Cross-sector cooperation for a common goal

Research

Initial studies to produce calcium carbonate were carried out in 2016 at the Ragn-Sells laboratory in Sweden. In 2019, Ragn-Sells AS established a subsidiary RS-OSA Service OÜ.

TalTech is the flagship of technical and IT science and education in Estonia, where higher education is available at all levels in engineering and technical sciences, information technology, economics, natural sciences and maritime affairs.

The University of Tartu is the only classical universitas-type of university in Estonia where research is conducted in the fields of humanities and arts, social sciences, medical sciences, and natural and exact sciences.

The Estonian University of Life Sciences is the only university in Estonia that is included in the ranking of the 100 best universities in the field of agriculture and forestry. University creates knowledge for and shares it with bioeconomy promoters.

Product development

Eesti Energia is a key partner, which has provided the oil shale ash necessary for testing and research, and granted permission for experimental drilling and further exploration of the ash hills.

Germany's largest window manufacturer Gealan joined the project to test calcium carbonate in the production of their products and gives us valuable feedback to design and enhance the products.

The French flooring manufacturer Tarkett is joining the project in the phase of practical experiments using calcium carbonate coming from the laboratory to create test products.

The city of Narva

The city of Narva is a very important partner because the ash hills, from where the raw materials come, as well as the location of plants are there. We make an effort to involve Narva citizens in the project and keep them informed about the important things that are being done during the project. All in all, our goal is to improve the well-being of the people and communities there, as well as the working and natural environment.

Finance

Enterprise Estonia (EAS) provided 255,269 euros to support applied research on the OSA project in 2021. The support helps us carry out industrial-scale trials of production of climate-neutral calcium carbonate from oil shale ash and design the preliminary version of the production processes and plant.

Archimedes supported the OSA project with 204,000 euros under the Smart Specialization Applied Research program to carry out scientific research on the technology required for the treatment of oil shale ash. The support granted within the scope of the programme will be used for the research aimed at finding the best technological solutions to the valorisation of oil shale ash.