Intrepid Potash is the largest U.S. producer of potassium chloride – or potash – a critical fertilizer used to grow corn, wheat, soybeans, potatoes, hay and much more. Among its five facilities throughout New Mexico and Utah, Intrepid currently boasts the capacity to produce approximately 870,000 tons of potash and 200,000 tons of langbeinite annually.
CHALLENGE
With a plant expansion planned for the Moab, Utah facility, engineers knew they would need a corrosion resistent conduit material to handle the high-moisture and saline environment. And because numerous bends and elbows would be needed to meet the new plans, it was necessary to find a material that was lightweight and easy to work with in the field.
SOLUTION
The plant’s engineers had settled on PVC-coated conduit for the project, but upon doing a search online, they stumbled upon the Champion Fiberglass website and saw that they offered a product that truly answered all of their project needs – corrosion resistance, lightweight nature, easy installation and the ability to create field offsets and bends. Upon finding this information, the procurement process went quickly, and Intrepid Potash was able to get Champion Duct® at the site.
RESULTS
The project took place between 2010 and 2011, and Intrepid stakeholders couldn’t be happier with the results. When the contractor experienced field bending challenges, Champion Fiberglass rushed to get factory produced elbows out to the Intrepid site – helping the project stay on-schedule despite a few hiccups. For the record, the engineers did eventually get the hang of the field bending process and were so pleased with the performance and customer service of Champion Fiberglass that they chose Champion Duct® for a second plant expansion, this time at their Wendover facility.
