In Finland, Prometec Oy, a biomass quality management technology provider, will deliver an automated sampling solution at the beginning of next year to the business park in Kajaani. The "revolutionary" innovation, an automated sampler called Q-Robot, will serve several companies in the region. A new sampling unit will be built in Kajaani where Prometec will start delivering a comprehensive biomass quality management service to Kainuun Voima, Vapo and St1.
Kainuun Voima Oy, a local energy company, Vapo Oy the biggest biomass supplier in Finland and St1 Nordic Oy that operates a cellulosic ethanol plant in Kajaani will be the main users of this new sampling unit where Prometec will start delivering a comprehensive biomass quality management service.
The value of the project is about EUR 1 million and the project has received support from EU regional development fund.
Prometec will take care of scaling, sampling, sample handling and analyzing. Prometec’s innovation Q-Robot takes representative samples from each truck delivering biomass before unloading. Q-Robot can also generate a truck -specific real-time calculated moisture information. This real-time information brings value to the whole supply chain and makes optimizing logistic- and combustion processes possible.
With the help of this cooperation agreement with Prometec we want to improve our own customer service and constructor cooperation, said Sakari Jaara, Area Manager at Vapo.
Sampling as a service
Prometec is launching to the market a new kind of service concept where one sampling robot and sample handling devices are installed and sold as a service for several different customers. This way, there is no need to make a machine investment and yet customers will get the best possible equipment to their own use.
From our perspective it is important that we can get a high-quality service and we don’t have to invest to the machinery. We want to develop the biomass industry and utilize the best available technologies, said Kimmo Keinänen from Kainuun Voima.
This new business model opens new market segments for Prometec because now also smaller biomass users can benefit from the newest technology since there is no need to make a larger machinery investment which might not be profitable for them, at least not in the short run.
This new type of service-based business model and data processing of the biomass quality information are our strategic focus areas. We are happy and proud that we have been able to establish a long-term partnership with Kainuun Voima, Vapo and St1 who are all pioneers of the biomass industry, said Juha Huotari, CEO, Prometec.
Prometec has already started delivering scaling and sample analyzing services at the new quality station. Q-Robot will start its commercial use on April 1, 2019.
Feedstock quality controlling is important to us to get the process functioning successfully and monitoring the quality. The automatized sampling will minimize errors and reduces the truck turnover time on a site. Prometec also delivers us scaling service which is important for our biorefinery, said Ilona Liukkonen, Product Portfolio Manager at St1.
