Louisiana processing capacity

Processing Capacity of Added Nitrogen Entering Louisiana Weteand... 

A second pressure on elemental production was the development of processes which remove impurities from phosphoric acid made by the wet process, to generate acid of equivalent purity to that obtained by the electric furnace route. Two such plants were brought on stream one at Aurora, North Carolina in 1990 by a joint venture of Albright Wilson, Texasgulf, and Olin, and another at Geismar, Louisiana, in 1991 by Rhc ne-Poulenc. These units have reported capacities of 47,600 and 31,700 t/yr elemental phosphoms equivalent, respectively (14). 

There are 12 producers of ethylene oxide ia the United States. Table 9 shows the plant locations, estimated capacities, and types of processes employed. The total U.S. production capacity for 1992 was ca 3.4 x 10 metric tons. The percentages of total domestic production made by the air- and oxygen-based processes are ca 20 and 80%, respectively. The largest producer is Union Carbide Corp. with approximately one-third of the United States ethylene oxide capacity. About 94% of domestic ethylene oxide capacity is located on the Gulf Coast near secure and plentiful ethylene suppHes. Plans for additional U.S. production ia the 1990s have been announced by Union Carbide (incremental expansions), Eormosa Plastics (at Pt. Comfort, Texas), and Shell (at Geismar, Louisiana) (101). 

DeLaune, R. D., A. Jugsujinda, J. L. West, C. B. Johnson, and M. Kongehum. 2005. A screening of the capacity of Louisiana wetlands to process nitrate in diverted Mississippi River Water. Ecol. Eng. 25 315-321. 

Myriant (United States) received a grant Irom the US Department of Energy for their activities on the production of bio-succinic acid. These activities include building of a 20 000 litre reactor in Louisiana, modification of a leased facility of 15 000 ton/year and the construction of a greenfield plant also with a capacity of 15 000 ton/year. The Myriant process uses E. coli and unrefined sugar as feedstock. 

Although Haber invented his process more than 100 years ago, it is still very much an important process. For example, in late 2012 several compaiues announced plans for capacity expansion or new facilities [24]. Illinois-based CF Industries announced it will spend 3.8 billion through 2016 on new ammonia and ammonia derivative capacity at its plants in Louisiana and Iowa. Orascom Construction Industries announced plans for a 1.4 billion nitrogen fertilizer plant in Iowa and CHS Inc. announced plans for a 1 bilhon plant in North Dakota. 

The FCC process has been upgraded continuously since it was introduced in 1942. Two of the original three units built by Standard Oil of New Jersey at Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in 1942-1943 were still operating well after 1992. Combined production of PCLA 2 and 3 had been increased from 34,000 bpd of gas oil in 1943 to 188,000 bpd in 1992. PCLA 1 was dismantled in 1963 after expansion of the original 15,000 bpd capacity to 41,000 bpd. Many similar successful improvements have been made at other refineries. Table 5.15 shows how the developments in the FCC process and catalysts made this possible. It was a dynamic and flexible process. Further demands were made when reformulated gasoline was introduced, first in the United States and then in other parts of the world. 

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