Lima, Ohio — PCS Nitrogen has announced a seven-week planned shutdown for its Lima, Ohio, facility, beginning Aug. 21, that will complete major upgrades at the facility. The company says the project will be one of the most comprehensive in the history of the Lima operation. The expansion will add 100,000 mt/y of ammonia capacity and 73,000 mt/y of urea. The added ammonia is targeted toward the Aurora, N.C., phosphate facility, which uses ammonia as an input. It is also expected to make the facility more flexible in meeting market demand for other products, such as diesel exhaust fluid. The company has invested over $350 million dollars in capital and maintenance spending over the past two years, with this outage being the second of two planned outages. During the shutdown period the company estimates approximately 1,200 additional contract personnel will be on site to assist in completing the capital projects and maintenance activities. The company told local residents to expect elevated noise levels during both the shutdown and startup, which is expected in early October. Increased traffic is also expected. Current capacity is put at 600,000 mt/y ammonia, 300,000 mt/y urea, and 900,000 mt/y UAN and other products.
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