LSB reaches mechanical completion on new El Dorado ammonia plant

LSB Industries announced today that the new 375,000-ton ammonia plant at its El Dorado facility in Arkansas facility is now mechanically complete. 

LSB said it defines mechanical completion as it relates to the El Dorado ammonia plant as having concluded the installation of process vessels and rotating equipment, including associated piping and valves. 

Additionally, utility equipment systems such as cooling water, steam generation, raw water treatment, and air systems, along with related piping, have been installed.

Currently, all that remains to fully complete construction activities at the El Dorado plant is the connection of the electronic instrumentation wiring to the field instruments, along with the painting and insulation of the piping and process vessels, and the final grading and concrete containment for proper drainage of the process area.

As of Jan. 31, 2016, LSB’s investment in its El Dorado expansion project, which along with the ammonia plant, includes the construction of a new nitric acid plant and concentrator that was completed in 2015, totaled approximately $730 million. 

The company said it expects the remaining expenditures necessary to complete the pre-commissioning and commissioning of the ammonia plant and to put it into production to be in the range of $101 million to $125 million. 

Pre-commissioning will involve the flushing of any materials from the piping throughout the plant, in addition to the installation of the process catalyst inside the reactor vessels. The commissioning phase will entail the activation and filling of the utility systems, reduction of process catalyst, and final testing of process control systems.

“Mechanical completion represents one of the final critical phases in our [El Dorado] expansion project,” said Daniel Greenwell, LSB’s chief executive. “We were able to achieve mechanical completion in the timeframe that we outlined in September of last year, and we continue to expect ammonia production at El Dorado to begin early in the second quarter of 2016. 

"We also expect that the cost of the project will not exceed the budget of $831 million to $855 million that we have previously disclosed," he added. "We believe that the ammonia plant will significantly enhance the financial performance of the El Dorado facility and have a positive economic impact to LSB’s overall performance. We look forward to sharing these results with our shareholders in the upcoming quarters.”