EMMERICH, Germany – Probat, the world market and technology leader in coffee processing technology, tackles challenges linked to gas shortage by providing its customers with alternatives to natural gas-powered burner technology. However, the company considers these temporary solutions merely a stopgap on the way to fossil-free operations of roasting plants.
The Connecting Markets symposium, taking place at the Probat headquarters on September 21 and 22, is casting its shadows ahead: At this year’s two-day networking highlight of the global coffee community, the company will present its first hydrogen-powered shop roaster.
The topic of alternative—and preferably green—energies remains prevalent in the production industry worldwide. New regulations and growing consumer pressure for more sustainable practices have caused a sharp rise in the demand for alternatively powered roasters in recent years.
This fact is contributing to ongoing thoughts on new environmentally friendly technologies. However, the availability and current price development for natural gas have now led to a strong request for temporary answers on the way to carbon-neutral roasting processes.
Probat has been addressing this challenge by looking into adequate alternatives and now offers its customers LPG-compatible adaptations of burner technology.
Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) is produced during oil refining or is extracted during the natural gas production process. With higher availability on the markets, LPG has much potential as an alternative to natural gas.
Also, with manageable effort, roasting machines previously operated with natural gas can also be converted to LPG operation. The PROBAT experts derive the actual technical steps required, such as LPG-compatible adaptations of installed burner equipment, on a case-by-case basis.
“We needed to come up with an interim solution to help our customers overcome the natural gas shortage. That is why we are now offering retrofits to make burners LPG-compatible. However, the carbon-intensive nature of traditional roasting is hampering the coffee industry’s ability to reduce its environmental impact.
Therefore, we have been looking into the issue of fossil fuel replacement for years now. And we have tested nearly all viable alternatives, such as biogas, electricity, or green hydrogen, which we consider the future of coffee roasting where direct electrification is not possible.
Our whole engineering team made a concerted effort to develop roasting technology that can be operated with this highly combustible gas. And they accomplished this task successfully, as we will present the first hydrogen-fueled P05 shop roaster at our Connecting Markets symposium in September,” explains Probat CTO Thomas Koziorowski.
With a view to the company’s efforts toward fulfilling its own climate targets he adds: “The development of hydrogen-compatible roasters is a paramount step in the long overdue transition to green energy and the decarbonization of the coffee industry.”
To find out more about the Connecting Markets Symposium, please go to www.connectingmarkets.de.
