Newcastle’s Orica infrastructure includes 3 Nitric Acid Plants (NAP1, 2 & 3), 2 Ammonium Nitrate Plants (ANP1 & 2) and an Ammonia Plant. Orica operates from its Kooragang Island facility in New South Wales, Australia. These plants are approved to produce 500,000 tpa of ammonium nitrate product each year which are used in a variety of industrial and consumer products, including fertilisers and explosives. The Kooragang Island facility is an important part of Orica’s operations and plays a crucial role in the company’s production of these chemicals.

Our BLJ In-Situ Solutions team was called in to perform scheduled maintenance during a turnaround at Orica’s Nitric Acid and Ammonium Nitrates Plants ((NAP1) & (ANP1)) at Kooragang Island. Two technicians were on site for approximately three weeks, performing machining tasks on flanges ranging in size from 1″ to 48″ and general fitting works. 

One of the key challenges during this project was minimizing downtime in the plants to ensure Orica’s production capabilities and schedules were minimally impacted.

In order to achieve this efficiency, our highly skilled BLJ technicians were on-site, able to respond quickly to any issues that arose. We provided high-quality machining, flange face management and fitting services using a Mirage portable flange facing machine to help ensure the smooth operation of the Nitric Acid and Ammonium Nitrates Plants.

Thanks to the efforts and expertise of the BLJ technicians, the Orcia Kooragang Island scheduled maintenance turnaround was a success. Our client is extremely pleased we were able to minimise downtime and help them maintain the smooth operation of their plants.