Photo courtesy of Bob Schneider

By Scott Roblin

Cancarb Expansion

Cancarb expansion on track for summer 2020 completion

Dec 18, 2019 | 3:31 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB – One year after lifting the curtain on multi-million dollar expansion plans, Cancarb is on track to complete the project on time.

Last December, the carbon black production company announced they would be undertaking a $40.1 million expansion to add a sixth unit to the facility in the first major expansion of Cancarb since 2000.

According to vice-president of quality and development Ross Buchholz, roughly 80 percent of the design and engineering work has been completed and on-site construction began two months ago.

That above ground construction has especially ramped up over the last month.

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“The last couple of weeks we’ve had the reactors put in place, the bag house arrived just yesterday,” said Buchholz. “Some major infrastructure has been put in place. Still lots to go though and a lot of that timing wise will depend on how the winter goes.”

The Unit 6 expansion plans are set to increase Cancarb’s output of 54,000 tonnes of carbon black per year, a rubber agent used mainly in the automotive sector.

Despite the project remaining on schedule, there will still be plenty of work ahead in 2020 as Cancarb hopes to complete construction around July.

“Palletizer building will be done, the actual building infrastructure, and all the above ground intricacies tied to the reactors,” said Buchholz. “Then our bag house will be put in place from January through early summer.”

Much of the foundation for the palletizer building has been completed ahead of the ground freezing and Cancarb is watching the weather forecast closely to see what work can be done over the winter.

“We’ve allowed for flexibility for cold weather or the type of conditions we can have here with high winds and that sort of thing,” said Buchholz. “That’s built into the plan and just something we have to be prepared for.”

Employee numbers working on the expansion can fluctuate on any given day, but Buchholz believes up to 100 workers per day could be at work on the construction.

“The on-site number of people is going to ramp up into the spring for sure,” he said. “Probably with a peak happening within late first quarter or early second quarter 2020.”

Once construction is complete on the expansion this summer, Cancarb is hoping to have the unit producing carbon black sometime in September.