From Fire To Foam
July 25, 2014 9:46 am Leave your thoughts
Hello folks!
Earlier in the week, in my blog titled “A Fiery Situation”, I mentioned how the local Fire Station and City Hall were on fire. Well, the good news is that the buildings survived, but there is approximately $1.5million in damages to the fire trucks and structure. It was also fairly unique to see that this small town had made national news for the incident.
Anyways, enough about that craziness.
In my last blog I also mentioned that we had a shutdown. After the shutdown was complete, and the mill was running stable, we began a chemical trial. The objective of the trial is to evaluate the effectiveness of the defoaming (Antifoam) chemical from a potential supplier. For those who are not aware about foaming issues in pulp mills, it is a common problem in the brown stock section of a pulp mill. Foaming issues most commonly occur in the early washing stages of production, shortly after cooking in the digesters. The foam is often referred to as “Shaving Cream” due to how dense it is. If the foam is not eliminated, it will reduce the effectiveness of the washers, and potentially cause a temporary shutdown, which results in lost production.
In my opinion, this trial has been one of the most rewarding aspects of my entire experience here at AV Nackawic. Regardless of the results of the trial, the lessons and skills I have learned have helped me evolve into a much more confident and capable employee. Although my role in this trial began as a mere observer, I have slowly gained the responsibilities of monitoring chemical dosage levels, dosage points, tote maintenance and being in constant communication with the supplier.
From a practical perspective, these responsibilities have forced me to communicate with employees from many departments, such as fork lift drivers, controls and instrumentation specialists, brown stock operators, general maintenance, area supervisors and superintendents. I would have been extremely apprehensive about approaching many of these people when I started here in May, simply due to their position on the organizational hierarchy. This trial changed that completely, allowing me to be much more effective in the future, whether it be at this mill again, or any other job setting.
Well folks, that is all for today. I will be writing about the crazy aftermath of hurricane Arthur, and how it impacted the mill, in my next blog.
Thanks for reading!
Robert Silliker
(PS: Sorry for the lack of photos today, I will have some neat ones for my next blog)