Petrobras Magazine

Working at Petrobras for the last 28 years, civil and petroleum engineer Carlos Tadeu da Costa Fraga has been at the forefront of technology since he assumed the position of executive manager of the Research and Development Center Leopoldo Américo Miguez de Mello (CENPES), six years ago. In this “talents and ideas factory” he accompanies the advances achieved in the area of current technology programs and keeps track of the awards and patents registered for the innovations developed. Carlos Tadeu spoke in some detail with Petrobras Magazine about CENPES’ programs and their contributions.

At Petrobras, the investment in research and development is significant, which makes the company one of those that most invest in R&D globally. How are these resources applied at CENPES?
In conjunction with the business areas of the company, CENPES conducts the activities of the Petrobras Technology System, a group of processes through which global technological tendencies are monitored and which define Petrobras’ technology strategies and the principal lines of research which will comprise its technology portfolio. This done, by means of technology programs and research projects, technological solutions are provided to all the areas of the company, in many cases in partnership with suppliers and/or Brazilian or foreign research institutions. In short, CENPES is a major generator and collector of the knowledge which is Petrobras’ great competitive differential and ensures it the confidence to be bold and to seek ever greater challenges.

Bruno Veiga / Petrobras Image Bank

Petrobras has the know-how to explore for and produce oil and gas at 3,000m of water depth

Keystone/ Petrobras Image Bank

Petrobras has explored for and is going to produce oil at 2,500m of water depth in the Gulf of Mexico

The Deepwater Technology Program, PROCAP, made it possible for Petrobras to explore and produce oil and natural gas at depths of more than 2000m and contributed to the company being awarded, in 1992 and 2001, two OTC prizes, considered “Oscars” in the oil industry, for the development of innovative technologies which benefited the global offshore industry. How is the program doing now? What is the maximum depth at which Petrobras is now operating?
PROCAP, in its 1000m and 2000m versions, made possible the exploration and production of oil and gas at water depths of more than one thousand and more than two thousand meters, respectively. Now, in the PROCAP 3000 version, the program is already providing us with the knowledge and technology to explore and produce in water depths of 3,000 meters. We have already explored accumulations at more than 2,500 meters in the Gulf of Mexico and also in the Campos Basin, where, for example, we have drilled an exploratory well 1-RJS-567, in block BC-100, at a depth of 2,853m. Shortly, another of our wells will start production at 2,500m in the Gulf of Mexico. But for the time being the greatest depth at which we have produced oil is 1,886m, in the Roncador field, Campos Basin. Now that this technology is mastered, our target is to develop ways to explore and produce oil and gas in ultra-deep waters, that is, at a depth of more than 3,000m.

Much of the pioneering spirit which made Petrobras renowned abroad is due to PROCAP, isn’t it?
Without doubt, thanks to PROCAP, Petrobras was the first company in the world to anchor platforms in deep water. With the help of robotics, it installed the first Wet Christmas Tree, which is a set of valves that, on the seabed, controls the pressure and flow of a subsea well, diverless, that is to say, without a diver, at depths where humans cannot operate. The company was a pioneer in the use of flexible risers, which are pipelines for the outflow of oil and/or gas that connect the wells to the platforms. In addition, the company was the first to use rigid risers in association with semi-submersible platforms in deep water. Thanks to these innovations in the area of PROCAP, in December 2008, just in Brazil, Petrobras operated 728 subsea wells, had 112 offshore production systems, and produced approximately 1,893,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day from offshore fields, of a total of 2,340,000 boed. These numbers place the company as the largest deepwater operator in the world, responsible for practically 25% of the global production in this area.

José Caldas / Petrobras Image Bank

The Solimões Basin

At the moment, all eyes are on PROSAL, the Pre-Salt Technology Program,created only a year ago. What is being done within this program?
The pre-salt province has presented technological challenges in practically all areas, including the drilling of wells through thick salt layers in ultra-deep waters. But in this first year of development of the work within the program, we have found that our prior experience has been a great advantage. Because of this, the first results are beginning to materialize. Through extended well tests, the first well in the Espirito Santos pre-salt province, the ESS-103A, in the Jubarte field, is already producing, and, in the first week in May of this year, the first well of the province in the Santos Basin went into production. In addition, we are implanting the pilot project of the Santos Basin pre-salt province, which will come onstream in 2010. The conception of the first phase development of the Santos Basin province has also been defined and the installation of two pilot FPSOs initially and then eight definitive FPSOs is foreseen. As Petrobras did successfully in previous undertakings in the Campos Basin, the development in phases will make possible the collection of data and the testing of technological innovations, which will be implemented in subsequent phases. In short, we are achieving important advances on multiple fronts.

