“\"HaiChuan Thanksgiving Season\": A thank you to those who fought side by side on the coal chemical production lines【Process Area 008】

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This post was last edited by Desert Poplar on 2016-4-1 21:58 -----I write this to express my gratitude to my colleagues and friends who offered me selfless support during those difficult times. Some people and some experiences are destined to remain unforgettable in life. Because it was a helping hand extended to you at your most difficult times… In August 2008, during my 12th year at work, feeling somewhat disappointed with my role in political work and hoping to switch to a technical career, I voluntarily gave up my comfortable position in political management at a large state-owned listed company. With the help of many leaders, I returned to the coking plant that was part of the same group where I had worked before; it was just like when I left there back then, to take part in an open competition, with the same support from many leaders and the same feelings. The difference is that back then, I transitioned from a production scheduling role at a branch plant to a major listed company, where I served as a general secretary to senior executives. Now, however, I’ve moved from a political and ideological management position at a large company back to a frontline technical role. Fortunately, the plant manager remembered our past relationship and assigned me the title of professional engineer on-site at a workshop. Worried that I might have difficulty adjusting to frontline work all of a sudden, he also put me in charge of construction safety for a newly built coking project with an annual capacity of 2.2 million tons. After such a significant leap forward, those from the various units on both sides, as well as other units under the group, some of whom knew me and some did not, while appreciating my approach, mostly viewed it with skepticism rooted in traditional doubts, observed me carefully, and even concocted various stories. To the point that on my first day at work, my direct supervisor, the deputy head of the engineering team, looked at me sideways with his head held high, completely ignoring my welcoming smile and the right hand I stretched out toward him. There are no holidays here; I worked non-stop for over half a year. In April 2009, the dry quenching unit was completed and successfully commissioned. At the end of the project, the branch manager asked me to use the management skills I had acquired while working at that listed company, along with my 6 years of technical experience in tar processing, to take charge of the chemical workshop, which was causing the most problems for the entire factory, and to serve as the party secretary of that workshop. At the beginning of April 2009, I arrived at the chemical processing workshop; of course, before that, leaders at all levels gave me a great deal of encouragement, which helped me take on my role with confidence. I had no idea that I would later suffer the biggest setback in my life here (I won’t go into details), but it was also here that I resumed working in my field of expertise, which I love, and made a group of close friends. This is the worst-equipped workshop; it’s no exaggeration to say it’s the worst in the entire group. Because for a set of equipment worth around 200 million, the annual cost for equipment and materials is less than 300,000 ； This is the workshop with the most complex staffing, and it would not be an overstatement to say that it is the worst among the group’s main production units. Because one-third of the employees here are those who were rejected by other units across the group after going through a screening process, and who come to the office every day; another third of them dream of being transferred out of this workshop. As for the rest, half of them just muddle along, with only about a dozen people who are relatively dedicated and responsible. However, this is still the most important workshop, because only when it operates normally can the coke oven gas required for the entire group’s production and living areas be ensured. It was not until 1 month later that I learned the truth, but there is no remedy for regret in this world. Moreover, at that time I was determined to stay here, to face any difficulties without backing down, and to achieve something meaningful. After taking office, there were constant objections from employees regarding strict management down to the smallest details, performance evaluations, work assignments, transfers, and the prohibition of cheating during exams. Even worse, they colluded with each other**, filed complaints, cursed at me to my face, and even shouted insults at me on the road... To gain the trust of the employees, I spent three months having heart-to-heart talks with every section chief, team leader, and operator. I attended every pre-shift meeting and helped them resolve many issues they had long hoped to see addressed. As a result, our branch became the only one at the time that made proper and effective use of Party-building funds and actively carried out activities for Party members. After taking office, the workshop supervisor and my former classmates from the same shift (who did not become party branch secretaries) further tried to create problems for me… To ensure that the overall interests were protected, I pretended not to be aware of their schemes, and generously interceded on behalf of the workshop supervisor with the factory manager, having those over 10 employees whom they disliked transferred away; this stopped others from gossiping about me behind my back… Three months later, when the factory manager inspected the site before the holiday, he found many issues, so he removed the workshop supervisor from his position, leaving me in