Air Products (Lehigh Valley, Pa.; www.airproducts.com) announced it has formed a new joint venture (JV) with Linde North America named East Coast Nitrogen (ECN) and will build a new 1,100 ton per day world-scale air separation unit (ASU) and industrial gas liquefier in Glenmont, New York. An approximate capital investment of $60 million will be made in the new facility, which will produce liquid nitrogen (LIN), liquid oxygen (LOX) and liquid argon (LAR). The new plant, featuring Air Products’ latest technology, will be constructed and operated by Air Products with commercial status targeted for December 2018.
“There are several market reasons why this investment in a new and larger facility, and the formation of the JV make strategic sense for Air Products. The plant will use our latest technology and its capabilities will strengthen Air Products’ presence in the Albany, New York area. The facility will also provide a higher production capacity for all three products to be produced at the location and will put us in a position to better serve our customers and their future growth,” said Marie Ffolkes, president, Industrial Gases Americas at Air Products.
“This investment is one more in a series to support Linde’s growth and reliability plan in North America ,” said Chris Ebeling, vice president, Merchant & Packaged Gases Sales & Marketing, Linde North America. “This is our second Air Separation Unit joint venture with Air Products and we are confident this will be as successful as the previous one.”
The new facility will be built at the site of an existing Air Products plant already located in Glenmont, with industrial gas products to be distributed by Air Products and Linde independently to the market. The products produced will service the New York and New England regions, supplying various market segments including chemicals, food, electronics, primary materials, fabricated metals, health and medical, utilities and glass. The new plant will also significantly increase the amount of liquid argon available to Air Products.
“This expansion through the JV is consistent with Air Products’ efforts to leverage its production capabilities in order to reliably meet the needs of our growing customer base,” said John Robinson, vice president and general manager of Air Products’ Industrial Gases – Americas North Region.
The current Air Products plant at Glenmont was built in 1977, has over 400 tpd of liquid capacity and serves the New York and New England region. Use of the existing Glenmont land and infrastructure will produce project savings, expedite the on-stream of the new asset, and facilitate uninterrupted supply to the customer base during the construction phase.