# Promession
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> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Promession
> Source revision: 1345986005
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{{Short description|Method of corpse disposal}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}}
{{more citations needed|date=August 2018}}
'''Promession''' is an idea of how to dispose [human remains](/source/Disposal_of_human_corpses) by way of [freeze drying](/source/freeze_drying). The concept of promession was developed by [Swedish](/source/Sweden) [biologist](/source/biologist) Susanne Wiigh-Mäsak, who derived the name from the [Italian](/source/Italian_language) word for "promise" (''promessa'').[{{cite news|last=Holst|first=Karen|title=Swedish green-burial firm to turn frozen corpses in compost|url=http://www.thelocal.se/33178/20110413/|access-date=26 September 2012|date=13 April 2011}}] She founded Promessa Organic AB in 1997 to commercially pursue her idea.[{{cite news|last=McNally|first=Patrick|title=Promession: A Return to the Living Soil|url=http://www.dailyundertaker.com/2008/09/promession-return-to-living-soil.html|access-date=26 September 2012|newspaper=Daily Undertaker|date=30 September 2008}}] The company went bankrupt in 2015 without being able to produce a functioning facility.[{{Cite news|url=http://www.bohuslaningen.se/nyheter/orust/promessa-slutligen-i-konkurs-1.925619|title=Promessa slutligen i konkurs|work=Bohusläningen|access-date=12 September 2018|language=sv}}] Critics questioned the technical feasibility of the process.[{{Cite news |last=Shorman |first=Andreas |date=30 June 2010 |title=Frozen, vibrated, buried? It's not cremation, says Kansas AG |url=https://www.kansas.com/news/politics-government/article237888864.html#:~:text=Frozen%2C%20vibrated%2C%20buried?,which%20are%20then%20freeze%2Ddried. |access-date=November 29, 2019 |newspaper=Witchita Eagle |language=English}}]
==Process==
{{unreferenced section|date=August 2018}}
The idea of promession involves five steps:
# [Coffin](/source/Coffin) separation: the body is placed into the chamber
# Cryogenic freezing: [liquid nitrogen](/source/liquid_nitrogen) at −196 [°C](/source/%C2%B0C) crystallizes the body
# Vibration: the body is disintegrated into particles within minutes
# Freeze drying: particles are freeze dried in a drying chamber, leaving approximately 30% of the original weight
# Metal separation: any metals (e.g., tooth [amalgam](/source/Amalgam_(dentistry)), [artificial hip](/source/Hip_replacement)s, etc.) are removed, either by magnetism or by [sieving](/source/Sieve). The dry powder is placed in a [biodegradable](/source/Biodegradation) casket which is interred in the top [layers of soil](/source/Soil_horizon), where aerobic bacteria decompose the remains into [humus](/source/humus) in as little as 6–12 months.
== Criticism ==
Promession as a functional method is questioned. No facility for promession has been built or put into service. Critics argue that there is a physical[{{Cite book|title=Hej då! : begravningsboken|author=Möller, Lotte|date=2011|publisher=Arena|isbn=9789178433612|location=Malmö|oclc=760982426}}] impossibility to atomize a freeze dried human body in this way.[{{Cite news |url=http://www.ostran.se/nyheter/kalmar/promession_fungerar_inte |title=- Promession fungerar inte / Kalmar / NYHETER / ÖSTRAN / Östra Smålan… |date=25 May 2012 |work= |access-date=12 September 2018 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120525113929/http://www.ostran.se/nyheter/kalmar/promession_fungerar_inte |archive-date=25 May 2012 |url-status=dead}}]
==Current status==
Promessa Organic AB was liquidated in 2015 without constructing a facility.