Cancarb completes sixth unit expansion at Alberta facility

Thermal carbon black maker Cancarb Ltd. has completed and commissioned the sixth unit at its thermal carbon black production facility in Medicine Hat, Alta.

This expansion brings capacity for its Thermax brand of thermal carbon black products to 54,000 MT per year. “The project was planned, constructed and commissioned safely utilizing over 50 different contractor groups. This amounted to over 110,000 manhours of labour,” said project manager Jerimy Chisholm. “The construction was completed without any serious injuries nor incidents, during a pandemic.”

The project averaged 40 contractors on site each day during construction, Cancarb officials said in a statement, most of which occurred under restricted conditions to prevent transmission of the COVID-19 virus. The majority of work was completed utilizing local contractors, with much of the specialized equipment, structural steel and piping being fabricated locally.

“The new unit provides Cancarb with an additional 9,000 MT of capacity to serve our global customer base and gives us significant operational flexibility to maintain our other five units while pursuing new growth,” said Chisholm.

Cancarb’s Thermax material is designed to improve the melt flow index of black plastic compounds, resulting in reduced energy costs, improved productivity without capital investment, and more highly loaded concentrates.