Urea production at Jamuna Fertilizer Company Limited in Sarishabari upazila of Jamalpur has stopped again after only two days of resuming operations, following the end of the gas crisis, due to a leak detected in the boiler.
Urea production activities at the factory were suspended when a mechanical fault was detected in the boiler at around 3:30am on Thursday.
The matter was confirmed by Delwar Hossain, Deputy General Manager (Admin) of Jamuna Fertilizer factory.
Earlier, urea production at Jamuna Fertilizer Company Limited, one of the country’s largest fertiliser factories, stopped when gas supply was cut off on 15 February this year. After remaining closed for nearly eight months, urea production at the factory resumed at around 3am Tuesday.
Speaking about the current situation of the factory, Delwar Hossain said all other machinery at the fertiliser factory is fully operational and ammonia production continues. Only a ‘minor problem’ has appeared in the boiler. It is expected that the problem can be resolved and the factory can be returned to production within the next one to two days.
About 1,300 metric tonnes of granular urea is produced daily at the facility. This fertiliser is supplied to 21 districts in the command area, including Jamalpur, Sherpur, Mymensingh and Tangail.
After being closed for eight long months due to gas crisis, urea production had resumed at Jamuna Fertilizer Factory in Sarishabari, Jamalpur. Granular urea production began at the factory at around 3:10am on Tuesday.
It is learned from the factory sources concerned that production was closed from 15 February due to the gas crisis. When Titas Gas authorities started supplying gas to the factory on 20 September, start-up activities began from 12:00pm that day.
However, due to lack of required gas pressure, production could not begin then. Later, after receiving the needed gas pressure, the organisation went into granular urea fertiliser production on Tuesday night.
Shariful Islam, senior technician at Titas Gas’s Tarakandi M&R Station, told TIMES that they could not supply gas to Jamuna Fertilizer factory mainly because it was not available from the national grid for a long time. When available on 20 September, gas was supplied to the factory. That night, 150 PSI (Pounds per Square Inch) gas was supplied. Later, they came to know that the factory had returned to production.
According to Afaz Uddin, Managing Director (current charge) of Jamuna Fertilizer Company Limited, said, “On 20 September, we received only 30 MMCF gas, which was very insufficient compared to demand. Later, the factory was in start-up activities. Last night, after receiving gas as per demand, the factory returned to production. From 20 September until now, gas worth Tk20 to 30 crore has been burned.”
