Ingham locals will soon see the sweet sight of steam rising from the stacks at Wilmar Sugar’s Herbert mills.
Steam trials will start at Macknade Mill on Tuesday, 12 May and Victoria Mill on Thursday, 14 May - about a month ahead of the start of crushing in the Herbert.
Regional Operations Manager Adam Douglas said Wilmar carried out pre-season steam trials each year to check the pressure components and safety devices on mill boilers, commission new equipment, and rectify any issues ahead of the season start.
“The steam trials are an opportunity for us to test everything before the first billet of cane reaches the tippler,” Mr Douglas said.
He said Wilmar’s Herbert crews had done a great job of delivering high-priority works projects this maintenance season while navigating the additional challenges imposed by the coronavirus pandemic.
“Our people have put in a huge effort to make sure we’ll be ready to crush cane on 16 June.
“On top of a full list of maintenance and capital projects, our people have also had to deal with events around COVID-19,” Mr Douglas said.
“We’re following strict COVID-19 guidelines at our worksites to protect our people, our contractors and the community. We’ve also reprioritised projects and added additional shifts so we can complete critical work earlier.
“Our people have all gone the extra mile in terms of safety and ensuring our factories are ready in time to start crushing cane,” Mr Douglas said.
Wilmar is investing more than $35 million on capital and maintenance projects at its Herbert mills this year.
One of the biggest maintenance season projects is a $3.5 million boiler automation and programming upgrade at Macknade Mill.
Mr Douglas said work on the project started in August last year.
“Since then our people have been working hard to build, install and wire up the new control room at Macknade Mill.
“The upgrades will create greater standardisation across the business and further improve safety for our people,” Mr Douglas said.
Some of the other major projects are the $1.2 million sugar scrubber replacement at Victoria Mill, and the $6 million fabrication of 350 new cane bins.
Wilmar’s Herbert mills are expected to process more than 4.16 million tonnes of sugarcane this season.
