Buy Used Chemical Process Plants Case Studies

Phoenix purchased an idled 25,000 TPY sodium cyanide plant.  We re-sold the entire plant including know-how. As part of the sale, Phoenix was responsible to manage the dismantlement, match-marking, crating, packing and shipment of the plant to Mexico.  Relocation work began in March 2014 and was completed by September 2014. FMC was unable to sell the plant since it exited the cyanide business in 2002.  In 2012, Phoenix was given the opportunity to find a buyer who would relocate the plant.  After extensive marketing, Phoenix developed a buyer that resulted in a substantial revenue for FMC.

A surplus oxygen plant in India finds new purpose at a major platinum mine in Zimbabwe—thanks to Phoenix Equipment’s global project execution.   From Surplus to Strategic: Unlocking International Value A once-idled oxygen plant in India is now boosting combustion efficiency at a leading platinum mining operation in Zimbabwe—demonstrating how industrial assets can transcend borders and timelines with the right partner.   Background: A Global Industrial Turnaround When copper smelting operations ceased, Bhagawati Oxygen, a well-established industrial gas company in India, was left with a fully operational but inactive 55 TPD VPSA oxygen plant. Built by renowned Japanese firm Sumitomo Seika, the system had just two years of runtime and remained in excellent condition—with OEM documentation and spare parts ready. Phoenix Equipment stepped in to connect the unused facility with a buyer who needed immediate, high-capacity oxygen generation—across the globe.   The Challenge: Repositioning an Underutilized Asset Bhagawati Oxygen sought to free up capital and make use of a valuable plant no longer contributing to revenue. Meanwhile, a top-tier platinum producer in Zimbabwe was under pressure to enhance furnace performance using oxygen enrichment. The mining company needed a production-ready solution—fast. Building new equipment from scratch would take over a year and require a substantial capital outlay. Phoenix Equipment created a bridge between these two needs, delivering a solution that served both sides.   The Execution: End-to-End Relocation and Commissioning Phoenix managed every stage of the project with precision and speed: Asset Evaluation: Reviewed the 55 TPD unit’s design, condition, and adaptability for the buyer’s operations Client Matchmaking: Introduced the asset to a platinum miner in Zimbabwe, enabling a swift site assessment Transaction Finalization: The buyer approved and committed to the acquisition within two months Relocation Logistics: Phoenix oversaw the dismantling in India, inland transportation, and ocean freight—ensuring secure delivery   The Result: High Impact on Both Ends For Bhagawati Oxygen: Full value recaptured from an inactive facility Quick, clean divestment with no prolonged asset holding Immediate liquidity to reallocate toward operational needs   For the Zimbabwean Platinum Miner: Gained a fully functional oxygen plant, ready for deployment Cut more than a year from project timelines Avoided the financial burden of a new installation   Key Project Details Project Value: $2,000,000Timeline: November 2022 – October 2023Services: Plant Sourcing, Acquisition, RelocationPlant Type: 55 TPD VPSA Oxygen Unit (93% Purity)Origin: India (Bhagawati Oxygen)   New Availability: High-Capacity Nitrogen Plant on Offer Continuing our mission to deliver ready-to-deploy industrial solutions, Phoenix now offers a premium: Cryogenic Nitrogen Generation Plant – 6,600 Nm³/h Ideal for petrochemical, electronics, and metallurgical operations Energy-efficient cryogenic separation technology Available for global relocation and immediate inspection   Interested in streamlining your expansion plans? Contact us for specs and pricing.   Why Choose Phoenix Equipment? Phoenix Equipment is a global leader in the acquisition, sale, and relocation of process plants and equipment. Our services help industrial operators: Unlock capital from underused facilities Procure high-quality systems at a fraction of new-build costs Expedite project timelines without compromising performance   With decades of success across chemicals, refining, industrial gases, and more, Phoenix transforms surplus assets into turnkey opportunities. From idle capacity to global productivity—that’s the Phoenix approach.

