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Show u ; RON KNOWLTON , Review Staff A siren sud- BOUNTIFUL blares denly through out the Air Products plant in, northwest ; Bountiful. Visitors wonder if they should run for the nearest bomb shelter. But Dave Osborne, seated comfortably at his desk, calmly explains there is nothing to fear. The plant isnt about to blow up. No bombs have been dropped. The siren is simply one of the companys safety devices. It often goes off during the day. In fact every 30 minutes the plant's operator must hit a black button to stop the buzzer. ' : ' : I ; ; ' ; ; : ; It lets us know where he is and if hes okay, Osborne, who is assistant plant manager, ex-- ; plains. Are there great dangers for plant .operators working at the plant which pulls air out of the Safety measures are built into the plant in every phase of production, Osborne claims. Id rather be here than at home. Its safer,, he says. Wayne Shoop, a safety engineer for the company who travels to each of the companys 10 plants in the U.S. to make routine safety inspections, claims employees for the company over the years have had many more d accidents than 1 off-wo-rk work-relate- accidents. The company opened its Bountiful plant three weeks ago. The plant is one of two in Utah. A plant in Moab, though, only produces liquid nitrogen. Is there a demand in Utah for liquid chemicals? Osborne admits that at present the demand here is not very high. But, he claims, the potential is here. for electronic blanketing equipment and keeping contamination out, Osborne said. The plant will also supply liquid oxygen to Hill Air Force Bpse and to area hospitals. Other uses for liquid nitrogen are for freezing meat and for frozen foods. Argon can be used for welding. All three of the chemicals are And all three, to be changed to a liquid state, must under go a drastic temperature change. Osborne said all three of the chemicals will leave the plant at temperatures close to 300 degrees Fahrenheit below zero. . ,fu ' The air is cooled through a series of compressors and cham- North Edition Lakeside 1983 Wednesday, October 26, V;. The plant wilt supply liquid pounds maximum pressure is re! chemicals to the intermountain quired. The cpmpany also produces in vyest, Osborne said. one month what it would have The plant does require a tre taken two or three months to mendous amount of electricity produce just a few years ago, ac. . cording to Shoop.' During a recent tour of the plant by Bountiful Power Commission members, one commission member asked Osborne what the impact would be if equipment at the plant failed, releasing the chemicals back into the atmosphere. Osborne said the company has a fail safe system. The likelihood of releasing the chemicals; is very low. But if they were re- leased (Osborn shrugs his shoulders) they would just go back into the atmosphere. No j f harm done. .1 , Page 6C , to operate, however. The plant will operate on 6.5 megawatts of power, according to figures earlier presented to the Bountiful City Council. . bers where heat exchanges are made to lower the temperature, The plant does not produce Osborne said. The air is also purified and unwanted elements any pollutants. In fact, Osborne The south Davis County-Sa- lt are removed. claims, the elements released Lake City area is headed in a diback into the atmosphere are e percent of .the at- cleaner than when they came inrection to where it has a good' Seventy-fivmosphere is nitrogen, Osborne atmosphere, purifies and chance of becoming another Sili- said, which is also the best sell- to the plant. con Valley, Shoop said. changes three of its components The plant has a staff of eight.: ing and most widely used liquid into liquid nitrogen, oxygen and chemical sold by Air Products. Many businesses in the comOnly one operator is required to argon? the plant, according to puter and electronics fields are Not really, said Osborne. In order to liquify nitrogen, operate favorable at Utah for a Osborne. But maintenance pe-rlooking Air Products Company, which future oxygen, and argon, tremendous sonnel also oversee the opera- plant site. has its headquarters in Allen- pressurized compressor systems tion. And thats where much of the were once needed. Shoop said town, Penn., is quite simply ob- All of the operators were hired sessed with safety. Employees of demand for liquid chemicals that nearly 6,000 pounds of preslies. extensure was once needed to liquify locally and trained by the the company go through used be can sive safety training programs. Liquid nitrogen nitrogen. Today only 70 to 80 r4 r , ''' V ' S it C EXPLAINING extensive safety measures observed at Air Product Company plant in Bountiful is Dave Os- born, 'assistant plant manager. 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