GREENCLEANS PROJECT SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETED

The GreenCleanS Project, GRANT No. 6700, funded under the Green Program of Cooperation between Science and Industry of the Science Fund of the Republic of Serbia, has been successfully completed.

The project leader, Nikola Tesla Institute of Electrical Engineering, together with its partners, the Faculty of Technology and Metallurgy and the Institute of Chemistry, Technology and Metallurgy, University of Belgrade, achieved significant results in the development of a technology for the treatment of mineral transformer oils.

The problem of corrosion in transformers has persisted for decades, and the GreenCleanS project has delivered an innovative solution to address it. As a result of the project, a low-temperature technology for the removal of elemental sulfur from mineral transformer oils was developed.

The development of the GreenCleanS technology included several successive stages, starting from laboratory-scale oil treatment, followed by the optimization of process parameters on a pilot plant (TRL 4), and finally, the demonstration of the new technology under real operating conditions at the Kolubara A Thermal Power Plant, through the treatment of 3 tons of corrosive oil using the mobile plant of the Nikola Tesla Institute (INT), thereby achieving a higher technology readiness level (TRL 7).

In addition to its technical excellence, the GreenCleanS technology contributes to the objectives of the Green Transition. The removal of undesirable corrosive sulfur compounds is based on a chemical conversion process, aligned with the principles of Best Environmental Practice (BEP). The application of GreenCleanS technology extends the life-span of transformers while reducing both the carbon footprint and the overall environmental impact, compared to the common practice of the oil replacement.

The GreenCleanS project was successfully concluded at the Tesla Innovation Days Conference, held on April 7–8, 2025, in Belgrade, where the results achieved over the previous two years were presented. The presentation by Project Leader Dr. Jelena Lukić and Prof. Dr. Aleksandar Orlović attracted great interest from both the domestic and international professional communities.

The Science Fund of the Republic of Serbia shared the news about the GreenCleanS project on its official profile, as shown below.

The success of the GreenCleanS project has given us motivation for further research and innovation. In the spirit of Nikola Tesla’s legacy, we continue to expand our mission toward green and sustainable production, distribution, and delivery of power.

We extend our sincere gratitude to our partners – the Faculty of Technology and Metallurgy and the Institute of Chemistry, Technology and Metallurgy – for the fruitful collaboration. Special thanks go to our colleagues from the Kolubara A Thermal Power Plant and the Electric Power Industry of Serbia (EPS) for their trust and support in carrying out the first treatment at their facility. We would also like to express our deep appreciation to our colleagues, members of the project team, whose dedication and effort ensured the successful realization of the project. Finally, we convey our sincere gratitude to the Science Fund of the Republic of Serbia team for their continuous support throughout all phases of the project.

We look forward to continuing our collaboration.

For more information, visit our website https://greencleans.rs/