charge of everything. At that time, I kept weighing the pros and cons in my mind, feeling anxious – with such a situation, there was only a 20% chance of success. But after much thought, there’s no choice but to go ahead despite the difficulties. At that time, the factory manager transferred from another workshop an experienced on-site specialist, an experienced shift supervisor, and an excellent equipment inspector. It was the height of summer, in July, and that’s when my journey of innovation began. For countless mornings, we would leave home around 7 o’clock to attend the pre-shift meeting for the day shift, and after 12 o’clock at night to attend the pre-shift meeting for the night shift. After 1 a.m., I rode home in the dark. Often, there are problems in production at midnight, and suddenly a call comes in asking us to go to the site to deal with them… So during the day we keep an eye on production and train the staff personally (at that time, 75% of the employees had less than 2 years of work experience; those who are familiar with chemical production know that it usually takes 3 to 5 years for most employees with only junior high school education to go from beginners to skilled workers), and when faults or problems arise, we rush to the messy and difficult working conditions first. After 6 p.m., discuss the day’s production, team composition, and performance management together. The 8 people who work the day shift in the workshop usually work more than 12 hours per day; of course, I should set an example by working around 16 hours on average. A week after taking office, for some reason, the naphthalene content in the gas, which had usually maintained a high compliance rate, suddenly started to exceed the limits significantly on a repeated basis. The management team worked overtime for a whole week trying to identify the problem, but was unable to find it... Later, an experienced on-site specialist who had been newly assigned explained the reason: firstly, since I had just taken office, various parties were observing my actions ； Second, there are also many newcomers among the inspectors who do not take samples as required ； Thirdly, there are indeed many inexperienced operators... Due to the inexperience of these operators, coupled with the outdated equipment, blockages in the equipment and pipelines occur frequently. Once, during winter when the temperature was -30°C, the ammonia vaporization separator and condensation cooler became clogged. The 8 people on the day shift in our workshop, along with the shift supervisor from the night shift, worked together for 3 days and 3 nights, taking turns to carry out the repairs. When they were hungry, they would ask someone to bring them some food; when they felt sleepy, they would find a place in the workshop that wasn’t too cold to take a short nap. In the end, against the objections of the senior supervisor in that department, I managed to clear the pipes by using a method of heating them with felt. Another time, a oil delivery pipeline was blocked over 600 meters long. It was still that newly assigned on-site specialist who, along with the operators on duty, climbed up into the pipe rack, which was over 6 meters high, and gradually disconnected the flanges to unblock the pipeline. Later, he told me that he suffered from severe hypertension, and that it was his birthday that day… It was the only time in over 40 years that he had celebrated his birthday while working on pipelines. Working in such a workshop, it is very important for operators to improve their skills. As mentioned earlier, an experienced shift supervisor was also brought in. He was familiar with the key positions in this workshop. Most importantly, although he had been hired after completing high school and was already 46 years old at the time, he was eager to help every operator, teaching them hands-on and working overtime with me to address the problems that arose in each shift, offering suggestions and ideas to help me. Everyone here respects him very much. It was through countless discussions and problem-solving sessions with him that my ability to handle on-site issues and conduct technical analysis improved rapidly. The most amazing thing is that the technician, who could type only three characters per minute when he first arrived, was able, half a year later, to type out a notice at high speed and create a technical modification diagram using WORD. He said it was all because of my pressure. I should also mention another friend who has been working in this workshop all along; he is a veteran of this workshop, enjoys an excellent reputation, is kind-hearted, competent, and willing to work hard. He originally supported the workshop manager and was against me. He too was hired after graduating from high school, at the age of 47 at that time. Half a year later, moved by my sincerity and perseverance, she gradually understood me and supported me wholeheartedly. Coking phenol-cyanide wastewater is the most difficult to treat, especially with older equipment; its COD level averages over 5000, while the ammonia nitrogen level is above 600. The plant’s wastewater treatment system uses the AOO process, but it has not been able to meet the required standards since it was put into operation over two years ago. In October of that year, with his full cooperation, we managed to ensure that the wastewater met the required standards for three consecutive months. What was touching during that period were also 3 college graduates born between 1986 and 1988 who had been working for 2 years; I recommended them one after another for positions as on-site professional engineers and backup workshop supervisors. One of them is from Shandong; he’s hardworking, eager to learn*, sensible, and can endure any hardship or difficulty. He never allows me to pay for his