The Challenge A US based company specializing in fermentation and contract fermentation, had an expansion project that required adding 3000 liters of bioproduction capacity.  Long lead times and high costs from Original Equipment Manufacturers made the project economics unfeasible and posed a real challenge to expansion. Phoenix Equipment offered several fermenters and fermentation systems to this company but nothing quite fit their needs. Phoenix Equipment didn’t stop there. We embarked on a search campaign, and within a short period of time, we opened discussions with another client that had a project cancellation. As a result of the cancellation, this client no longer required a bioreactor plant system that they had purchased and never installed from BioEngineering. The system was a designed for cell-based products and consisted of (2) 300 Liter seed vessels, (2) 800 Liter seed vessels, and (1) 3000 Liter Production vessel – all 316L Stainless Steel, all in original crates and in pristine condition. They had invested over $3,000,000 in the project and were eagerly looking to recoup some investment and move on. The Solution Phoenix Equipment sprang into action, securing the purchase of the assets through a competitive process, and delivered immediate liquidity to the seller for the unwanted assets. Over the next several weeks, we worked with our buyer to ensure that this system matched their technical requirements. In addition, we provided the buyer with ample time to line up financing on their side. Phoenix Equipment managed the process of removing the bioreactor assets from the seller’s site; as well as handling the loading, packing, securing and delivering of the equipment to the buyers site based on their schedule. The Outcome Project cost: less than $1 million (total, including relocation and reinstallation) Time to operation: less than 3 months Equipment reuse: 100% of core assets Environmental impact: 100% lower material use compared to new build The asset seller realized a partial return on their investment, obtaining immediate funding for other priorities; and our buyer, was able to obtain unused world class equipment at a fraction of the cost of new, and within weeks of reaching out to Phoenix Equipment.

Project Background Phoenix purchased an unused 60 Nm3/hr hydrogen plant in Brownsville, Texas. The plant electrolyzes water to generate green hydrogen. This containerized plant included PEM fuel cell H2 generator, diagram H2 compressors and other skid-mounted equipment. Phoenix re-sold the entire plant and relocated it to Australia. By acquiring this plant, our client was able to drastically reduce their project lead time. Phoenix worked with its client to comply with Australia’s strict import regulations and the client’s SAP vendor system. Phoenix also sourced specific engineering and technical drawings that enabled our client to speed up the re-installation projectHighlights Of The Project Timeframe: July 2021 - January 2022Service: Plant Acquisition and RelocationValue: $800,000.00Project Outcome  Pan American Enterprise built the plant in 2018 but was not able to put it in production. Phoenix developed international clients who are actively involved in green energy projects.One of the clients purchased the plant from Phoenix and received the plant equipment in Australia in January 2022. After inspecting the delivered equipment, the client was very pleased with its quality.  

Project Backgorund and Scope Phoenix purchased an unused and never installed 35,000 Nm3/hr hydrogen plant in Italy that was intended to be installed at the Saras refinery in Sardinia. The plant included a syngas reformer designed by UHDE and a PSA unit designed by Linde. The plant equipment was manufactured in 2009. However, due to the changing internal needs, the plant was never constructed, and the equipment assets were left in storage for more than 10 years. Phoenix re-sold the entire plant and relocated it to the USA. ThyssenKrupp AG provided technical services to the new plant owner to integrate these assets into a refinery that was executing a renewable diesel conversion project.Highlights of the Project Timeframe: September 2021 – November 2022Service:Plant Acquisition & RelocationValue: $10,000,000 Project Outcome Saras was able to recover significant value related to the cancelled project and avoid additional storage costs. The new end-user was able to obtain unused hydrogen production assets at a fraction of the cost of new and cut the lead time downtime to months, enabling them to meet a very tight deadline for their renewable diesel conversion project.  