Speaking of the pre-salt province, there is another technology program under development connected to this new exploratory frontier, the ProCO2. What does this program consist of?
Within this program, efficient methods for the capture and storage of CO2 will be developed and the possibility of injecting CO2 back into the reservoirs will be analyzed as a mechanism for the additional recovery of oil.

What is being studied and done in the area of PROFEX, the Technology Program in Exploratory Frontiers?
The purpose of PROFEX is to develop and integrate knowledge and technology, which, in the medium and long terms, can contribute to the discovery of oil provinces in new exploratory frontiers and to the capacity enablement of Petrobras with respect to the exploration of natural accumulations of gas hydrates. Within the scope of this project, we are studying the Solimões Basin, a Paleozoic land formation and the continental margin of South America. We are also analyzing how to extract and make commercially viable the gas from natural gas hydrates, solid compounds comprising water and gases like methane and carbon dioxide, abundant in marine sediments and existing in the form of crystals in the continental margins. Nobody in the world is presently doing this on a commercial scale. Heavyweight partners such as the University of Tokyo, the Geophysical Observatory of Trieste, and the Rio de Janeiro Catholic University will assist us in our work.

How is the Basin Modeling Technology Program, PROMOB, progressing?
Within the scope of this program, we have developed the software prototypes SimBR and Steno, which have enormously facilitated Petrobras’ work. SimBR simulates geological processes of the development of oil systems, such as the depositing and erosion of sediments, rock compacting and the alteration in porosity, and the generation, migration, and accumulation of oil. Steno is software for stratographic modeling and simulates sedimentary conditions in basins over geological time and can assist us in foreseeing the occurrence of reservoir rocks, which may contain petroleum, in new well locations. In addition, we have integrated our data bases and created a corporate data bank for consultation by Petrobras’ areas and units in Brazil and abroad.

In the area of the Advanced Oil Recovery Technology Program (PRAVAP), the technological branch of the E&P area’s Mature Fields Recovery Enhancement Program (RECAGE), the results have been promising, haven’t they?
Yes. Globally, the oil recovery factor in mature fields, that is, fields that have reached their production peak and have gone into decline, is, on average, 35%. Thanks to PRAVAP, we have achieved a recovery factor of 50%, for example, in the Marlim field, which has been producing for 20 years. And there have been cases of recovered fields which have reached a second peak higher than the first one. Thanks to the program, mature fields such as Carmópolis, Canto do Amaro, Bonito, and Albacora have regained a new vigor. Various techniques have been employed to rejuvenate our fields, including, for example, the injection of water, carbon dioxide (CO2), or steam into the wells, the alternate injection of water and gas, the subsea injection of sea water, and the use of chemical products. The program is of extreme importance to Petrobras because the majority of the company’s fields are mature. It has also generated cost optimization, increased production, and an increase in our reserves.

Keystone / Petrobras Archives

Petrobras has achieved a production record for viscous heavy oil offshore

The Heavy Oil Technology Program, PROPES, ended in 2008 with excellent results, according to CENPES evaluation. What did Petrobras learn from this program?
Created in 2002, PROPES, which permeated the course of oil from exploration to refining, contributed decisively to the production viability of heavy oils in an offshore environment. With this, the company achieved record production of viscous heavy oil at sea, a total of about one million barrels. The pilot project implemented in the Siri reserve, located in the Badejo field in the Campos Basin, made possible the large scale production at sea of extra-heavy, high viscosity oil of 12.3° API. Within the scope of the program, technologies such as the long extension horizontal drilling of wells with sand control, systems of centrifugal pumping for the artificial elevation of oil, platforms equipped to make possible the processing of large liquid flows, and the use of mobile production platforms enabling Long Duration Tests in heavy oil fields were consolidated. More specifically, in the oil processing area, new technologies were developed to separate water from oil. With respect to the advanced recovery of heavy oil, in turn, a project was developed to inject viscosified water into a well in the Papa-Terra field. Regarding the reduction of viscosity in extra heavy oil, a project was implemented in the Tambuatá field in the Santos Basin.

