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Explosion at jay me mill

Started by snowstorm, April 15, 2020, 04:22:22 PM

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dgdrls




According to this report two of three machines are running and politicians are offering to help as much as they can.
Sen. Collins Visit

Another report   Pulp
"Officials said pulp from Pixelle mills in Ohio and Pennsylvania is being sent to the Jay mill to fulfill orders. The company is also buying supplemental pulp to meet demand."

Between slow housing starts and this explosion I sure feel for the local loggers and trucking,

D

JesseA

Regarding the Nine dragons plants in rumford and old town, there's a bunch o parts in old town waiting to get stuck into place in rumford, they're just waiting for time to do it, last numbers I heard we're 190 days of outages scheduled for 2020 in rumford but that was in December. ND broke up the bid packages that had been approved into lots of little ones and sent them out for bid again.  

Cianbro, Sullivan and Merritt, fastco, southernfield and several other contractors have been in and out of the old town mill for more than a year patching that place up.  They have had rotten run with making the digesters work appropriately after they were altered to make jet fuel in the Red Shield period in the 2010s.  The place is a mess and while I was there we were into the evaporators because they had shot wood chips into them.  Under no circumstances should chips be in the evaporators just before the liquor goes into the recovery boiler.  
Wood chips in the raw water, wood chips in the filtered water, wood chips showing up unexpectedly in waste water treatment.  

I'd been suspecting some level of ongoing operations sabotage since they brought the guy that designed the pulp mill operating programs, and for two weeks the pulp mill ran without too many issues then he left and the problems basically came right back. 

when I was last in old town (January) the lime kiln was effectively the only part of the mill that was working reliably. 

peakbagger

Looks like the layoffs have started. The news said it would be the fourth quarter at the earliest before the company has a long term plan for pulping.

Maine logger88

It took a lot longer for them to lay people off than I thought but I guess they had some people on cleanup. I heard there waiting to see how the election goes before making a decision whether there is any truth to that idk. I also see sappi shut down a machine in Westbrook and part of there power plant
79 TJ 225 81 JD 540B Husky and Jonsered saws

snowstorm

Jay is waiting on a insurance check for a new dijester or 2????

JesseA

Cianbro is at jay with a big crane and a crew working with insurance investigators cutting out one piece and getting out of the way.  

peakbagger

The Boston Globe today has a "death of mill town" article. Its behind a paywall so I have not read it (but have read several others for the Millinockets, Madison, Bucksport and Berlin. They usually follow a standard script.  

Bruno of NH

I read it this morning.
Things are changing in the woods of New England 
It won't be good for the loggers.
Lt 40 wide with 38hp gas and command controls , F350 4x4 dump and lot of contracting tools

jdatwood

Quote from: peakbagger on April 17, 2020, 01:26:31 PM
I did not work at Jay but worked up the river in the former Berlin mill. The Jay mill has/had Kamyr Continuous Digesters. Many folks are confused that there was chemical explosion like dynamite. There was no chemical reaction, its just a tall pressure vessel full of chips, liquor and high pressure steam. Wood is mostly cellulose fibers which are strong but limp, what makes wood stiff is lignin which fills in the gaps around the cellulose. A very rough analogy is reinforced concrete, the cellulose is the rebar the lignin is the portland cement. The goal in the digester is to break the liquor away from the cellulose without degrading the cellulose strength. The "liquor" is caustic made with lime and chemicals that were recovered from the process. It dissolves the lignin while leaving the fiber alone. Going along for the ride are condensable and non condensable gases which are extracted during the cook and also come out with the cooked pulp. Some of the non condensable gases are in there in only small amounts but very noticeable at even small concentrations. They give a Kraft pulp mill a distinct odor. In a mill town that smell is regarded as the smell of money but to outsiders its very distinct.  

A swag on the steam pressure in the digester is 150 psi. Berlin had batch digesters which work very much like a pressure cooker, Fill them up with chips, liquor and steam, close the valves and then keep them hot for a period of time by adding steam as needed. Once they have "cooked" the pulp long enough, a valve is opened on the bottom and the contents are "blown" to an atmospheric tank. The mix of pulp, steam and liquor is blown through a small nozzle in a controlled manner. The Kamyr continuous digester is more complex than a pressure cooker where raw chips are fed on one end and cooked pulp comes out the other end while the digester is under pressure. Liquor through the chips is circulated in and out of the digester . Therefore there has be devices on either end to allow the chips to go in and the pulp to go out without letting the pressure escape. Compared to a batch digester the continuous digester is lot more complex with more stuff to go wrong. Since the digester is holding steam its regarded as a pressure vessel that had be be built and maintained to the ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel code. That code was put in place around the time of steamboats as steamboats had boilers and on occasion they failed killing passengers and usually sinking the steamboat. The rules are strict and add a lot of cost to building pressure vessels but the trade off is they are normally safe. Folks with large compressor probably have seen the ASME cloverleaf on the data plate.

