UPDATED: 12/29/2016 — see Change Log

OWNER: Koch Fertilizer Beatrice LLC (Koch Industries Inc)
PROJECT: Ammonia-UAN plant, expansion[memberful does_not_have_subscription=”1314-ammonia-industry-annual-subscription,1311-ammonia-industry-monthly-subscription,3338-ammonia-industry-30-day-subscription”]

EXISTING PLANT:
COST (reported): [none given]
JOB CREATION: 86 permanent — see Job Openings [LINK]
START-UP DATE (reported): 1964, expanded 2016

CAPACITY	USGS[1]	COMPANY[2]	PERMIT[3]	ADJUSTED[4]
Ammonia	265,000 mtpy	[none given]	[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] Koch has not published capacity information. [3] [Membership required]. Sources: linked below. [4] [Membership required]. See Methodology.

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SUMMARY STATUS: Operational
In operation since 1964, Koch’s Beatrice plant was recently expanded, during the turnaround in 2015-2016.

EXISTING PLANT:
COST: [none given]
JOB CREATION: 86 permanent — see Job Openings [LINK]
START-UP DATE: 1964, expanded 2016

CAPACITY	USGS[1]	COMPANY[2]	PERMIT[3]	ADJUSTED[4]
Ammonia	265,000 mtpy		1,100 stpd 401,500 stpy	364,235 mtpy
Nitric Acid			300 stpd	99,337 mtpy GROSS
UAN			600 stpd	275,784 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] Koch has not published capacity information. [3] Permit documents for this site give capacity in short tons per day and per year. Sources: linked below. [4] Adjusted Capacity is in metric tons per year assuming operations for 365 days per year; based on Permitted Capacity; UAN capacity is constrained by Nitric Acid feedstock capacity (109,500 stpy). See Methodology.

FEEDSTOCK: Natural gas
END PRODUCTS: Ammonia, UAN, CO2

RESEARCH NOTES:
Phillips Petroleum Company opened the Beatrice ammonia plant 1964, with a capacity of 220,000 short tons per year.

The plant was later owned by Farmland Industries and, after Farmland filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2002, Koch Nitrogen purchased the Beatrice plant at auction in 2003, paying $171 million for it and three other plants, including Enid, OK, Dodge City, KS, and Fort Dodge, IA, and a dozen terminals.

In 2012, Koch Industries announced that engineering company Black & Veatch would “help develop” projects across Koch’s North American plants, to increase capacity by “more than two million tons annually,” “through production enhancements and new capacity investments.”

After that, Koch made no further announcements about an expansion at Beatrice. Documents filed with Nebraska DEQ, however, described plans for work on both the ammonia and nitric acid lines, and local news reports indicated that over 1,000 construction workers were onsite in late 2015.

Koch originally planned to implement the expansion during a 40-day plant turnaround in August and September 2015, however, in September 2015, Koch notified Nebraska DEQ that it was doing the project in two stages, with the additional capacity due to come online in April 2016. Although there was no official confirmation, the November 2016 Title V air permit application implies that this work was completed.

This “NOx abatement project” increased nitric acid capacity from 247 stpd to 300 stpd, or from 90,000 stpy to 109,500 stpy. Nitric acid capacity constrains the maximum UAN capacity to approximately 304,000 stpy. Due to changing the heat capacity in the primary reformer, from 399 mmBTU to 533.66 mmBTU, the ammonia capacity also increased, from 940 stpd to 1,100 stpd.

Actual UAN production at the Beatrice plant was roughly 200,000 stpy in 2013. Actual Ammonia production (gross) has ranged from 280,000 to 330,000 stpy between 2010 and 2013, of which roughly 25% is consumed in UAN production.

Fertilizer is shipped from the site by rail and truck; additionally, ammonia is shipped out by pipeline.

The Beatrice site also includes a carbon dioxide liquefaction plant. CO2 from ammonia production is either consumed in the UAN production process, or it is liquefied and sold as food-grade CO2, or it is vented to the atmosphere. Based on Koch’s calculation of the site’s “actual air emissions,” from Title V Permit documents, of the 398,292 tons CO2 produced in 2011, less than 20% was used in UAN production (74,278 tons), and 24% was sold (96,489 tons): the majority was simply emitted.

Koch Industries Inc recently reorganized its corporate structure: Koch Fertilizer Beatrice LLC is now a subsidiary of Koch Fertilizer LLC, which is a subsidiary of Koch Ag & Energy Solutions LLC.[/memberful]

View larger map with all ammonia plants.

ADDRESS: 21178 SW 89th Road, Beatrice, NE 68310, United States

WEBSITE: http://www.kochind.com/
WEBSITE: http://www.kochagenergy.com/
WEBSITE: http://www.kochfertilizer.com/

REGULATORY SOURCES:

• USGS: Minerals Yearbook, Nitrogen [RECENT / ARCHIVE]
• EPA Emissions data: Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Large Facilities: Koch Fertilizer Beatrice [LINK]
• Risk Management Plan: Right to Know Network: Koch Fertilizer Beatrice [LINK]
• Permit Documents: Nebraska DEQ content management portal (search DEQ Facility Number 23383) [LINK]

NEWS SOURCES:

• UNDATED: Koch Industries, fact sheet: Beatrice, NE [LINK]
• 07/31/2015: CKLQ: Koch Proceeding With Expansion Of It’s Brandon Plant [LINK]
• 06/10/2015: Beatrice Daily Sun, local news article: Work to begin next month on Koch plant [LINK]
• 12/05/2013: Koch Industries press release: Koch Fertilizer Announces New Holding Company and Leadership Changes [LINK]
• 05/14/2012: Koch Industries press release: Koch Fertilizer to Develop Projects for Production Increase [LINK]
• 03/28/2003: Associated Press news story: Koch buys Farmland fertilizer assets [LINK]