Chemical Industry

Chemical plant at Wilton, Teesside.

Lostock is one of two Brunner Mond works around Northwich, producing soda ash in large quantities. In the centre of this image are the four shaft limekilns which burn Derbyshire stone for processing with local brine.

Ineos Fluor Castner Kellner plant from Runcorn Hill. The lower line of lights behind is the M56 motorway.

The river Weaver is surprisingly rural as it meets the Witton Brook close to the Winnington soda ash Works. A view from the Anderton boat lift trip boat.

Looking over the Ineos Chlor Rock Savage works after sunset.

A late February afternoon and the Castner Kellner chemical plant at Runcorn is silhouetted against the Mersey estuary with the Stanlow refinery in the distance. I received a visit from the plant security guys whilst taking this shot. They said that someone had reported that I was taking photos. They didn't push the issue but stayed around for a while watching me. As I was standing in a public place up a hill several hundred metres from the place there wasn't anything they could do anyway.

Another view from the Runcorn Hill trip as the sun sets behind the chemical industries and reflected off the waters of the Mersey estuary.

It's Christmas lights every night at the Ineos Chlor works at Rock Savage, Runcorn.

Winnington soda ash works.

Winter sunshine on the Brunner Mond soda ash plant at Winnington viewed from Winnington Bridge.

Ineos Chlor Castner Kellner works at Runcorn viewed across the tidal River Weaver.

A walk across the Frodsham Marshes leads to the site of 'Saltport' where once ships unloaded their cargoes whilst the Manchester Ship Canal was still being built toward Runcorn and on to Manchester. The temporary port provided much needed income for the canal company which was faced with massive expenditure to complete "The Big Ditch". It is now hard to imagine that this windswept spot once saw sailing ships side by side and there was never enough wharfage available to meet the traffic demands. There was even a railway connection to the line from Chester to Warrington. Today there is just a farm and a ferryboat for those requiring access to the marshes across the canal. In the background are the Weaver Sluices and beyond the Castner Kellner chemical works of Ineos Chlor. Above the lorry cab can be seen the Salt Union factory and the spire of the church at Weston Point Docks.

Castner Kellner works of Ineos Chlor adjacent to the all but disused canal. This site in Runcorn produces a range of chemicals including chlorine and caustic soda.

Looking downstream along the River Weaver at Northwich, Cheshire, UK. The Winnington works of Brunner Mond & Co produces Soda Ash and other chemicals.

Operated by E.ON UK CHP Ltd, the Winnington Combined Heat and Power (CHP) plant in Northwich, Cheshire, is the largest such scheme in the UK. The scheme supplies a total of 400MW of steam to two Brunner Mond soda ash works, at Winnington and Lostock. Its 130MWe output also supplies the needs of the two sites. Located at the Brunner Mond Winnington site, the main CHP plant consists of two gas turbines, two heat recovery boilers, a steam turbine and stand-by boiler capacity. The CHP plant supplies steam & electricity into the Brunner Mond site systems. A proportion of the steam used is returned to the CHP plant as condensate. The fuel for the Winnington plant is natural gas which is supplied through a new 11km underground pipeline from the National Gas Transmission System at Nether Tabley to the Winnington site. The Lostock site is supplied with steam from the Winnington CHP plant via two 5km over ground steam mains. Upon delivery to Lostock, some of the steam is passed straight to the site processes. The remainder of the steam is passed through a steam turbine located on the site ? and in doing so generates more electricity before it is sent into the site processes. Again, a proportion of the steam used is returned to the CHP Plant as condensate via a pipeline.

I think the limekilns at the Winnnington works of Brunner Mond & Co are a particularly impressive structure. This view is taken across the River Weaver from the Anderton Nature Park. The chimneys on the right are part of the EON combined heat and power plant that supplies this works and also the Lostock works a couple of miles away.

Nicholls & Clarke at Burslem are manufacturers of Nicobond tile adhesives.

The Grangemouth refinery is currently in the news having been closed down (temporarily?) by owners Ineos in a dispute with the workforce. It is the largest industrial plant in Scotland and supplies much of the oil based fuels used in Scotland and the North of England.