Airgas, Inc. (www.airgas.com) announced Oct. 2 that it would build an air separation unit in Carrollton, Ky., to supply Dow Corning Corporation (www.dowcorning.com) and to meet increasing demand for bulk and packaged gases in the region.

Airgas will build the plant on Dow Corning's property. Universal Industrial Gases Inc. will provide engineering and equipment for the unit.

Airgas said it signed a long-term agreement to supply Dow Corning with gaseous nitrogen, giving the project a key base-load pipeline customer.

When completed in late 2008, the plant will have the capacity to liquefy 350 tons per day of nitrogen, oxygen, and argon. Airgas also said the unit is being built with an expandable design to support additional pipeline customers and liquid production.

"We look forward to serving Dow Corning's needs with this new state-of-the-art production facility. This project fits with our previously announced strategy to consider our own plants to augment our gas supply in those markets that remain underserved by the industry," said Mike Molinini, executive vice president and chief operating officer of Airgas.

"This agreement with Airgas will provide a long-term, economical source of nitrogen for our Carrollton facility. We are pleased to be working with Airgas to move this project to the next phase," Jodi Dudley, supply manager for Dow Corning said in a prepared statement.

The facility will be one of the largest projects built by Universal Industrial Gases Inc. (www.uigi.com), and the first totally new facility built by the Easton, Pa., company.

As the nation's largest distributor of industrial, specialty, and medical gases, Airgas currently buys the majority of its atmospheric gas supply from multiple industrial gas producers.

With its joint venture affiliate, National Welders Supply Company of Charlotte, NC, Airgas operates six air separation units, and produces 1,800 tons per day, primarily in the eastern half of the United States.

"We will operate the new plant within our Gas Operations Division, which has the necessary expertise to run the production plant," said Molinini. The Gas Operations Division operates air separation plants, carbon dioxide production plants, nitrous oxide production plants, and dry ice production plants nationwide. The new air separation unit eventually will have more than 20 employees in production and distribution.

Airgas, Inc. through its subsidiaries, is the largest U.S. distributor of industrial, medical, and specialty gases, and related hard-goods, such as welding equipment and supplies, and also is the third-largest U.S. distributor of safety products, the largest U.S. producer of nitrous oxide and dry ice, the largest liquid carbon dioxide producer in the Southeast, and a leading distributor of process chemicals, refrigerants, and ammonia products. It has 10,000 employees in about 900 locations including branches, retail stores, gas fill plants, specialty gas labs, production facilities and distribution centers.

Dow Corning is a specialty chemical company and a leader in silicon-based technologies. It is owned equally by The Dow Chemical Company and Corning Incorporated. More than half of Dow Corning's sales are outside the United States.