Animal Health Fermentation Plant - Sold to be Re-Operated - Terre Haute, IN                                              Phoenix Equipment purchased, in partnership with another company, a 10-acre pharmaceutical-fermentation manufacturing facility from  Alpharma.  We were responsible for all carrying costs, including taxes, utilities, security and environmental conditions. The manufacturing site was built by Pittman-Moore to produce an injectable hormone (porcine somatotropin) used to improve feed efficiency and improve carcass quality in hogs. Pittman-Moore started building on the site in 1988. After a number of trial batches, they stopped the project in 1993. The equipment and the facility were maintained in like new condition until the Alpharma bought the property in 2000. The plant is located on ten acres in an industrial area near the Wabash River. The property is zoned for heavy industry. Adjacent neighbors are a waste treatment plant and an electrical substation. A steel frame concrete building contains 40,500 square feet of space under the roof. With the second floor and mezzanine levels, the total floor area is 67,000 square feet. All process equipment is 316L or 304L Stainless Steel and includes: 50,000 liter S/S Fermenter; 25 Sq. M. Stokes S/S Lypholizer; (2) Westphalia CSA160 Centrifuges; Westphalia BKA Centrifuge; Niro Ultrafiltration Systems; (2) Gaulin 500-MS18-10TBSX Homogenizers; Amicon Ion Exchange Columns; (2) Finn Aqua WFI Stills; APV Continuous Sterilizer; (4) York 350 HP Chillers; Clean Room; and Cozzoli equipment built in 2001 and still in original crates. In April 2008, we re-sold the facility to be re-utilized to make a similar product to a US-based company. Several of the former employees were re-hired and the plant is once again operational.   

Plant Type: 14,000 BPD Topping Unit (Crude Unit) Original Location: Vicksburg, MS                                               Destination: Africa   Phoenix Equipment purchased a 14,000 BPD Crude Distillation Unit (Topping Unit) in Mississippi. This complete unit produces jet (aviation) fuel, diesel, naphtha, kerosene, butane mix and light Gasoline. The unit was originally built in 1978 to process 5,000 BPD of south Louisiana light sweet crude oil. Between 1991 and 1994, the unit underwent expansions to increase capacity. In 1995, the unit switched feedstock to heavy aromatic distillate to produce both gasoline blends and marine diesel oil blends.        This unit is ideal for a region which has limited crude oil supply, but a small demand of fuel, diesel, naphtha and kerosene. Phoenix Equipment received serious inquiries from customers worldwide, especially from Africa, South East Asia, and CIS regions. There were very limited technical documents left after the shutdown due to several changes in ownership.  Nonetheless, our customers were confident the unit could be relocated and re-operated because it is a very common crude distillation process. We re-sold this unit to a customer in Africa. We coordinated with the customer to hire a dismantling contractor who met the customer’s tight budget. The dismantlement was completed in less than 4 months. All purchased equipment and structures were shipped to Africa for refurbishment and reinstallation.

  Nitric acid is a widely used chemical for the production of fertilizers, explosives, nylon precursors, and specialty organic compounds. Nitric acid is neutralized with ammonia to make ammonium nitrate, which is a major raw material to make fertilizers and explosives.  Dyno Nobel operated a nitric acid plant in Nevada, USA to produce ammonium nitrate for the local mining industry. When the mining business hit a down turn and market demand for ammonium nitrate decreased, the nitric acid plant was shut down in 2010 and mothballed. This 350 TPD plant was a Chemico mono-high-pressure process, with a steam turbine driven Ingersoll-Rand compressor train, ammonia-to-acid conversation rate of 0.288; and produced 57% concentration nitric acid. After making a decision to permanently shutter the plant and convert the site to a terminal operation, Dyno Nobel engaged Phoenix to find potential buyers for the nitric acid and ammonium nitrate plants. Phoenix developed well qualified buyers from several countries and coordinated a thorough due diligence for the buyers. After due diligence was completed, Phoenix acquired both the nitric acid and ammonium nitrate plants, and also committed to perform the removal of all assets that couldn’t be relocated, such as the ammonium nitrate prill tower at no cost to Dyno Nobel.  For the buyer, Phoenix sold the plant delivered to the Port of Houston. Our scope of work included match-marking, dismantling, packing, and shipping the nitric acid plant. We packed pipe and small items in over 10 sea containers, sent large and oversized pieces breakbulk via 25+ trucks, and transported super heavy haul loads – the absorber tower and plant boiler – via rail. The plant was relocated to the Middle East.

