US industrial gases group Air Products has formed a joint venture with Linde North America to build a world-scale air separation unit and gas liquefier in Glenmont, New York.

The jv, named East Coast Nitrogen (ECN), will invest approximately $60 million in the facility, which will produce 363,000 t/y of liquid nitrogen, oxygen and argon. Air Products will build and operate the plant, which will be based on its own technology. Commercial production is scheduled to start in December 2018.

Air Products said the plant will strengthen its presence in the Albany, New York, area and provide a higher capacity for all three gases at the site, enabling it to better serve its customers and their future growth.

Chris Ebeling, vice president, merchant & packaged gases sales & marketing at Linde North America, said the investment is one more in a series to support Linde’s growth and reliability plan in North America.

Output will be distributed by both companies independently, servicing the New York and New England regions and supplying various market segments including chemicals, food, electronics, primary materials, fabricated metals, health and medical, utilities and glass. The new plant will also significantly increase the amount of liquid argon available to Air Products.

The use of existing land and infrastructure at the Glenmont site will yield project savings, expedite the new plant’s on-stream date and facilitate uninterrupted supply to customers during construction, the partners said.

The jv is the second between Air Products and Linde North America. East Coast Oxygen, owned 50% each, has operated a liquefaction unit in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, since 2000.

Linde is currently undergoing a merger with US rival Praxair. Both groups’ boards voted in favor of the move earlier this month, but the deal still has to be approved by a majority of Praxair shareholders. Linde’s shareholders will not vote but 75% must tender their shares to the new company for the merger to go ahead. The transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2018, subject to regulatory approvals.