Pure speculation on my part is either the actual pressure vessel or one of the inlet assemblies on the top failed. Instead of a controlled release of pressurized brown stock and dirty liquor, the contents under pressure all tried to come out at the same time of what might be 20' diameter by 100 foot plus high pipe. All the liquid in the vessel would be above the atmospheric boiling point and it would flash to steam. When it flashes it take up more volume and thus the impressive dirty plume. This happens quickly so any solids in the tank go along for the ride. This causes thrust like a rocket engine but since the top failed the digester could not launch itself but what it could do is move sideways and damage the other digester.

The liquor is sticky and has lime component in it. It can leave a coating on whatever it lands on and its difficult to get off. Many of the mills have drive through car washes on the exit of the parking lot for employers to wash their vehicle at the end of shift, the water in th sprays has acetic acid (vinegar) mixed in with it to get to remove the lime scale that can collect on cars. Some mills hand out bottles to the employees to do it themselves. Most of Maine has acid soils so I expect the grass and local plants will look a bit greener this summer since the caustic lime liquor will buffer the aid in the soil. This dirty liquir used to be given away by the mills long ago and used to keep the dust down on dirt roads.When it was applied correctly it formed something akin to asphalt. The liquor will eventually make it to the river where its naturally broken down. This could be an issue in summer when the water is warm and does not hold much oxygen and is at a low flow but this time of year the water is cold and at a high flow so it should not be an issue. A legacy of the upper Androscoggin being an industrial sewer for a 100 years from Jay and the upstream mills is that there is a large hydroelectric empoundment called Gulf Island Pond  south of the mill that backs water all the way back up from just north of Lewiston. This pond has a 100 years of sludge that went in the river prior to the clean water act and at times the water in the pond does not have enough oxygen in it due to this rotting sludge so the upstream mills and Jay have an oxygen injection system in the river above the pond to add oxygen back in if need be, they could crank it up early. The actual pulp will rapidly rot and break down in the rain.  

The biggest issue is that the Jay mill has been struggling since IP (the original owner) transferred them to Verso Papers (the prior owner). They have been losing money and not making decent returns as the demand is not there for the type of paper they made. There are a lot of other mills in the same condition around the US, many have closed and the remaining ones are struggling for the remaining orders in the US. Paper is expensive to ship so its usually produced near where its needed and lot of the printers are now offshore. Just up the river is the Rumford mill with the same problems that was bought at a fire sale by Nine Dragons Paper who also bought the Old Town mill and at least one other in the US. They have grand plans and deep pockets but the last Chinese company that bought the old Woodland mill learned an expensive lesson that shipping pulp doesn't make sense, they now make towel and tissue parent rolls. Verso struggled for several years and eventually had to get a lot smaller before they went bankrupt (Verso was owned by hedge funds that normally want to dive in, make money and sell). The new owner Pixelle consists of several "orphan" mills competing for that much smaller market and they got Jay for the proverbial 10cents on a dollar or less. They were going to have to spend money to make the mill more competitive in the grades of paper that still have a market. They are now looking at a major 100 cents on dollar investment to get the mill running again. They probably had industrial risk insurance but that has major deductibles usually in the millions. Used continuous digesters are not available typically and even if they were they would need to be cut up and reassembled using the boiler code. They really need a set of new ones that will be custom built after they are designed. The pulp market varies year to year but they are probably not set up with the equipment and storage space to buy pulp even if they can find a nearby source (My guess is Northern Pulp Nova Scotia could supply them if NP can get their waste water permit straightened out). The initial claim is 24 months to get new digesters in place and operating. So the question is does Pixelle have the cash to cover the up front upgrades to put in a pulp feed line now and hopefully source pulp cheaply enough to make money on the paper they make?. The rational decision may be to walk away or give Nine Dragons a call and hope ND has deep enough pockets.
My money for the root cause would be build up of NCG's that were ignited by a mechanical issue in the top separator. Happened in Florida years ago, same result. You can see the flames in one of the videos. Steam/pressure explosions don't make fire balls...

peakbagger

I used to deal with NCGs at a nearby mill in a past career. NCGs are nasty stuff but tend to have low flame speed. Unless they had a gas receiver with a very large volume of gas it would be hard to envision a real explosion, the NCGs probably contributed to the problem but probably did not set it off.

