The impact of southern ice and snow disasters on fertilizer production
Thread Content
This year, the ice and snow disasters in the south affected a very wide area, and the production of many fertilizer companies located in those affected regions must have been impacted as well. However, fertilizer companies in the north seem to have considerable experience in dealing with such disasters. It is hoped that colleagues from the northern region can share some useful insights, and that we can all discuss this important topic from a technical perspective
There’s no common point – snow in the south causes widespread power outages, while this hardly happens in the north. The main reason for this situation in the south is the lack of snow-clearing and snow-prevention equipment as well as the necessary mental readiness. The impact of traffic conditions on fertilizer companies is mainly the inability to obtain raw coal, along with excessive inventory buildup. As a supplementary point, there was a snowstorm in the south, but the temperature wasn’t low; it was around 0 degrees. So, the experiences from the north may not necessarily be applicable to the south, but it’s still quite useful to exchange our respective insights.
A few additional points regarding winter weather with ice and snow: 1. Prevent power outages or supply restrictions, and be prepared for emergency responses； 2. Clean the roads promptly to ensure the safety of people traveling and conducting inspections, as falls occur frequently there ； 3. Arrange production and sales in a reasonable manner; continue with production as long as it is possible ； 4. Prevent freezing and cracking of equipment pipes, especially when it comes to shutdown systems, where extra care is required ； 5. Regularly check the instrumentation and equipment that often malfunctions.
I’m from the north and don’t pay much attention to news
This year we have suffered heavy losses; on January 24th, operations came to a halt due to a power outage, and power supply was not restored until the end of February. The initial estimate of the losses is around 10 million yuan. In addition to the power supply issue, some problems that were not anticipated before have also emerged: 1. In the southern regions, where temperatures are higher, instruments were never equipped with insulation boxes. However, the sudden drop in temperature caused most of the transmitters in our factory to get damaged and stop functioning. It is recommended that the southern regions raise their standards as well by installing insulation boxes and other such facilities. 2. Many pipes such as those for water also froze and cracked, forcing the boiler to operate intermittently in order to supply steam to subsequent sections for insulation, resulting in waste. 3. Road traffic is essentially halted; coal cannot be brought in, and fertilizers cannot be exported. In short, the losses are significant.