What happens when two 1-tonne grinding balls shear in half? Our team not only work to fix the issue, but then put on their creative caps and turn this recyclable material into works of art.
Tarmac Aberthaw Maintenance Manager, Stuart Escott, explains:
“Each year we have a plant shutdown, in which we carry out all major work and installations, to ensure that our Aberthaw operations run smoothly for the rest of the year.
“This year the shutdown overran by a couple of days and, whilst we began our warmup period, we were hit with an issue when two of the ten grinding balls had sheared clean in half inside the mill. This left us with no option other than to shut down again and plan for the repair.
“Having never experienced this before, we had to come up with a plan to repair and replace these 1-tonne weight balls, which measure a sizeable 500mm in diameter!
“A full strip down of the mill, which would take over a week, was not a viable option as we couldn’t risk affecting customer supply. We needed a solution, and fast.
“We came up with a plan that meant we were able to lift out the damaged balls without undertaking a full mill strip down. We had some balls that had been stored from previous mill overhauls, but never disposed of, and were able to slot these balls into the mill to make up for the removed damaged ones.
“We completed the work on the mill 30hrs after the repair started and the plant was able to start back up before the stocks were exhausted.
“Delighted with the outcome, we wanted to make a feature out of the damaged balls as a reminder of the resilience and commitment demonstrated by our team.
“We’d like to thank everyone who worked on creating these works of art and are proud that they will now go on display at Aberthaw for employees and visitors to see, for years to come.”
This is just one of the site initiatives in which the Tarmac team proudly demonstrates its commitment to adopting the waste hierarchy at all times. In doing so, it contributes to waste as a resource philosophy, whilst reducing it and thereby contributing to the circular economy.
