1st super-heavy equipment of Bangladesh's largest fertilizer factory installed

The carbon dioxide stripping tower, the first super-heavy equipment of Bangladesh's Ghorashal-Polash Urea fertilizer project (GPUFP), the country's largest and first ever green fertilizer factory, was installed successfully on Tuesday.

Engineers and workers from China National Chemical Engineering & Construction Corporation Seven Ltd successfully lifted and installed the tower, which is 68.5 meters high and has a self-weight of 447.5 tons.

After "dress-up", its lifting-weight reaches 602.7 tons, being the tallest and heaviest equipment of the fertilizer factory located in Narsingdi district, some 51 km northeast of the national capital Dhaka.

The Chinese company said the smooth lifting of the tower has laid a solid foundation for the subsequent lifting of other super-heavy equipment.

With the main crane hooking slowly and the auxiliary crane working carefully, the carbon dioxide stripping tower was lifted at one time, winning appreciation from the company's Japanese partner Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation.

Despite the COVID-19 outbreak, hundreds of engineers and skilled workers from the Chinese company, in collaboration with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, worked round the clock while strictly following health and safety guidelines in order to complete the mega project as scheduled.

Launched in August 2020, the project is scheduled to be completed in 2023. Once completed, it will become the biggest fertilizer factory in Bangladesh, and the first ever green fertilizer factory in Bangladesh, with no pollutants emitted to the environment.

"All carbon dioxide will be captured. No carbon dioxide will go to the ambient, and other liquid effluent will not go to the surface waters outside before treatment. We may say it is the first green fertilizer (factory) in Bangladesh," GPUFP project manager Mohammad Rajiour Rahman Mollick earlier told Xinhua.

With an estimated daily production capacity of 2,800 metric tons, officials said the factory will help Bangladesh meet the growing demand of fertilizer in its efforts to ensure food security.