| On the evening of the 1st February a group of us were able to attend a site visit at Alkegen’s Widnes site. The evening was hosted by Ian Durrans (Site Manager) and Jason Brown (Engineering Manager) Ian began with a short presentation explaining Alkegen as a company and the operations on the Widnes site. Alkegen is a multinational company with over 60 manufacturing facilities and 9,000-plus employees. It develops and manufactures specialist materials used in a wide number of industries such as Construction and Automotive. The Widnes site was established in the 1970’s by ICI. It’s original purpose was to produce Alumina based insulation materials as a substitute for Asbestos. The process consists of a batch mixing plant and 3 manufacturing lines. Currently the most modern (Line 3) is in constant use, Line 2 can be used occasionally and the original (Line 1) is due to be removed. The site and it’s buildings suffered from neglect under previous ownership and Ian explained the challenges of reversing this. The recent and current investment was evident during the site tour. The current major program is the rerouting and replacement of all of the High Tension cabling and switchgear. In the original installation this was integral within line 1, hence line 1 cannot be removed until this is rerouted and replaced at a cost of around £3Million. The site tour concentrated on line 3 which operates on a 5 crew 3 shift 7 day working pattern. The details of the line are proprietary but in essence the alumina mix from the batch mixing plant (which we did not see) is “spun” into a fibre which is then woven into a matt and is heat treated. The finish matt is then rolled into reels (light enough to be man handled) and packed into ~1m3 cardboard boxes. The process is not noisy or dusty and overall the operating environment was very pleasant. Ian explained some of the recent interesting process development advances that have been made aimed at improving productivity, reducing waste and the (considerable) energy consumption. Much of this revolved around making the process visible, using highly specialised glass panels, modelling of the airflows within the various chambers and tuning and balancing to ensure a smooth formation of the fibre matt. The results were clear to see on the site tour. The evening concluded with a wide ranging discussion. John Pollard I.Mech.E. Regional Chairman – Merseyside and N Wales |