J.Valpereiro / Petrobras Image Bank

Petrobras is adapting its refining park to increase the production of diesel

André Valentim / Petrobras Image Bank

A fluid catalytic cracking unit

Speaking of heavy oil, CENPES has a program focused on the processing of heavy and extra-heavy oils, the Refining Technology Program, PROTER. How is that going?
In the Supply area, one of the biggest challenges facing Petrobras is to equip its refining facilities to increase the production of diesel with a reduced environmental impact, using heavy oil. Also being sought is a solution for increasing the hydrotreatment capacity (HDT) of the Petrobras System refineries to satisfy the market demand for increasingly cleaner fuels. In the case of processing heavy oil, after the initial process of distillation, half of the volume still remains in the form of atmospheric residues (RAT), which needs additional processing for conversion into light, valuable fractions of oil, such as diesel oil and gasoline. This happens within the scope of PROTER, which comprises projects aimed at the development of innovative technologies for the conversion of heavy oil fractions into fuels and petrochemical products in Fluid Catalytic Cracking and Delayed Coking plants. These technologies are of great significance in the current refining scheme. In the Abreu e Lima Refinery, for example, a process will be implemented for the coking of RAT which will increase the production of diesel oil by 28% compared to a traditional coking plant. In the RLAM, RECAP, and REFAB refineries, in turn, it is already possible to process RAT in the Fluid Catalytic Cracking Units and increase the production of diesel components by 10%. In COMPERJ, the FCC Petrochemical technology will be implemented to increase the production of ethylene and, principally, propylene. Finally, in order to produce gasoline with low sulfur content, in addition to acquiring AXENS technology, we will install our own technology in the new HDT unit of RECAP, which should go into operation at the end of 2010.

Still in the refining area, the Optimization and Trust Technology Program, PROREC, is in place. What results are being achieved under this program?
Within this program, one of the major challenges to be faced is naphthenic corrosion of metal materials, that is, corrosion caused by naphtenic compounds which can be present in oil. Thanks to PROREC, it became possible to identify the usage limits of various metallic materials with which we work, to inform the Petrobras System refineries of the maximum degree of oil and oil product acidity which can be safely processed, and to process oil with significant levels of acidity. We implemented projects of metallurgical adequacy in refinery distillation units, in such a way as to prolong the useful life of the equipment, and now we have carried out tests with naphthenic corrosion inhibitors to optimize these processes. In addition, we have evaluated the variables which influence the integrity of the equipment and the risks of structural failure as a result of time in use, and we have optimized inspections and maintenance and therefore prolonged the useful life of the equipment. The knowledge acquired up to now has permitted us to refine the technical specifications in the purchasing of equipment and to optimize the manufacture and costs of this equipment.

Lu Autuori / Petrobras Image Bank

Petrobras is researching materials to reduce pipeline corrosion

With respect to natural gas, what have been the contributions of the Natural Gas Technology Program, the PROGAS, to Petrobras?
The challenges of the program have been how to make the gas logistics network in Brazil flexible and to develop solutions for gas transportation, in a competitive and flexible way, from locations distant from the Brazilian coastline to the consumer markets. To reach these goals, we are acting on three fronts. With the coming onstream of the fields existing in the pre-salt province, we are studying, as an alternative to the outflow of the natural gas obtained, transportation in the form of liquefied natural gas in ships. The natural gas would be converted into liquid, with its volume reduced around 600 times, and transported in vessels to a regasification terminal installed on land, where the processed cargo would be transformed into gas once again. To achieve this, it is necessary to develop deepwater gas liquefaction plants. We will define the floating LNG unit in the second half of 2009. Another alternative being studied is compressed natural gas for embarkation. The natural gas would be compressed to 250kgf/cm², it would be stored in cylinders placed on board CNG vessels, and these ships would transport the fuel to a gas pipeline network, through which the gas would flow to processing units on land. This technology will be available to Petrobras by the end of 2009. Finally, we are also studying the gas-to-liquid, or GTL, technology, which is the chemical transformation of natural gas into high quality derivatives with high added value and low environmental impact. Its use in an offshore environment is still in the embryonic stage, but we are developing a pilot plant, for installation in a production vessel, so as to evaluate the technology on a larger scale. The plant will begin operations in 2010 in the state of Sergipe.

Speaking of ships, pipelines, and outflows, the Transportation Technology Program, PROTRAN, is also part of the CENPES technological program portfolio. How is this program doing?
We have implemented research projects related to ships and pipeline networks and invested in infrastructure designed to provide operational excellence in various modes of transportation. In our efforts, we have had as partners Brazilian universities and the Petrobras Pipeline Technology Center, CTDUT, where we test and validate technologies and equipment. For example, we have researched materials which reduce the corrosion in tanks, ships, and pipelines, the minimization of contamination problems which alter the quality of the products during transportation, and ground movement, so that we can be prepared in advance before damage to the integrity of the pipelines occurs; we have validated sensors and equipment responsible for security in pipeline rights-of-way and tanks; and we have implemented repair methods which enable the reestablishment of operations safely and quickly.

