Applications for the Neon grant competition can still be submitted, under which the best solution in the field of corrosion protection may receive a PLN 8 million grant from PKN Orlen and the National Center for Research and Development (NCBR), PKN Orlen announced. An information meeting for potential applicants will be held on March 10, 2023.
“Our goal is to find, develop and implement projects that will be selected in the competition in our own business. We want the funds of PKN Orlen and the National Center for Research and Development to be used to create systems and devices in the field of Industry 4.0, which will help to diagnose even better and faster, as well as prevent process corrosion, which is a big challenge in industry. We are open to discussion with potential applicants. We want to work out the best path to reach the goal of this competition, taking into account statutory requirements from the National Center for Research and Development, business requirements from PKN Orlen, and research and development requirements from interested creators,” said Arkadiusz Majoch, director of the innovation and development of new technologies office at PKN Orlen. in the message.
In order to provide potential applicants with the best possible access to information and understanding of the conditions for the subsequent implementation of the project, PKN Orlen and the National Center for Research and Development are organizing special consultations on March 10. They will include the provisions of contract templates, which are an important part of the competition documentation. So far, two similar meetings have already been organized, which included support in the submission of documents, as well as a technical dialogue on the thematic scope.
As part of the Industry 4.0 competition, applications presenting solutions in the following topics are sought:
– An application for monitoring and predicting corrosion on industrial installations in the refining and petrochemical industry, containing machine learning modules.
– Innovative device/system for monitoring corrosion factors in process hydrocarbon and water streams in real time (online), including the content of compounds and elements that accelerate corrosion, and detection – along with their location within the installation – and monitoring of the rate of various types of corrosion (m .among others uniform, pitting, stress, hydrogen, subsediment, sulphide and caused by naphthenic acids).
– The telemetric system for central supervision over the correct functioning of cathodic protection of underground tanks, along with an interactive map of emergency events, has been replaced.
Industry 4.0 is the second competition of the Neon program. This year, competitions in the categories of decarbonisation and circular economy will be announced.
The Neon program is implemented under an agreement signed by PKN Orlen and the National Center for Research and Development in December 2021. PKN Orlen and the National Center for Research and Development allocate PLN 100 million each to finance work on projects with the highest development potential.
The PKN Orlen Group manages refineries in Poland, the Czech Republic and Lithuania, conducts retail operations in Central Europe, mining operations in Poland, Norway, Canada and Pakistan, as well as energy production, including renewable energy sources, and natural gas distribution. As part of building a multi-energy concern, the company finalized the acquisitions of Energa, Grupa Lotos and PGNiG. Its consolidated sales revenues reached PLN 278.51 billion in 2022. The company has been listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange since 1999.