The difference with southern kraft mills and northern kraft mills is pine. Unless Jay changed their procurement practices in the last 10 years to bring in pine, I think they were buying spruce and fir. The difference between the pine and spruce/fir is turpentine. Pine has it spruce/fir doesnt. Turpentine is "rocket fuel" compared to NCGs. Its a major PITA to deal with it. The vapor will travel all through the process and condense out in the strangest places. When it condenses, separates out and floats on water. It can in the right conditions create sparks while flowing as liquid. We had a 300 foot high stack hooked up indirectly to the sewer and it blew a couple of smoke rings on occasion. If they had switched to pine recently and didnt have the right systems in place, then yes that could be a big problem.

My pure speculation is still a pressure part failure, but expect the gang of federal, state, insurance and third party folks that went through the place (and may still be) and the records with a fine tooth comb will look at every thing.    

jdatwood

Quote from: peakbagger on August 29, 2020, 01:04:37 PM
I used to deal with NCGs at a nearby mill in a past career. NCGs are nasty stuff but tend to have low flame speed. Unless they had a gas receiver with a very large volume of gas it would be hard to envision a real explosion, the NCGs probably contributed to the problem but probably did not set it off.

The difference with southern kraft mills and northern kraft mills is pine. Unless Jay changed their procurement practices in the last 10 years to bring in pine, I think they were buying spruce and fir. The difference between the pine and spruce/fir is turpentine. Pine has it spruce/fir doesnt. Turpentine is "rocket fuel" compared to NCGs. Its a major PITA to deal with it. The vapor will travel all through the process and condense out in the strangest places. When it condenses, separates out and floats on water. It can in the right conditions create sparks while flowing as liquid. We had a 300 foot high stack hooked up indirectly to the sewer and it blew a couple of smoke rings on occasion. If they had switched to pine recently and didnt have the right systems in place, then yes that could be a big problem.

My pure speculation is still a pressure part failure, but expect the gang of federal, state, insurance and third party folks that went through the place (and may still be) and the records with a fine tooth comb will look at every thing.    
It'll certainly be interesting, my understanding of the IP Cantonment mill in Florida is the NCG's built up after an outage and caused the explosion. The vapor phase of the digester is essentially a large gas receiver so it'll hold a charge of explosive gases should the scrubber system not be clearing out out to the collection system or venting to atmosphere. It sounds as though the Jay digester was down for a bit that morning making it even more plausible. NCG's and HVLC's are a great alternative "free" fuel source To incinerate in the kiln or power boiler. We've had a few digester overpressure events at work and the safeties pop off and burp the vessel, make a big mess and we move on. I just sure hope for the community they rebuild. In Lincoln they put on a good show until the insurance check was cut then they walked away from that dump with a check much bigger than anything that place was worth. My fear is that'll happen there, but we'll see. I'm with you on the turpentine being nasty stuff, my least favorite area to work in as an E/I guy 🤢🤢🤢

snowstorm

the local news says pixel mill will not replace the digester that blew up last spring. so how long before its sold or scrapped?

nativewolf

I am sorry to hear that but I guess no surprise, these things are so expensive.  Metal prices are soaring through the roof, wonder if that impacted any analysis or if it is just the contraction of the global economy.

There are rumors that someone has bought the mill at Luke MD.  I'm not in the know but thought maybe you would have heard something. Edit: Never mind, I see that the paper machines have been sold to a Turkish company.  Well that is that for pulp in northern VA.  I see that a fuel pellet mill may setup on the log yard.  I am a big believer in trends and the trend to solar/wind makes me very cautious about fuel wood as a business.  
Liking Walnut

peakbagger

Looks like its official

Jay mill to permanently idle paper machine, not rebuild pulp mill | Lewiston Sun Journal

The writing is on the wall, sad to say, but my guess is it will be wide superfund site along the road in 10 years like Bucksport and the Millinockets. Unlike Bucksport, its not in a fairly robust economic area so folks are not lined up to reuse the site.   Lots of non competitive mills have gone after specialties and unless the new owners have some patents to prop them up like Sappi Westbrook to keep the competitors at bay, its a race to the bottom.  The only advantage Maine mills can struggle along with is access to their own pulp. IP had sold the land that supported the place years ago then sold to a hedge fund that sold the dams and then sold to another hedge fund who is now holding the bag. There is only so much meat than can be stripped off a bone  :'( Having seen the impact to Berlin and Northern NH with loss of the pulp industry its a major hit to the area even 10 years later despite the various bones thrown our way. The young smart guys will move but the older ones will hang on with seniority and there will be a bit uptick in disability claims. 