Hydrazine hydrate (HH) is a colorless liquid with an odor similar to that of ammonia. Hydrazine is widely used in various applications, such as the deoxygenation of boiler water, preparation of chemical blowing agents, preparation of intermediates for pharmaceutical and agricultural chemicals, reducing agent for metals and halogens, and chain extension of aqueous urethane formulations. The main usage of industrial scale is for the synthesis of blowing agents such as ADC, D1PA and TSH, which are subsequently supplied to thermoplastic and elastomeric industries. Main raw materials to produce HH are caustic soda, chlorine and ammonia. Therefore, it is considered a part of the chlor-alkali chain. Arch Chemicals, a large US - based chemical company, ceased manufacturing of a HH at its Lake Charles, LA site due to changing markets.  The plant was part of a larger site that had on-going operations.  Arch wanted to obtain the highest possible value for the equipment and know-how, as well as have the plant and all structures safely dismantled by a date certain. The plant used a Ketazine process which was more advanced than the Raschig process and urea process in terms of energy consumption and environmental impact. Phoenix Equipment purchased the plant and know-how, and committed to remove the plant within 2 years.  By initiating a worldwide marketing campaign, Phoenix was able to sell the plant and know-how to a large Chinese chemical producer.  As part of the sale, Phoenix contracted to perform the match-marking, dismantlement, packing and in-land freight at a lump sum cost.  Work included rigging (4) 200 ft’ + stainless steel columns weighing over 200,000 lbs each.  Work began in November 2011 and was safely completed in June 2012.  In addition, to dismantling the equipment for shipment to China, Phoenix also cleaned up other structures for the site owner.  The new owner’s plan was to build a new process plant to replace its existing plant which used outdated technology.   

In 2008, Marathon Oil elected to cease operations of its Lube Oil plant at its Catlettsburg Refinery in Kentucky.  The Lube Oil plant consisted of an 18,000 BPD Furfural Unit and an 11,000 BPD Methyl Ethyl Ketone (MEK) Extraction Unit as well as related equipment, surrounding utilities and infrastructure. Phoenix Equipment contracted to perform the dismantlement and purchase of machinery, equipment and scrap.  The Lube Oil plant is located within an active refinery, and therefore, required extensive planning, preparation and diligence in order to ensure a safe execution of the project without any interruptions to on-going site activities. Phoenix was able to significantly reduce Marathon’s demolition budget by executing a bulk sale of certain process equipment related to MEK dewaxing (rotary vacuum filters, vacuum pumps, etc).  Phoenix then performed the match-marking, removal, cribbing for transport, loading and transport of all purchased machinery, including items retained for future sale.  In conjunction with asset recovery services relating to equipment sales, Phoenix performed the complete dismantlement and demolition of the remaining plant.  Phoenix shared the proceeds from the sale of carbon steel (HMS) with Marathon above a certain set price.  Phoenix provided bi-monthly reports that included signed weight slips by a Phoenix and Marathon representative and a scanned copy of all checks Phoenix received from the sale of carbon steel (HMS). The scrap recovery on the project included approximately 5,000 tons of carbon steel (HMS) and 400,000 pounds of non-ferrous metals. An agreement was reached in regards to the project in July 2009, and Phoenix began dismantlement work in late August 2009, completing the full scope, including concrete slab removal, in September 2010.