Messer Americas has announced a more than $9m liquid carbon dioxide (CO2) plant upgrade investment as part of an agreement with industrial and agricultural chemicals company LSB Industries.
The upgrade is part of a wider long-term renewal of a CO2 purchase and sales agreement between the US-based firms and will take place at LSB’s Cherokee, Alabama.
LSB’s Cherokee site is an ammonia plan, which mostly focuses on nitrogen-based products. Product produced at the site are mainly used for fertilizers, as well as other industrial applications.
Messer’s investment will support continued safe and reliable operations for CO2 production.
Chris Ebeling, Executive Vice-President of Sales and Marketing, North America, at Messer Americas, said the partnership bolsters its nationwide CO2 network providing supply chain continuity.
“The efficiency upgrades for the plant modernisation effort will add more molecules to our network and reduce CO2 emissions at the site in-line with our sustainability goals.”
In July, gasworld was warned about expected CO2 shortages in the US throughout the summer and into the autumn, with several plant closures to be expected.
Read more: Warning of potential CO2 supply disruption in the US
What is causing concern, however, is the depth of expected plant shutdowns. Jeff Holyoak, Vice-President of Sales and Market Development for TOMCO Systems, told gasworld planned maintenance shutdowns could be longer than in previous years.
“In good years of low natural gas pricing, these plants might shut down for two or three weeks for preventive maintenance,” he said. “But it’s been spoken about this year that closures could be four, six, or even eight weeks.”
“Natural gas prices are escalating and remain high, significantly impacting ammonia production, as it is a major cost driver. High natural gas prices often make it uneconomical to operate these facilities, leading to frequent shutdowns.”
Holyoak was speaking on this week’s In Conversation With…webinar on gasworld TV, during which he also described ‘some cracks in that armour again’ of the CO2 market and added that he expected the disruption to be felt in the third and fourth quarters of the year.
Watch the full webinar on demand here.
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