Sep 17 2008
Linde North America has started up production at its newest air separation plant, located in Beloit, Wisconsin, some 75 miles southwest of Milwaukee.
Linde North America is a member of The Linde Group, a leading gases and engineering company. The Beloit plant separates air cryogenically to produce over 700 tons a day of liquid oxygen and nitrogen. From there the gases are trucked to hospitals, food processors, metals and chemicals manufacturers and independent gases distributors in Wisconsin, Illinois and Iowa. The plant employs some 30 people.
Pat Murphy, president of Linde North America, said, "Linde is investing for growth where the market conditions are right. With this plant we have established a supply source in Wisconsin that enables us to move closer to our customers.”
Linde has seen demand in the Midwest increase steadily over the past few years, driven mostly by food processing, combustion and petrochemical applications. The location enables Linde to optimize its distribution patterns by freeing up production at existing plants in Illinois, Indiana and Ohio in order to better serve customers.
“We’ve seen excellent growth in Wisconsin and the greater Chicago area, and we made this investment to ensure that we can securely supply our customers. This location gives us access to many of the region’s major highways, allowing us to be more responsive to customers’ needs,” Murphy said.
Andrew L. Janke, director of economic development for the Greater Beloit Economic Development Corporation, said, “We worked closely with Linde to bring the plant to our community and we are very happy to have them as a corporate neighbor. The Linde plant represents a major portion of our efforts to attract investment to Beloit, which will total over $100 million in 2008 and will create nearly 400 jobs in the region.”
The air separation plant was designed and delivered by Linde Process Plants (LPP), based in Tulsa, Oklahoma. LPP is part of The Linde Group’s Engineering Division, which produces complex process plants for a variety of applications, including air separation units, plants for chemical and petrochemical manufacturing and pharmaceutical and biotechnological plants.
The Beloit plant is Linde’s largest air separation plant in Wisconsin, and is the second such U.S. facility Linde has put into full production this year. Linde has a nationwide network of air separation plants from which it serves customers ranging in size from small family businesses to multi-billion dollar corporations.