🚨 Are you overpaying for biomass? 🚨

Biomass is the backbone of many energy companies, but did you know that inaccuracies in sampling and moisture measurement could be silently draining your budget? 🌍💸

Every percentage point of moisture matters. When your fuel quality isn’t measured correctly, you might be paying for water instead of energy. Automated sampling and real-time moisture analysis can revolutionize how biomass is managed, saving companies thousands—even millions—each year.

Curious about how these advanced technologies can transform your operations and cut costs? 🤔

📖 Dive into the article to explore the power of automated sampling and real-time data:

LINK 

Prometec at Panndagarma

Prometec starts this year’s trade shows in Jönköping, Sweden, at the Panndagarna event on April 16-17 at the Elmia Jönköping Concert and Congress Center. There will be around thirty exhibitors and representatives from dozens of power plants and stakeholders. Prometec’s booth number is 31.

 

Prometec receives growth support from Nordic Option

Prometec (www.prometec.fi), founded in 2015 in Kajaani, is an expert and technology company offering automated biomass sampling and analysis systems along with related services to its customers.

Over the last few years, the company has launched the Q product family, which has started to be commercialized in the Nordic countries. Today, the company’s products are used to analyze more than 70 000 truck and 12 000 train containers of fuel per year. With Nordic Option’s support, the company is aiming for faster growth and internationalization.

“The entire Prometec team is delighted and motivated by the investment made by Nordic Option and the resources it brings. We’ve dedicated the past few years to developing technology and service solutions. Now, our focus is to emphasize the commercialization of these solutions and acquiring new customers both domestically and internationally. Our sampling and analysis solutions have global commercial potential in various industries, and our goal is to become a leading international company in our field,” states Juha Huotari, CEO of Prometec.

” We’ve been in discussions with Prometec about starting a partnership for just over two years and have come to know the company’s key personnel, technology, and business potential in-depth during this time. The company has been dedicated to developing technology that automates the outdated and manual biomass sampling process for customers while providing valuable measurement data for optimizing their processes. These solutions will enable the customer to achieve significant cost savings, improve the efficiency of core processes and substantially improve occupational safety,” continues Teemu Puumalainen, Investment Director at Nordic Option.

 

More information:

Teemu Puumalainen, Investment Director Nordic Option Oy, teemu.puumalainen@nordicoption.fi, 040-631 8362

Juha Huotari, CEO Prometec Tools Oy, juha.huotari@prometec.fi, 050-591 7350.

Nordic Option in brief:

Nordic Option Oy is a venture capital investment fund based in Oulu, primarily investing in growth companies from Northern Finland. The fund’s principal shareholders are Arvo Sijoitusosuuskunta, Partnera Oyj, and the City of Oulu. The company’s goal is to offer a northern alternative to support the growth and internationalization of small and medium-sized enterprises.

Prometec in brief:

Prometec Tools Oy, headquartered in Kajaani, Finland, provides its customers with automated biomass sampling and analysis systems and related services. The company’s customers are mainly in the heat and power plants and pulp industry, but Prometec’s technologies can also be used in the mining, food, biochar, and cement industries. The company currently has 10 employees and operations in Finland, Sweden, Denmark, and Estonia.

We are happy to announce our participation in the largest exhibition for environmental solutions, Pollutec 2023! 🌱

This year, we are joining forces with two incredible companies, Wastebook Oy and Iprotoxy Oy, to bring you a booth filled with innovation and expertise. Together, we are ready to showcase cutting-edge solutions that are making a positive impact on the environment.

We are grateful to Business Oulu for organizing this opportunity, and we can’t wait to connect with fellow participants, industry experts, and all of you who share our passion for environmental progress. 🌟

Join us at our booth in Hall 4, Stand E006, and let’s make Pollutec 2023 an inspiring and impactful event together! 🌿

#Pollutec2023 #sampling #EnvironmentalSolutions #InnovationForChange #Sustainability #Prometec #WastebookOy #IprotoxyOy #BusinessOulu

In MENER project, journey of burnable wood from forest to power plant’s boiler is optimized using AI

 

The most important quality characteristic of wood-based fuel used in power plants is moisture. If a power plant can estimate the moisture content of the fuel before combustion, the combustion process can be adjusted to operate efficiently. Variation in moisture poses a particular challenge to the operation of the power plant’s boiler. Typically, the fluctuation caused by moisture variation has been stabilized with the help of peat, which is currently being phased out. To continue controlling the combustion process as efficiently as possible without compromising the boiler’s operation, new methods are needed to optimize the process.

 

The goal of the From Forest to Energy (MENER) project is to optimize the combustion process of wood-based fuels burned in power plants. The issue is approached through data and artificial intelligence. Through power plants and their collaborators, truck load data and process data are collected, which hasn’t been fully utilized yet. Additionally, data can be collected from the original forest locations and harvesting times, and supplemented with local storage time weather information.

