Petrobras processes cargo with 100% renewable raw materials at its Riograndense Refinery

By Petrobras

November 8, 2023

This is a machine translation of the press release originally published in Portuguese.

Petrobras informs that the Riograndense Petroleum Refinery (RPR) reached a historic milestone by processing, for the first time, 100% soybean oil in an industrial refining unit. The test, carried out between the end of October and the beginning of November, opens a new global frontier for biorefining.

The technology, developed at Petrobras' Research, Development and Innovation Center (CENPES), allows the adoption of a 100% renewable raw material as a load, with process and catalyst innovations, generating fully renewable petrochemical products. The processing of 100% renewable raw materials in a fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) unit is the first in the world.

With the success of the test, RPR, located in Rio Grande (RS), is preparing for the production of petrochemical inputs and renewable fuels such as LPG, marine fuels, propylene and bioaromatics (BTX - benzene, toluene and xylene), used in synthetic rubber, nylon and PVC industries. It was also identified that the BTX concentration levels achieved, using catalysts, are capable of meeting the levels required to formulate high-performance gasoline, practically sulfur-free.

The catalysts used in the test are from the ReNewFCC line and were produced in partnership with Fábrica Carioca de Catalisadores (FCC SA), a joint venture between Petrobras and Ketjen, which produces catalysts and additives for the refining industry.

For the president of Petrobras, Jean Paul Prates, the energy transition is a path of no return for the company: “We are making typical petroleum derivatives, from vegetable oil. It is innovation and energy transition combined for the benefit of Brazil. It is Petrobras once again leading major processes of technical, economic and social transformation, with global repercussions”.

Carrying out the test became possible following a cooperation agreement signed in May 2023 between the companies that have a shareholding in RPR (Petrobras, Braskem and Ultra ). The agreement provided for the use of the refinery's units to carry out the test with technologies developed by CENPES.

The industrial test began in the last week of October, when RPR received a shipment of two thousand tons of soybean oil and carried out a maintenance stop to prepare the fluid catalytic cracking unit (FCC) to receive and process the raw material. , according to CENPES specifications and guidelines. On November 1st, processing of the 100% renewable load began, proving the viability of the operation.

A second test is already scheduled for June 2024, which will be through the co-processing of mineral cargo with bio-oil (advanced non-food biomass raw material), generating propylene, gasoline and diesel, all with renewable content. Petrobras is investing around R$45 million to enable the completion of the development of renewable cargo processing. The investment in the test was made in compliance with the RD&I clauses of the National Petroleum Agency.

With the technology proof stage completed on an industrial scale, RPR will be able to explore business alternatives for the production of renewable products, and Petrobras will have new alternatives to evaluate, in the future, in its own refineries, in addition to the projects already in progress related to co-processing for the production of renewable diesel and dedicated units for the production of aviation biokerosene and renewable diesel.