Stacking up for the crush

Wilmar Sugar operations general manager Mike McLeod. Wilmar Sugar is replacing the 62m high chimney stack at its Inkerman mill in the Burdekin region as part of its off-season maintenance and capital upgrade program. The company is expected to spend more than $100 million across its eight mills throughout North and Central Queensland in the current round of work. Operations general manager Mike McLeod said the new Inkerman stack, circular ducting and associated platforms were being installed in sections – with work due for completion in May. “The mill’s previous stack was built in 1974. After more than 40 years of operation, the boiler station stack was close to reaching the end of its serviceable life,” Mr McLeod said. “The new stack will be a ‘like for like’ replacement, with the design, construction and installation to be completed by principal contractors WDT Engineers. “The project was awarded in September 2015 and is expected to be completed by May 2016.” LEFT: J&D Rigging cranes on site for the Inkerman stack rebuild. The old stack had been demolished and lower sections of its replacement installed by late March. Mr McLeod said two large crawler cranes supplied by Townsville’s J&D Rigging company were being used for the on-site construction. The expected total mass of the new stack will be about 200 tonnes. Mr McLeod said it was expected to match the previous stack with a service life of 40 years. Other major works for Wilmar this year include the replacement of No.5 pan at Invicta mill. Mr McLeod said the 80-tonne capacity pan had reached the end of its serviceable life and had been replaced with a 100-tonne capacity pan to accommodate future expansion options. “It has been fabricated and installed by WDT Engineers,” he said. Other projects across the group include turbine overhauls at Plane Creek and Proserpine, while Pioneer Mill is replacing a high-grade centrifugal and Kalamia Mill is replacing its bagasse reclaimer. An upgrade of electrical infrastructure is also under way at Inkerman as well as dust collector replacements for boilers two and three. Also in the Burdekin region, a new cane siding and branch line has been constructed near Clare. The assembly of 90 new cane bins for the Herbert region is expected to start at Wilmar Sugar’s Ingham workshop in early April. Other capital projects being undertaken ahead of the Herbert’s 2016 crushing season include a rebuild of Macknade Mill’s ash clarifier, an upgrade of the heat exchangers on Victoria Mill’s B401 evaporator and an upgrade of Victoria’s A-side shredder.

Stacking up for the crush

Industry Queensland

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