In energy-intensive industries, a furnace shutdown is never just a maintenance window. It is a race against time. Every additional day without production has a direct financial impact, which means that critical upgrades must be executed quickly, safely, and without room for improvisation.

The client, a multinational producer of stone wool, needed a major intervention during a planned furnace shutdown. Under normal conditions, the scope of work would require around 30 days of execution. The available shutdown window was one week.

The challenge was not only the timeline. The scope included modifications to several critical utility systems around the furnace: cooling of internal furnace surfaces, modifications to natural gas installations inside the plant, implementation of a new oxygen supply system to enable oxy-combustion furnace operation, installation of new inertisation systems for the furnace and pipelines, and introduction of a test line for hydrogen-based stone wool production.

Different media, different safety requirements, and different technical disciplines all had to be coordinated within the same shutdown window. Natural gas, oxygen, and hydrogen each bring specific technical and safety requirements. Combined with strict PED requirements and the pressure of a one-week shutdown, the project demanded detailed preparation before the furnace stopped.

That preparation included significant prefabrication of piping spools and piping racks, advance planning of installation sequences, clarification of interfaces, readiness of materials and components, and rapid mobilisation of skilled installation teams. In a project like this, the critical work is not only what happens on site. It is the planning, prefabrication, and coordination that make fast and safe execution possible.

This is how we work: prepared, coordinated, and execution-focused. When shutdown time is limited, success depends on disciplined preparation before the clock starts, precise execution during the shutdown, and technical competence across demanding media such as natural gas, oxygen, and hydrogen.

• 30-day scope compressed to one week
• Demanding industrial site
• Oxygen, gas, and hydrogen systems
• Strict PED requirements

• Detailed shutdown planning
• Rapid mobilisation of skilled workforce
• Prefabrication of piping spools and piping racks
• Commissioning support

When production depends on a critical furnace, every shutdown hour must be planned before the shutdown begins.