LSB Industries Inc. on July 11 gave an update on its El Dorado, Ark., and Pryor, Okla., nitrogen plants, which have been undergoing repairs. While the company will have to build a new nitric plant at El Dorado, other plants are gradually ratcheting back into production as planned. Over at Pryor, UAN production has resumed after going offline Feb. 27, and the company is readying for a new converter for its ammonia plant and has gained permits for two small ammonia plants.
A May 15 explosion at the El Dorado facility (GM May 21, p. 1) caused major damage at the 98 percent concentrated nitric acid (DSN) plant and peripheral damage to other plants at that location. On June 5 (GM June 11, p. 1), LSB provided an assessment of damages and its plans to resume production. LSB said it restarted regular nitric acid and ammonium nitrate production, as planned, on a partial basis in June, and is on track to increase that production during July and August as various plants are brought back online, as per the originally announced timetable.
LSB has determined that repairing the DSN plant is not feasible. It intends to replace the nitric acid production capacity lost by this event with a new nitric acid plant. Engineering is underway to determine the specifications for the new acid plant. Before the May 15 event, the DSN plant produced approximately 20 percent of the nitric acid manufactured at the El Dorado facility.
The three other nitric acid plants, which produce approximately 80 percent of the nitric acid at El Dorado in concentrations from 56-63 percent, sustained less damage and are being brought back online. The first of these three has returned to full production, and the other two should restart later this month and in August.
Both the high density and low density ammonium nitrate prill plants are ready for full production as acid production continues to be restored. These prill plants are currently operating at less than full capacity due to limited availability of feedstock.
Company-wide, LSB nitric acid capacity is listed as approximately 1.2 million st, with El Dorado representing about 41 percent of company capacity. El Dorado can also upgrade acid to other products, particularly ammonium nitrate. AN site capacity is listed at 602,000 st/y, just less than half of LSB’s 1.3 million st/y capacity.
Production at the sulfuric acid plant should resume before year end. Before the May 15 explosion, sulfuric acid was approximately 8 percent of the El Dorado facility’s sales.
LSB said all loading and unloading facilities are fully operational. The temporary nitric acid control room is operational, and plans are being prepared for a new permanent control facility. Repairs to the permanent electrical service and various support facilities are nearing completion. LSB said it is continuing to work with its insurance carriers and is making good progress.
As for Pryor, LSB said that plant is once again producing UAN. Back in March, the urea plant was taken out of operation to repair a break in the reactor’s stainless steel liner.
On April 25 (GM April 30, p. 1), LSB determined that the break could not be repaired, so it decided to replace the liner and announced that the urea plant would be down through the second quarter. The liner replacement is complete, and as a result UAN production has resumed. Annual UAN production at Pryor is 416,000 st/y, or 34,666 st/m. During the time that the urea plant was down, Pryor continued to produce and sell ammonia and downstream products.
The main ammonia plant at Pryor has been recently producing at approximately 75 percent of 2012 previous operating rates because of problems with the ammonia converter. “Despite the fact that our Pryor facility has been extremely profitable, it has not yet achieved its full potential,” said Jack Golsen, LSB board chairman and CEO.