Fortum Heat and Power Joensuu
Automated sampling improved occupational safety
The Joensuu power plant produces district heat and electricity for the area's residents and properties. The main fuels used in production are wood-based fuels and peat. Fortum Heat and Power has operated in Joensuu since 1986.
–Cooperation with Prometec started in 2015, when we started to research sampling solutions together. The decision to invest in automated sampling came in 2017. Prometec and Fortum share many values, which came up especially in things concerning occupational safety, says Tommi Kauhanen, who is responsible for fuel purchases at the Fortum Joensuu power plant, and continues: –The biggest benefit of this has indeed been the improved safety at work.
Investment that develops operation in overall
The challenge has been the sampling of biofuel. Samples have been taken manually from the edge of an unloading pit, which has been risky from occupational safety point of view. The automated sampling robot has removed the need for people to take samples from the pit, which has had a remarkable effect on occupational safety.
–There have been many changes to the security of the sampling event over the years, but investing in Prometec's Q-Robot has definitely been the best for us, says Kauhanen.
Prometec's automatic sampler has benefited Fortum significantly also in other ways.
–We can say that fuel loss has decreased by two percents on average since the introduction of automatic sampling, Kauhanen praises.
Also the unnecessary discussion around who took a sample and where it was taken from is completely omitted. Every sample is accurate and unbiased, because samples are no longer being taken by a person.
