A waste opportunity
6 May 2014
New integrated control system helps to bring defunct hazardous waste treatment works back to life.
A previously mothballed hazardous waste treatment works operated by Fine Environmental Services (FES) has been given a new lease of life following a full refurbishment and upgrade.
The treatment works now has capacity to handle up to 48,000 tonnes of hazardous waste each year, and central to the upgrade was Siemens Industry’s Simatic PCS 7 process control system, which now sits at the heart of the site.
FES is a wholly owned subsidiary of Fine Industries and operates from Seal Sands in Middlesbrough.
It shares its location with other sister companies within the Fine Industries Group and Seal Sands has been the site of fine chemical production since 1984.
As demand grew in the 1980s, a thermal oxidiser was introduced to the site in 1989 to handle hazardous waste produced onsite.
It ran continuously for 16 years before production was finally halted.
Following a management buy-out and the broadening of licensed consent to also allow for the treatment of third party wastes – the new owner, Fine Industries, chose to redevelop and recommission the waste treatment works.
The management team then set about the reinvigoration of the thermal oxidiser waste treatment facility ready for a new phase in its operating life.
Integral to the site planning was the critical stipulation outlined in an independent study, which determined that the majority of the 1980s control equipment at the plant was obsolete and required replacement.
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