CF Fertilisers UK Ltd

 

Project Introduction

Having worked in CF Fertilisers for such a long time Lyjon have carried out hundreds of projects, for example CF Fertilisers had a shut down to replace a converter tower install a new air process plant last year. This was a £20m project to improve efficiency and the environment at the Ince site.

The work involved building the piled foundation and reinforced concrete convert cradle, all other minor civil works including drainage, plinths, plant foundations, electrical installations to control the plant in operation including instrumentation panels, control sensors, emergency services and many other small project works.

The main civil works were carried prior to the shut down, then the remainder of the work including all the electrical installations were carried out in the two month shut down period.

The project value to Lyjon was in the region of £500,000. The term maintenance contract value for Lyjon is worth approximately of £1m per annum.

Dave Lea the Lyjon Site Supervisor said “CF Fertilisers can put the pressure on, but through good resource planning and rigorous focus to detail we go the extra mile and deliver on our promise”

Sustainable Development

CF Fertilisers is the UK’s premier fertiliser manufacturer and a major supplier of process chemicals and utilities.

At the heart of the business are three key drivers:

1. Technical excellence
2. Social and environmental responsibility
3. Innovation and product development

The result:

1. High quality products
2. Professional technical advice
3. Reliable services

As well as CF Fertilisers being the UK’s leading supplier of Nitrogen products to selected industrial markets and applications, it is also committed to British agriculture, making investment in production capacity and Advice & Services fundamental to the company’s success.

The Ince Site

Ince manufacturing site is located near Chester, Cheshire and was established in 1965, has approximately 400 employees and occupies 55 hectares. The Ince plant produces 1 million tonnes of fertiliser per annum and supplies the key market sectors for grass and arable farming. The site manufactures nitrogenous fertiliser based on ammonium nitrate and is the largest UK producer of True Granular Compound fertilisers. The True Granular Compound fertilisers vary in their proportions of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium with the major proportion containing sulphur to meet with ever increasing market demand. These fertilisers provide essential key nutrients to enable excellent crop growth.

CF Fertilisers are committed to continuous improvement to their environment policy, project have been undertaken to reduce CF Fertilisers’s carbon footprint by 1 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent annually; to 350,000 car emissions. Lyjon support CF Fertilisers’s policy with their own environmental policy and put improvement programmes in place on the Ince site.

High standards of health and safety are implemented and Lyjon consistently scores highly on CF Fertilisers’s health and safety assessments. Lyjon seeks to benefit the Ellesmere Port economy by prioritising local employment, subcontractors and suppliers.

Project Partner Collaboration

Lyjon has developed a long term working relationship with CF Fertilisers which has allowed the establishment of good working practices and common sustainability strategies. A multi-disciplinary project office has been set up at CF Fertilisers to facilitate close co-operation and to improve communication to the various CF Fertilisers Engineers.

Occupational Health and Safety

Safety is one of the Lyjon’s top priorities and is why Lyjon score highly in health and safety assessments.

Many of Lyjon employees on the CF Fertilisers site are CompEx certified. Based upon the IEC Standards, primarily 60079:10; 14, & 17, CompEx is the global solution for competency validation and certification for electro technical and mechanical crafts persons working in potentially hazardous or explosive environments.

Lyjon electrical technicians, are CompEx trained to ensure we carry out our role with the appropriate due diligence and care.

“Lyjon’s policy is that instrument and electrical technicians working on electrical equipment on the CF Fertilisers plant must have the necessary training and competence assurance in place.

The CompEx training, which is a certificated assessment scheme, is fully comprehensive and establishes the principles associated with the selection and use of electrical apparatus in potentially explosive atmospheres. After two to four days of intensive training, candidates are required to demonstrate competence via a series of practical tests, and complete a written multi-choice test paper.

For those who carry out work in hazardous areas without appropriate training, the repercussions could be immense – health and safety should always be the number one priority, but the relevant knowledge is a necessity to safeguard this. Furthermore, new legislation introduced (ATEX Directives) has made it mandatory for all personnel working in potentially hazardous areas to receive relevant training and to be deemed competent to do so.

Economic Responsibility

All materials were manufactured within the UK. Regional materials were preferred in order to support local economies and minimise the environmental impacts due to transportation.

Regional employment, subcontractors and materials

30 people worked on the project including direct and subcontractors. 100% of the workers were from the North West Region.

Efficiency savings for the client

Some Lyjon employees have worked on the CF Fertilisers site for more than twenty years and have a wealth of experience of the plant. This means Lyjon can offer very competitive prices because they know exactly what to do and how to do it in the most effective way.

Over the years Lyjon have created processes and systems that allow them to work very effectively in large plant environments, these processes and systems are transferable to other plants, this allows Lyjon to have a competitive edge on any competitor.

Environmental Responsibility

The CF Fertilisers project environmental plan seeks to minimise impacts by strictly controlling pollution during any works. For example drip kits and spill trays are used to avoid potential pollutants, such as oil, causing ground contamination when construction foundations. The plan strives to identify potential environmental hazards and encouraging employees to report environmental near misses and risks.

Waste Management

Lyjon monitored and minimised construction waste by sorting and recycling waste material.

Recycling

All surplus materials were separated into separate recycling containers where they were recycled off site.

Lyjon use Recirpo an online contractor’s surplus recycling and exchange site. Recipro recycle waste materials and puts them to beneficial use for example giving surplus materials to charities and schools

Site Energy Consumption

Site task lighting was switched on only as required and site security ensured that only minimal security night lighting was used.