UPDATED: 07/23/2017 — see Change Log

OWNER: Dyno Nobel (Incitec Pivot Limited)
PROJECT: Nitrogen production complex[memberful does_not_have_subscription=”1314-ammonia-industry-annual-subscription,1311-ammonia-industry-monthly-subscription,3338-ammonia-industry-30-day-subscription”]

COST (reported): None given
JOB CREATION (reported): 169 permanent — see Job Openings [LINK]
START-UP DATE (reported): 1965

CAPACITY	USGS[1]	COMPANY[2]	PERMIT[3]	ADJUSTED[4]
Ammonia	178,000 mtpy		[Membership required]	[Membership required]
Units: stpd, stpy, mtpd, mtpy = short/metric tons per day/year. [1] United States Geological Survey (USGS) Mineral Yearbook, Nitrogen gives capacity in metric tons per year, calculated as “engineering design capacity adjusted for 340 days per year of effective production capability,” rounded to three significant digits. Source: most recent year, Table 4: Domestic Producers of Ammonia, http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/commodity/nitrogen/. [2] Company does not publish capacity data. [3] [Membership required]. Sources: linked below. [4] [Membership required]. See Methodology.

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SUMMARY STATUS: Operational
In operation since 1965, the Cheyenne plant primarily produces industrial ammonium nitrate, for Dyno Nobel’s explosives market. It is currently producing ammonia at record levels, although a 4-6 week turnaround is scheduled for 2H2017. The site has been expanded recently, with additions of a second industrial ammonium nitrate plant and a DEF production unit.

COST: $6 million in 1965
JOB CREATION: 169 permanent — see Job Openings [LINK]
START-UP DATE: 1965

CAPACITY	USGS[1]	COMPANY[2]	PERMIT[3]	ADJUSTED[4]
Ammonia	178,000 mtpy	191,000 mtpy GROSS	530 stpd	191,000 mtpy GROSS
Urea		111,000 mtpy GROSS	350 stpd	115,893 mtpy GROSS
Nitric Acid			1,160 stpd	384,102 mtpy GROSS
Ammonium Nitrate HDAN			375 stpd	124,171 mtpy GROSS
Ammonium Nitrate LDAN			1,999 stpd	661,914 mtpy
UAN		290,000 stpy		263,084 mtpy
DEF			550 stpd	182,117 mtpy
Units: stpd, stpy, mtpd, mtpy = short/metric tons per day/year. [1] United States Geological Survey (USGS) Mineral Yearbook, Nitrogen gives capacity in metric tons per year, calculated as “engineering design capacity adjusted for 340 days per year of effective production capability,” rounded to three significant digits. Source: most recent year, Table 4: Domestic Producers of Ammonia, http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/commodity/nitrogen/. [2] Company does not publish capacity data. Ammonia capacity from IPL Annual Report 2016, “record” actual production figure. Urea capacity from Agrium Fact Book 2016, UAN capacity from Koch press release. Sources: linked below. [3] Wyoming DEQ Air Quality Division, Title V Operating Permit, 2017. Sources: linked below. [4] Adjusted Capacity is in metric tons per year assuming operations for 365 days per year; based on actual production or permit capacities, UAN capacity from USGS. See Methodology.

FEEDSTOCK: Natural gas
END PRODUCTS: Urea, UAN, High Density Ammonium Nitrate (agricultural), and Low Density Ammonium Nitrate (industrial)

RESEARCH NOTES:
In November 2016, Incitec Pivot Limited (IPL), Dyno Nobel’s public parent company in Australia, published its 2016 Annual Report, which included the announcement that the Cheyenne plant “produced a record 191,000 tonnes of ammonia in 2016” [financial year]. This was at least 13,000 metric tons above previous estimates of capacity at the Wyoming plant.

Cheyenne had a fantastic year. It is still our largest plant in North America in terms of its complexity. It’s even more complex than [the Waggaman plant in] Louisiana because it’s a complex of plants, not just a single ammonia plant. Once again, in the final year of a four year turn around period, we saw the ammonia plant produce at record rates. That’s a real tribute to the team at Cheyenne.
Yahoo Finance, Incitec Pivot 2016 earnings call transcript, 11/07/2016

The Cheyenne plant has a 4-6 week turnaround scheduled for the second half of 2017.

According to its latest Title V air permit, issued in February 2017, Dyno Nobel has recently expanded the site through the addition of new production units, including a second low density ammonium nitrate plant and a DEF plant. The Cheyenne complex now includes a total of ten plants: one ammonia unit (530 stpd), three nitric acid units (#1: 125 stpd, #3: 580 stpd, and #4: 455 stpd; #2 is permanently shut down), one high density (agricultural) ammonium nitrate plant (375 stpd), two low density (industrial) ammonium nitrate plants (#1: 900 stpd and #2: 1,099 stpd), one urea plant (350 stpd), one DEF unit (550 stpd), and an emulsion plant (356 stpd).

