One of the largest nitrogen producers worldwide, PCS Nitrogen is a unit of Potash Corporation and is accountable for about a third of its business. PCS Nitrogen produces nitrogen fertilizers and feed ingredients for the agricultural industries from three manufacturing facilities in the U.S. including Lima, Ohio.

In a recent shutdown, GEM Inc. performed mechanical insulation work in the ammonia and urea at PCS Nitrogen in Lima. Using Foamglas and calcium silicate insulation with an aluminum jacketing, GEM insulated 10,000 feet of piping and vessels, including a high pressure decomposer reboiler, a liquid distributor vessel and a CO2 stripper.

During the shutdown period there were over 1,000 additional contract personnel on the PCS site to assist in completing the capital projects and maintenance activities. Since GEM was already on site working in the ammonia and urea area, the owner asked that existing insulation and jacketing that had been damaged by scaffolding from other job site work be repaired.

GEM completed this project, including the added scope of work, weeks ahead of schedule allowing PCS Nitrogen to reduce its outage downtime.