Working at LP-East River

July 9, 2018 12:43 pm Published by 1 Comment

Welcome back everyone! The summer weather has finally showed up here in NS. These last two weeks of June have brought some rain and lots of sun, everything is very dry so ill consider the rain “good” weather. There’s actually supposed to be a heat wave across NS for Canada Day weekend, some areas are to expect temperatures up to 40 °C with the humidex. In my last blog I promised an update about the darling robin babies, but unfortunately, I didn’t get a chance to go snap a picture. For this blog, instead I’m going to tell you a bit more about the company I work for and what goes on here.

As you all may know, since January 2018 I have been working for Louisiana Pacific Corporation (LP) at its East River, NS location. This is my last work term of my co-op program so in the fall I will be returning to school to complete my Chemical Engineering degree. So far my experience with LP has be great and I am getting very valuable experience that I will be able to use in my many years to come.

LP operates multiple plants across North and South American, with their corporate office based in Nashville, Tennessee. Something you may not know about LP is that it is one of the world’s largest producers of Oriented Strand Board (OSB) and manufactures engineered wood products. The mill were I am working, LP-East River, was established in 1967 and manufactures a high quality pre-finished composite hardboard siding known as LP CanExel®. They actually just celebrated their 50th anniversary of operation last year and is one of the oldest mills within the company.

Aerial View of the LP-East River Mill

The Mill

The production process at LP-East River begins with logs from the wood yard being put through the chipper and chipped into small wood chips. The chips get washed to remove any dirt or sand before being transferred to the chip hopper and are then sent to be preheated. Once heated the chips are put in the defibrator where steam and pressure separate the wood fibers. The fibers are mixed with water which results in a slushy like material that is stored in stock tanks. In the stock tanks, several additives are mixed in to the slushy material which ensure the durability of the finished product. The material goes through various dewatering, shaping and pressing processes to become hardboard. Before the board can be cut and shaped into siding, it must be re-humidified to prevent buckling. After the hardboard is the proper size, it is painted and packaged.

The Industrial Wastewater Treatment Plant

There are 4 main stages to the treatment process. First, the wastewater from the production process is pumped to the treatment plant and goes through the drum screen to remove any coarse solids are removes from the water. After this step the water is transferred to a storage basin and is pumped into the Dissolved Air Flotation (DAF) tank, in this step some of the suspended solids are removed. After the DAF, the water is transferred to the aeration basins where it is aerated and any organic material is consumed by microbiology present. From here is goes into the secondary clarifiers where most of the remaining suspended solids are removed, and the final clarified effluent is discharged to the ocean.

Inside the Clarifier Building at the Wastewater Treatment Plant

Compost Facility

Organic material removed from wastewater is mixed with wood waste such as sawdust and bark following a specific recipe for compost feedstock. The compost undergoes Indoor Active Composting; a method which involves forced aeration and odour, temperature and moisture control. The air from inside the building is passed through a biofilter to remove odour. A similar aeration process occurs in the next phase, except it happens outdoors under a roof. The final stages of creating compost include final curing and screening. Final curing allows the material to break down further, which reduces any residual odour. Once the compost has cured, it is screened to remove any oversized rocks or pieces of bark.

View from the Compost Facility

Now you’re all caught up with the processes here at LP-East River. Come back for blog #3 to see some of the summer adventures I’ve experienced so far!

1 Comment

  • Austin Hatt says:

    Good to see all systems are working well, especially the Waste Water Treatment plant. I retired from the mill as a Wastewater Treatment Opr. in 2010. Keep up the good work.

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