Addcon has six apprentices, one on each shift together with four trained work colleagues.
"There are many challenges, but it is also fun," Tobias Byggstøyl Jonassen (18) answers the question of what it is like to be an apprentice in Addcon. He started training on the 1st of September this year. "Everything is new and different compared to school."
"Is the learning process in the company similar to what you learn in school?"
"Yes, it is within the same theme, but everything is much bigger here. We did not have large rigs at school, but I recognize the subjects in the job here.
As a new apprentice, Tobias starts by learning the round and the packing process in the ammonium bicarbonate factory. The apprentices take samples in the factory and participate in the packing.
Rounds in the factory
"The round itself starts at the top of the three-storey ammonium bicarbonate factory. We check temperature gauges and pressure gauges, look at tank levels and take samples. The samples from the crystalliser are checked to see if the crystallisation is correct," Kennet Von Hafenbrädl Gjærum (21) explains. He is a second-year apprentice and has enough experience to work quite independently in the ammonium bicarbonate factory. "In addition, we do some maintenance in the plant. We sweep if it is dusty and check that the equipment is working properly."
"It is important to listen," explains William Gunnestad (19). He is also an apprentice in the second year. "We listen and smell to check that everything is as it should be. When you have been here for a while, you know what sounds are going to be here, and then we quickly hear if something is wrong."
Training starts in the ammonium bicarbonate plant
Addcon has two factories in Herøya Industrial Park, the ammonium bicarbonate plant and the formate plant.
"I would say that we know the ammonium bicarbonate factory quite well," says Kennet. "We get to know it in the first half of the year. This is where the apprentices start the training."
Eventually, the apprentices move on to the formate factory, which is much larger and produces a wide range of products. "There is more batch-like sampling," says William. "The work tasks vary more and are determined by which products go into production. In the ammonium bicarbonate factory we go rounds at fixed times. In the formate factory, the tasks vary much more. Some products require a lot of sampling and checking."
Some samples are checked by the apprentices under the supervision of skilled operators. Other samples are sent to external laboratories.
"Do you sit in the control room too?"
"We are allowed to join and see what happens there, but we do not control production. We can not sit behind the monitors alone. But we are allowed to control the ammonium bicarbonate factory, now that we have been here for so long and know the factory well," Kennet says.
Good choice of education
"Why did you choose the chemistry process subject?"
"My father is a process operator in the North Sea, William answers. "So that's how I was introduced to the subject, and now I'm here."
Tobias says that he was unsure of which career path he should choose when he went to high school. He started on the Vg1 program for technology and industry, and there he got information about what it was like to work in the process industry. "Then I chose this direction, and I feel that it has been a good choice. I like working here at Addcon."
Started in electrical engineering
Kennet started in electrical engineering, but after two years he found that it was more exciting to work with chemistry and production. "It was a friend who convinced me, so then I started two new theory years in high school. And I'm very happy with that choice. When I get the certificate, I am qualified for operator jobs in various companies."
"The possibilities are many, and I would not mind a job with an operator in the North Sea," William concludes.
18. November 2021