In November 2016, during IPL’s 2016 earnings call, the company confirmed that it has scheduled a “significant turnaround” at Cheyenne in 2017.

IPL’s push to increase the sustainability of its global operations is also having an impact at Cheyenne:

At Cheyenne, Wyoming, water resources are of particular concern and management involves multiple stakeholders. IPL engages with key stakeholders including the Wyoming State Engineer’s Office which manages stakeholder access to the local groundwater aquifer …

The recovery of boiler blowdown water, and the reclamation of waste water streams through a reverse osmosis unit and a brine concentrator unit saved 70,000 kL …

Natural gas use was reduced at one plant by increasing purge gas feed from another plant.
Incitec Pivot, Annual Report 2016, 11/18/2016

The Cheyenne plant primarily produces industrial grade (low density) ammonium nitrate (LDAN), serving the explosives and mining markets: the “plant is adjacent to the Powder River Basin, North America’s most competitive thermal coal mining region.” IPL’s CEO, James Fazzano, explained the company’s view of its market strategy during the 2016 earnings call, in November 2016:

In terms of the business, we have seen some significant structural change in coal. The story of coal actually is the story of U.S. gas. Once again, we’re incredibly well-placed, Cheyenne sits right on the doorstop at Powder River Basin. My view is in 10 years’ time, that’s where the U.S. will produce the majority of its coal. So that asset position gives us that advantage.
Yahoo Finance, Incitec Pivot 2016 earnings call transcript, 11/07/2016

Wycon Chemical Company was established in 1964, as a subsidiary of the Colorado Interstate Gas Company, and commissioned the Cheyenne plant in 1965. The plant had an initial ammonia capacity of 20,000 stpy.

In 1973, Colorado Interstate Gas was acquired by Coastal States Gas Producing Company and, in 1980, Wycon adopted the Coastal name.

In 2001, Coastal was acquired by El Paso Corp for roughly $16 billion. In 2003, Dyno Nobel purchased El Paso’s nitrogen assets, including the plants at Cheyenne and St Helens, OR, and the upgrade plant at Battle Mountain, NV – and then, in 2008, Dyno Nobel was itself purchased by IPL.

In 2008, Cheyenne also began producing UAN, under a feedstock and offtake agreement with Koch Nitrogen. Koch both supplied the additional ammonia required as feedstock for the UAN, and held “exclusive rights to market 100 percent of the UAN.”

In 2016, Cheyenne produced 198,300 metric tons of UAN, according to IPL’s annual report.

Also in 2008, Dyno Nobel increased the ammonium nitrate capacity at Cheyenne, in a $50 million expansion project that was both delayed and experienced ballooning costs to $80 million.

The Cheyenne plant upgrades more ammonia than it can produce, and Dyno Nobel used to purchase additional ammonia for its UAN and ammonium nitrate production. However, in 2012, IPL announced a new, world-scale ammonia plant, to be built at Waggaman, LA. Of the new plant’s 800,000 mtpy capacity, 300,000 mtpy is distributed to Dyno Nobel’s upgrade facilities in the US: to Donora, PA, by barge; to Louisiana, MO, by pipeline; and to Cheyenne, WY, by rail. Dyno Nobel commissioned the Waggaman plant in October 2016. [/memberful]

View larger map with all ammonia plants.

ADDRESS: 8305 Otto Road, Cheyenne, WY, 82001, United States

WEBSITE: http://www.dynonobel.com/
WEBSITE: http://www.incitecpivot.com.au/

REGULATORY SOURCES:

• USGS: Minerals Yearbook, Nitrogen [RECENT / ARCHIVE]
• EPA Emissions data: Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Large Facilities: Cheyenne Plant [LINK]
• Risk Management Plan: Right to Know Network: Dyno Nobel, Inc. – Cheyenne Plant [LINK]
• Operating Permit (Title V): Wyoming DEQ Air Quality Division, Title V Operating Permit Program [LINK] / Dyno Nobel Inc. Title V Permit, 2017 [PDF]

NEWS SOURCES:

• 07/07/2017: Incitec Pivot investor presentation: Company Overview [PDF]
• 11/18/2016: Incitec Pivot: Annual Report 2016 [PDF]
• 11/07/2016: Yahoo Finance: Incitec Pivot 2016 earnings call transcript [LINK]
• 2016: Agrium Fact Book 2015-2016 [PDF]
• 04/17/2013: Incitec Pivot investor presentation: Louisiana Ammonia Plant [PDF]
• 04/24/2008: Koch Nitrogen press release: Koch Nitrogen enters into an agreement with Dyno Nobel to produce UAN [LINK]
• 04/01/1965: The Sundance Times: Colorado Interstate Gas Company advertisement [LINK]