Announcing institution:

National Center for Research and Development

Subject of the competition:

The Joint Venture of NCRD and PKN ORLEN to support scientific research and development work for the refining and petrochemical industry includes the following topics:

1.1. Application for monitoring and prediction of corrosion on industrial installations of the refining and petrochemical industry including machine learning modules.

1.2.Innovative device/system for real-time (online) monitoring of corrosive factors in hydrocarbon and aqueous streams, including the content of compounds and elements affecting the acceleration of corrosion, and detection - with location within the installation - and monitoring of the rate of various types of corrosion (uniform, pitting, stress, hydrogen, hypersulfide, sulfide and caused by naphthenic acids).

1.3.Telemetric system for central monitoring of the proper functioning of cathodic protection of underground reservoirs with an interactive map of emergency events.

Important information about the competition:

Budget: The allocation provided for the 2nd competition is PLN 8 million.

Funding: The intensity of support (value of funding) for scientific entities that are not enterprises, for the implementation of work in the project is 100% of eligible costs, for enterprises in accordance with state aid.

The project is divided into Phases in accordance with the Application, and the possibility of its implementation in subsequent Phases depends on the Phase Evaluation, which is the basis for the decision to Fund the next Phase. As a result of a negative Evaluation of one Phase, the Project Financing Agreement shall expire in the part concerning subsequent Phases.

In the event PKN ORLEN decides to implement the Project Result in PKN ORLEN's operations, the Contractor shall be obliged to transfer its share in the joint right to the Project Result to PKN ORLEN, with the price for the transfer of the share being equal to the value of the Contractor's financial share in the total amount of eligible costs (own contribution and NCRD funding), and in case of doubt, confirmation of the marketability of the price shall be made by an expert.

In case PKN ORLEN decides not to implement the Project Results, the Contractor shall be obliged to implement the Project Results by:

1. introducing the Project Results into its own operations by starting production or providing services on the basis of the Project Results obtained, or
2. granting a license (on an arm's length basis) for the use of the Project Results to third parties, whereby the persons authorized to grant a license for the use of the Project Results to third parties are PKN ORLEN and the Contractor, and the benefits derived from the granting of the license are subject to distribution in relation to the shares of the individual co-holders in the shared rights to the Project Results, or
3. sale (on an arm's length basis) of the rights to the Project Results in order to introduce them into the business activities of another entrepreneur. The obligation to introduce the Project Results into business activities does not apply if the purchaser of the rights is PKN ORLEN.

Internal regulations:

In connection with the provisions of the project funding agreement assuming joint and several liability of partners for the implementation of the project, please submit declarations of participation by February 28, 2023.

Initial declarations of participation in the project, together with information including the title of the project, the planned composition of the consortium, the scope of work for UJ and the planned budget, including the parts for UJ, please submit by email to the address of the competition supervisor at CWN.

After their analysis, the UJ Authorities will decide whether to agree to apply in the competition.

More information:

Announcement of the competition on the NCRD website (PL)