I wonder if the owners got a big insurance check?

mike_belben

Well.. The longterm trend of my lifetime is for any good stable factory job to somehow evaporate or slash wages and a govt check or a second job be needed to replace the loss.  


Its what i based my prediction on in the other thread.  
Praise The Lord

Mooseherder

There's still a Run on Paper Towels and Toilet paper.  People are hoarding for the Apocalypse. 
Apparently, we need more of those types of Mills because the shelves are bare in the Stores.

tamarackman

The short term demand for personal hygiene paper products is way up but on the longer term, the curve will even out as people aren't using more tp than usual. They will simply wait longer before purchasing more of it until they exhaust their hoarded supplies.

I think the only paper product that has seen a longer term increase in demand is corrugated box. More online shopping, more cardboard boxes.

azmtnman

Quote from: nativewolf on December 10, 2020, 07:00:28 AM
  I see that a fuel pellet mill may setup on the log yard.  I am a big believer in trends and the trend to solar/wind makes me very cautious about fuel wood as a business.  
There is a 25 MW "biomass" electric generation plant not too far from where I live. 75% of its generating fuel comes from forest thinning waste. Solar and wind work well here but people still heat with wood pellets (more still heat with traditional wood stoves.) We also have a large wood pellet mill here. Solar advances (wind is a passing phase--high maintenance and installation costs) make it a good replacement for traditional grid electricity but it's not a replacement for heating--especially in lower sunny day areas. I think wood pellets are here to stay for a while--and as an expanding market.
1983 LT 30, 1990 Kubota L3750DT, 2006 Polaris 500 EFI, '03 Dodge D2500 Cummins powered 4X4 long-bed crew cab, 1961 Ford backhoe, Stihl MS250, MS311 and MS661--I cut trees for my boss who was a Jewish carpenter!

mudfarmer

Quote from: peakbagger on December 10, 2020, 07:38:31 AM
Looks like its official

Jay mill to permanently idle paper machine, not rebuild pulp mill | Lewiston Sun Journal

The writing is on the wall, sad to say, but my guess is it will be wide superfund site along the road in 10 years like Bucksport and the Millinockets.
Newton Falls in NY also. A former VP bought some of the land and news just hit that he got a partial grant for Brownfield cleanup and is going to turn it into an Christmas tree farm and campground Land behind Newton Falls mill cleaned up, tree farm, campground planned
There is a state campground just up the road. Another was planned not far away but seems to have fallen apart due to APA permitting issues, funding, or idk what. We could use a paper mill more than a campground but it is what it is. Lots of folks trying to bring the area's formerly resource extraction based economy back through tourism. Hopefully it works because the alternative has not been great for the remaining population.


quilbilly

That would be pretty rough for a mill to explode 2 years after a complete service. 
a man is strongest on his knees

mike_belben

im on the outside looking in here.. but i think this is just pixelle trying to recuperate their loss with bigshot lawyers using the law as a club against trico.  if pixelle is now expertly qualified to allege that

QuoteTrico's conduct was "deficient, negligent and failed to meet industry standards,"
then why couldnt they be expert enough to have identified trico as negligent back then?  why didnt they replace trico with a not so deficient or negligent contractor?   do you think pixelle had no maintenance division or contractor liaison looking over the work and saying yeah boss its good?  i did that very job for 10 years and sooo many times me and the contractor would say xyz isnt right we need more time... and itd get squashed by management.  "do the best ya can."   thats manageese for "tough shhhhh.."


did pixelle not have a vested interest in protecting themselves from shoddy contract labor like everyone else does?  buyer beware right?  if trico had a bad reputation and this has happened in numerous other plants i can see a valid class action lawsuit due to a history of malpractice with multiple litigants.. but it ran for 2 straight years right?  you check an industrial boiler for water 3 shifts a day, industrial compressors for oil 3 shifts a day.  not once every 2 years.  where was the inhouse inspection rosters.. who put their signature on those?  where is the safety guy and the maintenance boss at pixelle hiding?

if trico didnt have assets to go after, this suit would not exist.  did trico put a two year warranty on a pressure vessel repair?  if so id expect it to be in the article.  because a rebuilt automotive transmission is only warranted for 90 days and then youre on your own.  are we gonna start suing mechanics from 5 years ago when we dont change oil?


another bad legal precedent in 3... 2...
Praise The Lord

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