Overview

The Belle, West Virginia, plant was established in the West Virginia coal country as part of a post-World War I effort to produce ammonia. DuPont spent $27 million on a highly complex production facility with huge atmospheric compressors that was producing 25 tons of ammonia per day by 1926. Extremes of heat and pressure took a heavy toll on equipment and operating costs mounted. Although production reached 220 tons per day by 1929, it was another ten years before Belle showed a profit.

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