Mönsterås: Maintenance in a pandemic
Our Mönsterås mill will close during weeks 17-19 for essential maintenance. Tobias Runesson, Maintenance Manager, explains that the shutdown can no longer be postponed, as some of the work has already been delayed from last year, due to Covid-19.
“Ensuring a safe stop during the pandemic has added several days to the shutdown. As well as essential maintenance that cannot wait any longer, we are also rebuilding the recovery boiler’s air system to ensure that it can perform consistently at higher loads. In addition, a new screening plant before one of the dryers will ensure lower dirt levels and mean that we can produce more of the EX Extra Clean pulp grades which many customers value.”
Runesson and his team have a busy few weeks ahead: “We are expecting around 1,200 extra people from 8-10 countries on site. We had a practice run for this during the smaller stop last year which involved around 400 suppliers on site and we have been preparing for some time now.”
A few examples of the extra measures needed for a stop during the pandemic:
- Extra security will be employed to ensure that social distancing and safety measures are adhered to at all times.
- Three giant tents will provide safe areas for changing. Dining tents will provide three meals per day with staggered dining times .
- Additional toilet facilities and recreational spaces around the mill.
- Valmet, the main supplier, will have 400 personnel on site. They will be housed in a separate area, including separate elevators up to the recovery boiler.
- Extra space is being created so that all visitors can access the spare part stores safely.
- Additional carparks will be created to allow suppliers to arrive in separate cars (no lift sharing).
“This is certainly a logistical challenge,” says Runesson, “but no expense has been spared to ensure that we do the job as safely and as efficiently as possible. We are keen to get up and running again on time and to meet our availability targets as planned so that we minimize disruption for our customers.”
Maintenance under Covid-19:
- 2,000 meals per day
- 400 cars in carpark
- 10,000 m2 of extra storage area
- 200 extra hand sanitizer stations
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Subjects: Pulp
