Risks associated with the shutdown were uppermost in people's minds and the mitigation plans were successfully managed by all parties. The project was completed on time and on budget.
In 2007, Nyrstar required a review of the No.6 Fluid Bed Roaster (FBR) and Acid Plant shutdown at their Hobart smelter in Tasmania and engaged Beca (formerly Beca AMEC) to undertake the audit. We subsequently proposed a number of recommendations to improve operational performance.
As a result of this work, Beca was asked to provide a management role for the shutdown of the No.5 FBR in 2008, responsible for managing the 21 day shutdown and a number of functions within the client integrated team.
An international team was mobilised for the project, comprising a Shutdown Manager from the USA, an Occupational, Health & Safety Advisor from New Zealand, and a commercial cost management team, scheduler and emergent work planner from Australia.
Major activities during the project included:
- foreshore scrubber replacement
- acid plant piping replacement
- installation of a safety balloon to prevent anything falling from the refractory into the roaster
- absorption tower packing and brickwork.
With approximately 70,000 contractor hours expended over the shutdown period, the project required careful management. A total risk management framework (TRM) was introduced, which focused on risks associated with OH&S, operations, maintenance, planning, scheduling and contractor management.
With this approach, the risks continued to be uppermost in people's minds and the mitigation plans were successfully managed by all parties. The $23M project was completed on time and on budget.