 

“In the ideal scenario, the journey of wood-based fuel is known all the way from the harvesting area to the power plant’s boiler, and the fuel can be provided with the most accurate moisture forecast for different stages of the journey. The more precisely power plants know the quality characteristics of fuel coming from different sources, the better its flow can be guided at the power plants, and the combustion process optimized,” states Mr. Petri Koponen, the head of the MENER project and a senior lecturer at Kajaani University of Applied Sciences.

 

Previously, fuel quality information wasn’t available before unloading the load, which is why combustion or logistics optimization hasn’t been possible on this scale. Now that real-time quality information is available, we can achieve significant improvements on an entirely different level in enhancing both power plant energy efficiency and optimizing the logistics of timely fuel loads. The project is carried out as a collaborative effort involving Kajaani University of Applied Sciences (KAMK) and the Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke). The work is divided so that Luke focuses on the journey of the fuel from the forest to the power plant gate, and KAMK focuses on the journey of the fuel from the gate to the boiler. The project started in June 2023, lasts for 2 years, and is funded by the Regional Council of Kainuu. The project budget is nearly 500 k€. From this, the share of KAMK is 300 k€ and the share of Luke is 200 k€.

 

The project involves several energy industry collaborators: power plants Kainuun Voima, Kuopion Energia and Oulun Energia; forestry management company Laania; automated sampling systems provider Prometec Tools; and Valmet Automation.

 

For more information:

Kajaani University of Applied Sciences

Senior lecturer and contact person for the MENER Project, Dr. Petri Koponen

+358 40 660 9709

petri.koponen@kamk.fi

 

Natural Resources Institute Finland

Research Scientist, Mr. Jari Lindblad

+358 29 532 3072

jari.lindblad@luke.fi

We will participate third time to Bio360 expo in Nantes. This time we are exhibition in Finnish pavilion H24.

We would be more than happy to tell you about our brand new innovation Q-Robot M. It is a automated sampler with moisture analyzer.

See you soon!

ENLIT Europe 2022

We will be present at the Enlit Europe fair in Frankfurt 29.11. – 1.12. You will find us together with 10 other companies at the Business Oulu stand 12.0.E80.

We will organise a Finland Afternoon at our stand on Wednesday at 15:30. Welcome!

A step towards a carbon neutral tomorrow – Savon Voima invests in biofuel quality testing equipment at Iisalmi power plant

Savon Voima invests in automatic sampling equipment at Iisalmi power plant. A sampling robot will automatically take samples directly from trucks carrying biomass before unloading. Sampling plays an important role in determining the quality of the biomass to be burned. Knowing the exact quality per load improves the energy efficiency of the power plant by optimizing the logistics and combustion process. This investment is one step towards Savon Voima’s carbon neutrality target.  The sampler is scheduled to be in operation in 2023 and will be supplied by Prometec Tools Oy of Kajaani.

“We have found Prometec’s sampler to be a very effective solution in Joensuu, from where we have a good experience over several years. This positive experience and good results helped us a lot in making the investment decision in Iisalmi,” says Kari Anttonen, Production Manager at Savon Voima.

“For us, safety at work is also an important part of our values, and by automating the sampling process, we can secure the working safety of our drivers and make our fuel quality control process more efficient,” Anttonen continues.

“Our cooperation with Savon Voima has already started in 2017, when we delivered the automated sampling equipment to the Joensuu power plant,” says Juha Huotari, CEO of Prometec, and continues, “The continuation of our cooperation and the additional investments are proof that Savon Voima has found Q-Robot and the sample handling equipment useful and that the company wants to invest in the quality of its fuel and thus in the sustainable use of biomass.

The automated sampler is expected to bring efficiency to the use of biomass in Iisalmi by increasing knowledge of the material being burned.

– We want to contribute to the well-being of the region and provide sustainable energy services to our customers. The investment in the automatic sampler will provide us with valuable information on biomass, which will enable us to optimize our processes and use biomass efficiently and sustainably,” says Anttonen.

Prometec Tools Oy is a Finnish technology company established in 2015, specializing in the production of biomass quality control equipment and services. Prometec currently operates in four countries and its automated sampling equipment collects samples from more than 65,000 trucks and 12,000 railcars every year. Prometec’s main product is the Q-Robot automatic sampler.

 

Savon Voima Oyj is an energy group offering a wide range of energy services and the best-known energy brand in Eastern Finland. Our goal is to be fully carbon neutral by 2030. The Savon Voima Group consists of the parent company Savon Voima Oyj and its subsidiaries Savon Voima Verkko Oy and Savon Voima Joensuu Oy. The Group is wholly owned by Savon Energiaholding Oy, which is owned by 20 municipalities in the area of operations. The Group’s business activities include electricity transmission, electricity generation and district heating, as well as customer services for energy operators. The group’s turnover in 2021 was approximately EUR 229 million and it employs approximately 210 people.