What’s special about it is that it is the only nickel smeltery in western Europe.
In comparison with other nickel smelteries around the world, Harjavalta has the lowest sulphur dioxide emissions per tonne of nickel produced. So that this remains the case, the electrostatic filter for cleaning the flue gases has very recently been replaced.
Over an office building
The Vuorsola company from Pori was hired for this task. The heavy load specialist was awarded the contract to transport the 243-tonne electrostatic filter using a 10-axle Cometto SPMT in a side-by-side and open compound. The load had impressive dimensions with a length of 16 metres, a width of 13.80 metres and a height of 16.60 metres. It was taken from the operation site near the chimney to the scrap yard for disposal.
“First of all, the electrostatic filter was attached to the crane and cut out of the steel construction by experts using a thermic lance”, says Petri Toriainen, project coordinator at Vuorsola, describing the initial steps. “Then the hulk – which was as big as a block of 4 flats – had to be swung over an adjacent office building and lowered so that it could be transferred to the SPMT combination.”
Under a conveyor belt
Vuorsola employee Arto Tammelin was waiting there with his brand-new Cometto SPMT. Together with his colleague, he positioned the two 10-axle combinations precisely under the load and negotiated a tight 90-degree bend immediately after the start.
The high load then had to pass under a conveyor belt. “We lowered the mid driving height of the SPMT’s a little here”, adds company CEO Mikko Vuorsola, “in order to gain the last few centimetres of space. The whole thing went like a dream and we are now really propelled to the MAX with the Cometto SPMT.”
Immediately afterwards, the new parts standing on elephant feet were also transported with the SPMT from the assembly location to the crawler crane, so that it could again lift them to a dizzy height. “Time is money”, says Joachim Kolb, Sales Manager at Cometto, about this speedy handling, “and in the process we once again made an important contribution to keeping the environment clean. For a better tomorrow.”