Key among these investments is a $19 million cogeneration power plant at its North Bend Plant in Centerville, La., that began operating in July. Currently, the power plant generates a total of 15 megawatts of energy primarily to serve internal facility electrical requirements.
“Energy recovery is an area of focus going forward,” said Columbian’s North American President, James Howard. “Columbian is committed to identifying projects that allow us to recover the energy generated by our operations through the installation of boilers or cogeneration facilities.”
In 2006 Columbian took some difficult steps to ensure the company’s operations were aligned with market demand in North America. In April, Columbian realigned its production activities at its Marshall Plant in Proctor, W.Va. by decommissioning two of the facility’s four production units. Today, the transition of the Marshall Plant is complete, and the site is now a leaner, more efficient carbon black facility that reliably meets its customers’ needs. In August, the company announced the permanent closing of its plant in El Dorado, Ark., which had been idled in November of 2001 due to over capacity and reduced demand for carbon black in North America.
In September, the modernization of a tread unit at the North Bend Plant was completed. The project included new dryers, bag collectors, bead machines, and a host of auxiliary equipment, such as product conveyers and elevators. Early this year, new high temperature heat exchangers and dryers were installed at the company’s Hamilton Plant in Ontario, Canada. The Hamilton Plant also made improvements to the facility’s environmental monitoring system.
“Reliable and lean operations are the critical path forward in North America,” said Howard. “Our decisions, some of which were difficult but necessary to make, have positioned Columbian for long-term success in North America by improving reliability while reducing cost.”
Columbian Chemicals Co. is one of the world’s leading producers of carbon black – an engineered material that improves the strength, durability and overall performance of a range of products including tires and other mechanical rubber goods, as well as inks, paints, plastics and coatings. Based in Marietta, Georgia, Columbian Chemicals Co. and its affiliates own and operate 12 carbon black manufacturing facilities in Brazil, Canada, China, England, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Korea, Spain and the United States, employing about 1,400 people worldwide. The company has earned the ISO 14001 certification, an internationally recognized standard for environmental management, at all of its North American manufacturing facilities.