Two-millionth ton of lime in the books

At about 2:15 p.m. CDT on Saturday, March 28, 2009, the Frannie Lime Plant produced its two-millionth ton of lime.

“We did celebrate the milestone. But, now we’re working on the next million tons,” Plant Manager Randy Banning said.

The Frannie Plant began operations in January 1993. “The plant was built to meet Basin Electric’s lime needs. Hitting the two-millionth ton is a way of recognizing that we’re meeting that objective,” said Bob Bartosh, Dakota Coal Company chief operating officer and Basin Electric senior vice president.

Montana Limestone Company's quarry

The second million tons was produced in about a year’s less time than the first million. According to Steve LeBlanc, Basin Electric project administrator, the Frannie Plant produced its one-millionth ton in May 2001.

“That’s really just a function of the market base that we have. Right now we have larger sales than we did back at the beginning of production,” Banning said. In 2008, the Frannie Plant broke an all-time production and sales record, producing 151,377 tons of lime and selling 150,841 tons. The previous records were set in 1998.

The Frannie Plant converts chemical-grade limestone to high-quality (high-calcium) lime through a heat transfer process called calcination. The cooled lime is then crushed to meet customer requirements and loaded onto railcars for delivery to Basin Electric’s coal-based energy facilities for use in flue gas desulfurization scrubbers and water treatment facilities. Lime produced at the Frannie Plant also has other regional industrial and environmental uses.

The Frannie Plant runs 24 hours a day, seven days a week. “We’ve always had a very good safety record. Several years ago, our employees managed a record of eight-and-a-half years with zero lost-time accidents, and we are working on another record. We’ve had no lost-time accidents in 2007 and 2008, and year-to-date 2009,” Banning said.

The Frannie Lime Plant uses limestone from MLC to make lime