Recently an unusual caravan with a 50m pipe (absorption column) on a platform has arrived at Grodno Azot Production Association.
This is how the pipe was transported to Grodno Azot in the Voronovo District
The driver of the heavy MAN lorry demonstrated extreme skill while driving into the company area. A Polish truck, a Lithuanian traction engine and Belarusian forwarders delivered the major element of a new azotic acid plant (to be launched in 2018) to the customer safely. The journey of the steel giant from Czech Melnik to Belarus, begun last autumn, is now over.
The transport logistics are complicated. Polish carriers were chosen to deliver the 200 tonne pipe (with a height of 16 storeys and a diameter of over 6 metres) over one thousand kilometres. MTD Director, Kazimierz Skuratowicz, is familiar with the business. He commented, “Our company celebrated its 35th jubilee on the day when the ten-day journey began at Klaipeda port. The route was developed in detail as usual. The giant pipe was floated down the Elba by barge to Hamburg and then put on a ferry to Klaipeda via the Baltic Sea. It later travelled from the Lithuanian port to Grodno overland. We liaised with 25 European countries, including Moldova, Turkey, the UK and France. We are currently working on an order outside our continent. During the whole journey, we acted as a single international team and we are full of admiration for the work of Belarusian traffic police, road workers, electricians and other services. Everything was carefully organised.”
Meanwhile, transportation of the largest element of the new plant is a major part of the business. Grodno Azot JSC’s Deputy General Director for Capital Construction, Gary Lipsky, explained that assembly of the giant will begin in mid-March. “The site is ready. To assemble the construction, a 650 tonne tracked crane will need to be delivered from Mozyr; there is only one such crane in Belarus. We also need to prepare a strong base for the platform: 22 tonnes of steel reinforcement and 750 cubic metres of concrete. Concrete-mixing trucks will be delivering it to Grodno Azot continuously for 36 hours,” he said.
Speaking of the new workshop’s feasibility, Mr. Lipsky commented, “The investment project, the construction of the azotic acid workshop with a 1,200 tonne daily capacity, with reconstruction of the acting carbamide-ammonia mixture facility — aims to replace obsolete equipment. As a result, the production of liquid nitrogen KAS fertilisers will increase by over 60 percent, with their costs cut significantly. The consumption of energy will fall and ecology will improve.”
By Vladimir Kozyrev
