John Nyberg

OZOREON will be exhibiting at Vatten2025 at the Swedish Exhibition & Congress Centre, Gothenburg, on October 21–23.
Meet us there!

”𝘐𝘧 𝘸𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘭 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳, 𝘸𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘭 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴” – Magnus Tångring, Volvo Construction Equipment Hallsberg.

It takes a driven, curious and bold engineer to try out new technology. In this case, his name is Magnus Tångring and he works as a process engineer at Volvo CE in Hallsberg.
Hallsberg’s lacquering facility is a nearly wastewater-free site, where water is constantly circulating and reused. In this closed system consisting of a number of large tanks and pipes, microbiological growth used to contaminate the water.

𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫?
“Extremely important. The chemical processes work best with clean water and 90% of our tanks contain water. If we don’t have control over the water, we lose control over the rest of the process.”

Magnus first heard about PBS through a supplier in 2023. He understood the potential of ozone as a water purifier, and hoped they could finally gain control over the process water quality they’ve had trouble with.

After a 6-month pilot including ~40 lab tests, the results speak for themselves: completely bacteria-free water entering the system, and minimal bacterial growth 70 meters down the pipes.

𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐧𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐲 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠?
“When we did the first ever lab test and saw the difference between before and after. The second time was when the technicians showed me the flow meter and how much cleaner it was compared to 3 months ago. This could only be due to reduced microbiological growth”.

Ultimately, Magnus hopes to reduce wastewater even more, by keeping one batch of process water circulating in the system for a longer time.

After the pilot, Volvo CE Hallsberg decided to buy the installed unit, and is currently looking into how they could use a mobile unit to clean the water used outside the closed-loop system.

“Personally I find it very exciting to be part of a product’s journey from the start. Doing pilot tests, adapting and learning”, says Magnus, showing exactly the drive, curiosity and boldness it takes to try something new.

Text and interview: Johanna Swartling
Pictures: John Nyberg from PBS, Magnus Tångring and Patrik Hammar from Volvo CE Hallsberg

”𝘏𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘶𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘭 𝘴𝘬𝘦𝘵𝘤𝘩.” – Marcus Weibull, CEO at Sigma Lundinova AB.

In our last post we met the entrepreneur who enabled the idea. In this episode we tell the love story between the entrepreneur and the engineers, through the eyes of Marcus Weibull, CEO at Sigma Lundinova.

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐏𝐁𝐒?
“I actually remember that meeting very clearly, because it was such a bizarre story. Although now it’s filtered through a romantic haze in my mind.
John explained the idea of an ozone generator that would handle humid air, and he showed us a rough pencil sketch from a bar in Thailand. It made a very strong impression, you could say.”

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭?
“Our team has a soft spot for engineering products that bring real-world value. That, plus John’s fantastic personality made it very compelling.”

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐣𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐩 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐝𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭?
“One of the first and biggest milestones was when we managed to test and verify the idea. For a while we were quite unsure if it really would work, because no one had done it before, in that way.”

What’s truly unique is PBS’s patented ozone cell, completely isolating the gas stream from all electronics. Everything else was custom-designed around that core, including the transformer creating a 30 kV high voltage field where ozone is generated from the oxygen in the air.

“That was our major challenge. At those voltages you have some interesting phenomenon happening with the air. We just couldn’t have surrounding air without the machine catching fire. We tried a lot, nothing worked, until we came up with the idea to use oil as the surrounding medium. That worked and was our second big milestone.”

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐩𝐬 𝐯𝐬 𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐞𝐬?
“A common situation with startups is technical immaturity. Founders often don’t understand technical requirements, why it takes so long or costs so much. But working with John has been fantastic! He has unconditional faith in what we do, and has always been very supportive of our progress.”

Marcus closes with some heartfelt encouragement:

“We really hope that John gets the big breakthrough he’s been waiting for and so richly deserves. When it happens, it will bring great joy. Not just to John and us, but to all the people who will benefit from his product.”

In the next episode we meet Magnus Tångring at Volvo CE who tells the success story of using PBS’s system in their water treatment.

Text and interview: Johanna Swartling
Picture: The evolution of the H-unit (ozone generator) 2016-2025

“𝘔𝘺 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘣𝘪𝘨 𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘯𝘦𝘶𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘻𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦 and 𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘴 𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦.” – John Nyberg, CEO at OZOREON.

From an idea to a patented high-tech product used at Swedish industries. In this series we talk to the people behind the product. First off is John Nyberg, CEO and founder of PBS.

𝐉𝐨𝐡𝐧, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐥𝐲 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐡 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐜 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐲, 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐚 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡-𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐡 𝐟𝐢𝐞𝐥𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐨𝐳𝐨𝐧𝐞?
“I wanted to start a business that made a difference in the world, but I had no idea the product would be ozone. I met a German inventor, Manfred Fandrich, who pitched his idea to me about ozone as the means to clean water. His passion for the environment inspired me to embark on the journey of turning this idea into a real, working solution.”

𝐎𝐳𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 100 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬, 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐪𝐮𝐞 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐝’𝐬 𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐚?
“Ozone generators are notoriously sensitive to humid air. Manfred’s idea was to develop a robust generator that could tolerate moisture. This would make the machine portable and usable anytime, anywhere.”

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐏𝐁𝐒?
“My one big vision was to neutralize human and industrial waste/pollution before it reaches nature.”

𝐓𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐮𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬, 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐡𝐞?
“Actually no! At first we positioned ourselves for outdoor usage, off-grid and harsh environments. But soon we were contacted by industries who appreciated the robustness, simplicity and environmental benefits.”

𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐟𝐟 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐚 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐭. 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭?
“A continuous inner motivation, love for the creative process and perseverance. And I also think being ”naive” helps a lot. If I’d been ”realistic” I would’ve dropped the ball.
Going from idea to product also takes funding, and I’ve spent years pitching and finding ways to finance it. I’m deeply grateful for the support from Carl Crafoord, who believed in this vision from day one. Wouldn’t be here without him. Today, more and more investors are joining us, which we are truly happy to see.”

In the next episode we meet Marcus Weibull, CEO at Sigma Lundinova AB – the engineering team behind PBS’s ozone system.

Interview and article by Johanna Swartling.
In picture 1: John Nyberg and David Mozart Andraws.
Recent investor: Butterfly Ventures.