Rogério Reis / Petrobras Image Bank

Petrobras has patented technology to produce biodiesel from the seeds of oleaginous plants native to Brazil

What is new in regard to the Renewable Energy Technology Program, PROGER, now focused, in the short and medium terms, on biofuels?
We have developed technology, patented by Petrobras, to produce biodiesel with low cost raw materials abundant in Brazil and with high oil content in seeds from plants such as palm, Barbados nut, the African oil palm, sunflowers, and the castor oil plant, different from what is common in the world where soybeans and rapeseed are more used. We are able to produce biodiesel of international quality with 30% of castor oil in the blend. Also, we have finished the project for a biodiesel plant with 100% Brazilian technology. The adaptation of existing plants is being studied by our specialists. Studies are also in progress to make viable the creation of farms to cultivate algae for the production of biodiesel with the oil extracted from these plants. Regarding the diesel produced using the H-Bio process, that is, using the technology patented by Petrobras which makes possible the processing of vegetable oil mixed with diesel oil fractions, we already have six Petrobras refineries adapted to produce it once it is considered commercially advantageous. With respect to ethanol, in the first half of 2009, we will finish the design for a demonstration plant for ethanol from lignocellulose, produced from vegetable residues such as sugarcane bagasse and straw. The plant will begin operations in 2010 or 2011.The projected production is about ten thousand liters of ethanol per day.

Geraldo Mello / Petrobras Image Bank

Podium gasoline

Guido Paternò / Petrobras Image Bank

CENPES, the Petrobras R&D Center

Has the Biofuels Innovation Technology Program, INOVA, sparked the introduction of many innovations in the market?
In this program, we are constantly seeking to develop differentiated products with improved performance and new components, produced with new routines and with reduced greenhouse gas emissions. Some of the products developed include Brazilian Podium gasoline; Podium for the Argentine market; Diesel Podium for pickups, with advanced formula and additives; Diesel Verana for the nautical segment; and 22 different gasoline formulas for Formula 1, always seeking a constantly improved performance. At present we are working to develop an aviation biokerosene and a lead-free aviation gasoline.

CENPES also has environment technology programs. For example, how is the Environment Technology Program, PROAMB, doing?
The challenges of the program are to develop technologies which minimize the impact of Petrobras activities on water systems and resources. To achieve this objective, we are working to reduce the residues generated in our processes, by sustainable action in sensitive ecosystems and by the sustainable use of water resources. To minimize the residues generated, we are testing, on a pilot scale, the heat treatment of residues, which will make possible the processing of oily sediments, previously a cause of environmental damage, so as to obtain good quality oil. Pre-operational tests will begin this year on a pilot bioreactor for the treatment of soil, recuperating soil contaminated by oil and/or oil products and making possible its reuse. In sensitive ecosystems, more specifically in the Amazon, we will implement projects such as EcoUrucu, with the objective of improving the sustainability of the oil and gas production processes in the Urucu gas and oil province; the Piatam, which will carry out the socio-environmental monitoring of the Petrobras oil and oil products transportation routes; and the Cognitus Project, in which we are developing robots to collect environmental data. As to the reuse of effluents, in collaboration with the Supply area, we have implemented technologies with this objective in the REVAP, REPAR and RECAP refineries, in the LUBNOR lubricant factory, and in CENPES, at the same time that conceptual designs have already been created for implementation in the Rio de Janeiro Petrochemical Complex. Water reuse using diverse electrolysis technologies is being validated in the REGAP refinery. Already, the reuse of water produced in the exploration and production processes is being adopted for the recovery of oil in the Petrobras units in the states of Ceará, Sergipe, and Rio Grande do Norte. Finally, we are developing technology to take advantage of the water produced together with petroleum for use in the irrigation of oleaginous plants which will serve as raw materials for the production of biodiesel in Ceará and for the cogeneration of electric energy in the Termoaçu thermoelectric plant in Rio Grande do Norte.

And how is the Climate Change Mitigation Technology Program, PROCLIMA, doing?
The program, created in 2007, has four focal points - carbon capture, energy efficiency, the evaluation of the environmental performance of fossil and renewable fuels during their life cycles, and the development of technologies and models for the evaluation of the impact of climate change on Petrobras’ business affairs. Of those programs implemented, it is worth highlighting, in the field of carbon capture, that we have begun injecting CO2 in the Rio Pojuca aquifer in the Recôncavo Baiano with the goal of injecting a total of 50 tons per year in that location. This is the first project for the geological capture of carbon dioxide in operation in South America. Other projects are still under study or are in their initial stages.

From what has been seen, the entrepreneurial spirit is prevalent in all of CENPES’ technology programs.
That’s true. The capacity to implement new technological solutions is the great differential of Petrobras and of CENPES, which provides technological solutions for the company by means of technology programs and research projects. Technological success depends fundamentally on certain factors. First, there needs to be alignment between the requirements of the final user and the focus. In the second place, it is necessary to integrate all those who can contribute to the desired innovations, including suppliers and academics. In the third place, the effort for implementation must be unrelenting. Good ideas, if they are not implemented, are no more than that. Innovation will only take place when it is implemented industrially. Petrobras is fully aware of these factors and encourages us to take entrepreneurial actions. It’s in our DNA.