Zonguldak Bülent Ecevit University (BEUN) and the Turkish Hard Coal Enterprise (TTK) have signed a cooperation protocol for the modernization and reconstruction of the Armutçuk TİM Coal Preparation Plant. Under the protocol, which brings together academic knowledge and industry experience, the parties aim to increase production efficiency, transfer new technologies into practice, and develop high value-added production processes in mining.

The cooperation protocol, prepared within the scope of the modernization and reconstruction of the Armutçuk TİM Coal Preparation Plant, was signed by BEUN Rector Prof. Dr. İsmail Hakkı Özölçer and TTK General Manager Muharrem Kiraz during a ceremony held at the TTK General Directorate.

A New Era in University-Industry Cooperation

Within the scope of the protocol, which will strengthen knowledge and technology transfer between the university and the industry, the Armutçuk TİM Coal Preparation Plant is aimed to be restructured in line with a modern engineering approach. The modernization efforts aim to increase production efficiency, reduce coal washing costs, ensure the production of coal of a quality that meets consumer expectations through the use of new technologies, obtain new products with high economic value, and achieve maximum efficiency with minimum carbon loss in coal preparation plant waste.

Rector Özölçer: “University-Industry Cooperation Is a Strong Investment in the Future of Our City”

Following the signing ceremony, Rector Prof. Dr. İsmail Hakkı Özölçer made the following remarks:

“I hope that the cooperation we have established with the Turkish Hard Coal Enterprise will be beneficial to our University, our Institution, our city, and the mining industry of our country. I would like to thank, first and foremost, our TTK General Manager, Mr. Muharrem Kiraz, and the entire TTK family who contributed to the realization of this valuable cooperation.

The signature we have put today constitutes a new link in the strong chain of cooperation established between our university and the industrial organizations of our city. Founded 102 years ago under the name of the School of Mining Engineering, our university is one of the pioneering institutions in Türkiye that brings academic knowledge together with the mining industry. Indeed, our university has undertaken and continues to undertake an important mission in our country’s journey of industrialization. Today, as Zonguldak Bülent Ecevit University, we continue to carry this same historical responsibility, the same scientific enthusiasm, and the same understanding of production in a strong manner.

While our Department of Mining Engineering continues to train qualified mining engineers needed by our country, it also guides the development of the industry through the scientific studies it carries out. The mining engineers of the future are being educated at our university through a strong educational approach integrated with practice and within the industry.

Within the framework of this vision, I sincerely believe that this cooperation we have established with the Turkish Hard Coal Enterprise will make significant contributions to the development of new technologies, increasing efficiency in mining, and the widespread adoption of more environmentally friendly and higher value-added practices. I would like to thank everyone who contributed to the cooperation protocol.”