Mobilized in late July, the skilled APM Canada team independently reported to a fertilizer plant in Redwater, Alberta, to complete a large-scale project within a tight timeline of roughly two months. The rounded project scope included replacing a Westinghouse turbine unit, the turbine’s auxiliary equipment, two ID fans, gear boxes, the turbine’s frame, and vetting equipment start up before entering full repower.

APM Superintendent, Jason Skrepnek, and Millwright, Keith Lesburg, collaborated with the Canadian customer’s Maintenance Lead, Tim Pearson, to plan and build an outage schedule to meet the quick turnaround. APM Superintendent and Field Specialist, Dana Winfield, visited the customer site two weeks prior to the outage to gain a full overview of the project scope and the order of operations in which each task would take place.

The nitrogen-producing plant is known as the world’s largest provider of crop inputs and services. Along with maintaining APM’s high standard of safety and quality at the site, sticking to the schedule and returning operation to the customer without any significant delay was a critical feat for APM Canada. Adhering to COVID protocols, following APM Life Saving Principles, and sticking to the customer site’s Life Critical Rules, helped contribute to the impressive outage success along with the close partnership of APM and the customer site team.

APM E&I Superintendent, Shawn-Boss Moodie, elevated the site in providing exceptional assistance with pre-outage planning, controls, and overseeing correct completion of 600 loop installation and function tests. Geoff Lepage brightened the day shift as a foreman and ensured smooth day-to-day coordination of tasks and confirmed APM-level quality execution throughout the duration of the outage.

“You all truly shined, and I really appreciate everything you did to make this successful while maintaining the highest EHS and quality standards,” APM Canada Division Manager, Ben Jonas.

To top off the existing project scope tasks were 600 loop checks, 12 separate alignments, and three pipe strains. The close partnership of APM Canada and the customer site team fused together proved to be a successful strategy for completion of a successful outage - on time and with safety and quality excellence.

Congratulations to APM Canada for completing this exceptional outage to help our customer return to full power!