Orica’s Kooragang Island nitric acid and amonium nitrate plants will shut down in March for intensive maintenance.
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The multi-million dollar project, which will focus on the number 2 and 3 nitric acid plants and the number 2 ammonium nitrate plant, will involve more than 400 maintenance tasks and require an extra 200 personnel on site.
It will commence on March 9 and take 29 days to complete.
“Major turnarounds for the nitrates plants are scheduled every five years and provide an important opportunity to undertake projects that will ensure the plants can continue to operate safely and efficiently,” a spokeswoman said.
Scheduled activities planned during the shutdown include inspections of pressure vessels, piping and tanks, overhauling and setting of relief valves, structural repairs and improvements and machinery overhauls.
The Kooragang plant has three main parts – the ammonia plant, a nitric acid plant and an ammonium nitrate plant
The upcoming work follows the shutdown of the ammonia plant two years ago as part of a $67 million maintenance project.
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The work, which was carried out without incident, was the first time the ammonia plant had been shut down since the disastrous emission of potentially carcinogenic hexavalent chromium over parts of Stockton in August 2011.
Orica will also provide a report to the Environment Protection Authority next month as part of its investigation into the best way to reduce fine particle ammonium nitrate emissions from the prill tower.
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A 2014 Lower Hunter air particle characterisation study found that ammonium nitrate emissions from the plant contributed up to 40 per cent of fine particle air pollution at the Stockton air quality monitoring station.
A significant proportion of the emissions came from the 50-year-old prill tower.
Despite efforts in recent years to drive down emissions, the company and the EPA agreed that “fibre-bed scrubbing” technology was the most suitable method reduce tower emissions.
It is hoped fibre-bed scrubbing will capture more than 99 per cent of all particles, including PM2.5 and larger.
The company will deliver a final report to the EPA by the end of the year.