meals. Naturally, I scold him the most, but he’s also the most capable. Another one is from the Production Corps; they are willing to endure hardship, enjoy delving into things, like to observe things on site, enjoy analyzing situations, are willing to work overtime, and are interested in reading research papers. The third comes from the railway industry; they are intelligent and quick-witted. Although they don’t like to be on site, the root causes of problems there are often quite clear. They dislike working overtime and value freedom. Over the course of almost a year thereafter, the three of them worked together with us on ensuring the workshop’s production, removing slag, addressing issues, writing analyses and summaries, and even taking charge of the staff on shift. Gradually normalize and optimize the basic management, technical management, and performance management in the workshop. As for that newly assigned mechanical inspector, he is of course extremely competent; there is already a skilled mechanical inspector from the Er tribe here who personally oversees the outsourced maintenance staff, guiding them on-site, diagnosing problems, and arranging work plans. During busy periods, there are over 40 weekly planned maintenance task orders and more than 30 ad-hoc planned task orders per week. It’s very tough – often having to get home right away or rushing back to the office in the middle of the night. Later, I gradually obtained additional funds for equipment maintenance from the branch plant, and equipment management became more stable. It must also be said that in chemical production workshops, team leaders are extremely important. In this workshop, over 70% of sudden failures and accident-related issues are handled by the shift supervisor along with key team members. During the toughest times, in a class of 16 people only 8 were on duty; back in 2000, a class had over 50 members. As the company expanded, the number of workers in the workshops kept decreasing, but we still had to push through despite these difficulties. During those two years, I replaced 3 shift leaders, keeping only the original one. The shift leaders who worked together with me endured a great deal of hardship; one of them even had noticeably more gray hair, but none of them complained and continued to work diligently and conscientiously. There are also many operators who are extremely diligent in their duties; they understand and support me, and I’m grateful to them... To motivate everyone and in response to the initiative proposed by the group company at the time to recognize “best practitioners,” I used my after-work time to personally write heartfelt descriptions of the outstanding achievements of each employee recommended by the team. These descriptions were then posted on the workshop bulletin board and uploaded onto the company’s internal information website. To ensure that one of these employees could be recognized as a model worker by the group company, I continued to work in the office for 48 hours after working overtime to prepare his application materials, submitted them to the group company on the same day, and he was successfully selected. To ensure safety, I insist on writing a briefing document for maintenance tasks every Saturday. Based on the contents of each task order and the actual site conditions, I manually list all relevant safety precautions and control measures one by one. This ensures that I fully understand each task and guarantees the effectiveness of the briefing. In 2010, this workshop upgraded its ammonia vaporization equipment, which had been in use for 20 years, and installed a new HPF desulfurization unit. During this process, the people mentioned above all participated together in every stage, from design to construction, then to commissioning, the integration of old and new systems, and finally operation, thus successfully completing the production. That year, for the first time, we developed the most comprehensive annual maintenance plan for the chemical processing plant, even though the temperatures in April were not high. With everyone’s concerted efforts, the annual maintenance work was completed 4 hours ahead of schedule. In May 2011, on my birthday, I left that workshop and branch plant to be transferred to the headquarters to work in safety, and we have remained in regular contact ever since. Later, to commemorate this experience and to prove myself (back then, during an argument with the factory manager, he said that I, like another colleague of mine, didn’t study hard enough and didn’t understand technology), I spent over a year, from 2011 to 2012, writing more than 10 technical papers on this workshop, which were published in publications at the provincial level or above. I also applied for 4 utility model patents. It was through such a difficult period in life that, over two years, I met such a great group of friends, which enriched my life. Whenever I think of this experience and these friends, I feel filled with pride. Of course, until it stopped production entirely last year due to the economic downturn, this workshop never experienced any safety incidents or major equipment failures; it maintained stable operations and served as a model for other workshops to follow. An old steed in the stable still aspires to travel a thousand miles. Time flies; in the blink of an eye, 5 years have passed. Though time has passed, our friendship remains. I would like to use this article to thank my colleagues and friends who supported me during that time. If we have the chance to meet again, I will definitely work with you to achieve new successes! At the same time, I also want to encourage my peers and younger generations who are facing confusion and difficulties; may you find a way out of these tough situations, and may your fortunes keep improving!