Messer and LSB Industries team up to increase CO2 reliability for customers

Messer, an industrial gas Company headquartered in Bridgewater, recently announced the renewal of its long-termCO2 purchase and sales agreement with LSB Industries Inc., a leading producer of industrial and agricultural chemicals. Messer will invest $9 million to upgrade the liquid CO2 plant at the LSB facility in Cherokee, Alabama.

“Partnering with LSB Industries strengthens our nationwide CO2 network and provides supply chain continuity for our customers,” said Chris Ebeling, executive vice president of sales and marketing for Messer North America. “Efficiency upgrades from the plant modernization effort will add more molecules to our network and reduce CO2 emissions on site, in line with our sustainability goals.”

Messer and its partner LSB Industries say they are proud to offer their customers a more secure supply of CO2 for decades to come.

Carbon dioxide is a carbon oxide with the chemical formula CO2 and a chemical formula weight of 44.0095. It is a colorless and odorless gas at room temperature and pressure, and its aqueous solution has a slightly sour taste. It is also a common greenhouse gas and a component of air，accounting for 0.03%-0.04% of the total volume of the atmosphere.

Carbon dioxide is widely used in industry, medicine and all aspects of our lives. High-purity carbon dioxide is mainly used in the electronics industry, medical research and clinical diagnosis, carbon dioxide lasers, calibration gases for testing instruments and the preparation of other special mixed gases, and is used as a regulator in polyethylene polymerization reactions.

Solid carbon dioxide is widely used to refrigerate dairy products, meat, frozen foods and other perishable foods during transportation. It is used as a refrigerant in many industrial processes, such as crushing heat-sensitive materials, rubber polishing, metal cold treatment, shrink assembly of mechanical parts, vacuum cold traps, etc.

Gaseous carbon dioxide is used for carbonizing soft drinks, pH control of water treatment processes, chemical processing, food preservation, inert protection of chemical and food processing processes, welding gas, plant growth stimulant, in casting for hardening molds and cores and for pneumatic devices, and is also used as a diluent for sterilizing gas (that is, using a mixture of ethylene oxide and carbon dioxide as a sterilizer, insecticide, fumigant, widely used in sterilization of medical instruments, packaging materials, clothing, fur, bedding, bone meal disinfection, warehouses, factories, cultural relics, books fumigation).

Liquid carbon dioxide is used as a refrigerant, low-temperature testing of aircraft, missiles and electronic components, to improve oil well recovery, rubber polishing and control chemical reactions, and can also be used as a fire extinguishing agent.

Supercritical carbon dioxide can be used as a solvent to dissolve non-polar, non-ionic and low molecular weight compounds, so it is widely used in homogeneous reactions.