambition is to provide the Group and its customers with efficient, sustainable, and competitive solutions, while supporting the transformation of industrial sectors towards more responsible growth.

 

Developing solutions to decarbonize the industry

Breakthrough solutions for deep tech

Scientific research

We support major scientific partners and projects, including in the fields of fusion power and quantum computing, with our expertise in mechanical cold production, gas liquefaction and storage and distribution of cryogenic fluids at extremely low temperatures.

Space

Our expertise includes launch pad infrastructure, on-board cryogenics, and ground test equipment for launchers and satellites. We also develop energy production and storage technologies, as well as air purification equipment, to support space exploration. 

 

Creating value through our technologies

  • Electrolyzers for sustainable hydrogen production

    The Air Liquide and Siemens Energy joint venture state-of-the-art gigafactory in Berlin, is a highly automated 2,000 m² plant utilizing cutting-edge robotics to produce proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolysis stacks. The joint venture has already supported Air Liquide’s 20 MW Trailblazer project in Oberhausen, Germany and now, several of Air Liquide’s hydrogen projects, including the 200 MW Normand’Hy project in France, 200MW Elygator Project and 250MW Air Liquide / TotalEnergies Joint Venture project in the Netherlands.

  • Autothermal reforming based low-carbon hydrogen and ammonia technology

    Drawing on seven decades of expertise, Air Liquide's proprietary Autothermal Reforming Technology (ATR), combined with carbon capture, facilitates industrial-scale low-carbon hydrogen and ammonia production with a carbon capture rate of up to 99%. In 2023, this advanced technology was chosen for Japan’s inaugural ATR demonstration project by INPEX, aimed at efficiently producing large-scale low-carbon hydrogen and ammonia.

  • Cryocap™, CO₂ cold capture system

    Cryocap™ technology captures CO₂ released during hydrogen production through a cryogenic process. The first industrial deployment occurred at the largest steam methane reforming hydrogen production unit operated by Air Liquide in Port-Jérôme, France, showcasing the potential of Cryocap™ to significantly reduce CO₂ emissions.

  • The world’s largest plants for industrial gas production

    Air Liquide has engineered the largest single train air separation unit ever constructed. With a capacity of 5,800 tons of oxygen per day at mean sea level, this unit supplies industrial gases to Sasol’s Secunda site in South Africa. By 2030, Air Liquide plans to reduce the plant's CO₂ emissions by 30-40% through the integration of 600 MW of renewable energy.

    The Group has also designed and built units for the global-scale hydrogen production site in Yanbu Industrial City in Saudi Arabia with a total capacity of 340,000 Nm3 per hour.

  • Highly energy efficient Nitrogen Generator for the electronics market

    The electronics market is rapidly evolving, driven by the key trend in digital transformation and the subsequent market demand and global growth. To support this growth, Air Liquide is scaling up investments in major semiconductor Fabs, enhancing customer’s presence in key markets such as smart mobile devices, automotive, IoT and data centers. Air Liquide’s Nitrogen Generator for the electronics market enable the production of large quantities of ultra-pure nitrogen and other molecules with optimized best-in class efficiency.

  • Biomethane solutions

    We design and manufacture biomethane production units that purify biogas from agricultural, household, or industrial waste. Biomethane has many applications, notably clean mobility (as natural gas for trucks, buses, ferries etc.), electrical networks, and heating. We master its entire value chain, from production to distribution.

  • Turbo-Brayton

    This innovative solution is particularly acclaimed by the maritime transport industry as it effectively addresses the challenges of onboard boil-off gas reliquefaction. This continued commercial and industrial success illustrates the capacity of the Group to develop innovative and efficient technological solutions toward full industrialization to best meet a critical market need. In 2024, Air Liquide reached a new milestone with its Turbo-Brayton cryogenic equipment, with nearly 70 units ordered during the year.