Pascagoula-Mississippi Phosphates Inc. said Feb. 29 that it expects its idled sulfuric acid plant at Pascagoula, Miss., to return to production during the week of March 17. On Feb. 20, there was a weld failure at the facility, which occurred two days after the plant had returned from a 30-day shutdown for repairs. Miss Phos said the weld rupture caused only minimal damage to the internals of the converter, with no apparent damage to other areas of the plant. Miss Phos said analysis indicated that the failed weld dates back to the original construction in the mid-1970s. It said while the original weld was defective, it had not failed earlier due to design safety factors in the original construction. During the recent shutdown, the company replaced a heat exchanger which was limiting the maximum daily sulfuric acid production to 1,450 st/d. The same exchanger is limiting production at the other sulfuric acid plant to 1,150 st/d. That exchanger will be replaced during a maintenance shutdown expected in May 2008. The cost to complete the fabrication and installation of the replacement heat exchanger is $1-$1.2 million. Until the idled acid plant is back up, sulfuric acid and DAP production are expected to be 1,150 st/d and 900 st/d, respectively.
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