Danbury industrial gas supplier Praxair Inc. broke ground in Memphis on an air-separation plant that starting a year from now will produce 600 tons daily, much of going to a nearby gasoline refinery and a steelmaker, authorities say.
The new plant is scheduled to start up in the second quarter of 2013. Price tag was unavailable.
Praxair currently operates three air separation units in the Memphis area which supply a number of customers, including steelmaker Nucor Corp. and refiner Valero Energy Corp.
Praxair agreed to supply Valero’s Memphis refinery with oxygen and nitrogen, which will be connected through a planned $50 million pipeline system, Memphis Business Journal previously reported.
As part of the agreement, Praxair will build a new air separation plant with a capacity of 450 tons per day, the paper reported. Praxair also will build two new six-mile pipelines for the supply of oxygen and nitrogen to Valero’s Memphis refinery at 2385 Riverport Road in Frank C. Pidgeon Industrial Park.
