베올리아 워터 솔루션 브라질 지사와 베올리아 워터 미국 지사는 최근 정유 기업 페트로바스(Petrobas)와 브라질 남부 포르토 알레그레(Porto Alegre)에 위치한 알베르토 파스꾸알리니(Alberto Pasqualini) REFAP 정유 공장에 자사의 원유 재활용 물질을 처리하는 공정을 계획, 설치 소유하는 계약을 맺었다고 발표했다. 위 공장은 페트로바스가 소유한 시설 중 여섯 번째로 큰 규모이며 하루 약 20만 배럴을 생산하는 성능을 지녔다. 새로운 공정은 원유를 함유한 2차 물질을 다시 정유하는 재활용 기술로서 베올리아 워터의 전매 특허로 알려져 있다. 이를 통해 페트로바스의 위 정유 공장은 매년 150만 달러의 비용을 절감할 수 있을 것으로 예상된다.

정유 공장의 원유 처리 스트림에서 석유를 함유한 물질을 추출, 재활용하는 공정은 광부들이 위치한 공정라인에서 실시될 예정이다. 이 베올리아의 전매 공정은 페트로바스의 정유 실용성을 높이는 동시에 폐기물 절감과 자연 훼손의 완화 등의 결과를 이끌어 낼 수 있을 것으로 전망된다.

CHICAGO, IL, August 1 ,2013 -- Veolia Water Solutions & Technologies Brazil and Veolia Water Americas signed a contract with Petrobras to design, build, own and operate an oil-bearing secondary material processing unit at its Alberto Pasqualini REFAP Refinery located in Porto Alegre, South Brazil. It is the sixth largest of Petrobras' refineries with a capacity of 200,000 barrels/day. The new unit will use Veolia's proprietary processes to recycle the oil-bearing material back into the refining production processes, which is anticipated to result in approximately $1.5 million in annual cost savings.

The recycled oil-bearing materials from the refinery's crude processing streams will be used in the refinery's coker unit. Veolia's proprietary processes will help Petrobras increase its refining utilization, while at the same time minimizing waste generation and thereby helping the environment. 

The parts and equipment for the new unit are being manufactured both in the United States and Brazil. The state-of-art processing unit is expected to begin operations in November 2013.  When fully operational, the unit is anticipated to process approximately 6,200 barrels of oil-bearing material each month, more than 74,000 barrels per year.

"The new project is based on our long partnership with Petrobras, focusing on helping the company reach its environmental goals," says Ruddi de Souza, General Director of Veolia Water Solutions & Technologies Brazil.

Veolia Water Americas is expert in oil-bearing material management solutions, supplying services to more than 50 North American refineries and processing approximately 30,000 barrels of the material every day. By doing so, it helps the refineries return approximately 2.5 million barrels of oil per year to the refining process.

"Based on our track record in North American refineries, we believe this new partnership with Petrobras will be very successful in providing a highly sustainable process for oil-bearing material recycling and help minimize waste generation," says Steve Hopper, Executive Vice President, Veolia Water Americas. "An important consideration was the ability to process different streams produced by the refinery and those that enter the refinery from different external sources. We have repeatedly demonstrated that our process will accomplish this essential task. We are honored that Petrobras selected Veolia Water as its partner for this important project," he adds.

Petrobras evaluated several different processes utilized by Veolia Water, as well as the company's services delivery model that guarantees commercial and technical performance. "Our approach reduces Petrobras' risk by guaranteeing project performance.  We can do this because of our unrivaled ability to back our proprietary technical solutions with a wealth of operational knowledge as demonstrated in refineries throughout North America," explains Benoit Guerin, Veolia Water Latin America Business Development Director.

[출처: Waterworld / 2013년 8월 1일]