Considered one of the largest projects in the history of Petrobras, the Petrochemical Complex of Rio de Janeiro (Comperj) intended to drive the company’s retaking in the petrochemical market. Occupying an area of 45 thousand sq.mt. in the municipality of Itaboraí, its area is equivalent to more than six thousand soccer fields, three Reducs (Duque de Caxias Oil Refining Plant) or six districts such as Copacabana, in the South Zone of Rio de Janeiro. The project became however a subject of great polemic due to the successive delays in its time schedule and to cost overrun. Its initial cost was calculated in R$ 19 billion but currently is reaching R$ 26 billion. Operation was scheduled to start originally in the second half of 2013 and now is scheduled to the end of 2016. According to the schedule of Petrobras, Comperj works reached 68 percent of physical development in January, 2014.
In its initial phase works demanded the largest earthmoving volume already carried out in Brazil. Not even the power plants of Itaipu or Santo Antônio, not even the petrochemical complexes of Camaçari or Triunfo had an earthmoving volume so large such as this: 220,000 cu.mt. per day, carried out by the consortium CTC – Consórcio Terraplenagem Comperj, composed by Odebrecht Infraestrutura, Andrade Gutierrez and Queiroz Galvão.
The complex—that will have a processing capacity of 165,000 oil barrels per day—will include a refining plant and industrial units—that will produce first-generation (ethylene, benzene, propene, butadiene and others) and second-generation (polyethylene, polypropylene, styrene, ethylene glycol and others) petrochemicals—and auxiliary buildings.
The great new feature of Comperj will be the production of the so-called petrochemical FCC, a new process to produce basic petrochemicals that uses the properties of Brazilian oil and that replaces imported naphtha and natural gas.
All figures of Comperj are huge: one thousand machines (850 heavy machines) are working daily in the fronts, consuming 200,000 liters of diesel oil per day. Approximately 15,000 persons are working in the site, hired by one of the 20 consortiums that are carrying out the works in several fronts. During the five years of works and after operation starts, 200,000 workplaces (direct, indirect and due to income effect) will be created, all in national scale. The canteen— where a bakery was installed to produce bread every day—supplies 130,000 meals per month.
Rains are heavy in the place where Comperj is being built. When rains occur, works stop and only restart three days later, after inspection and rescheduling of the works. According to Petrobras, this situation compromises a more accelerated pace of execution. Logistics, planning and engineering have to be constantly adjusted. Each time the works stop, equipment is collected, checked and distributed again.
Project carried out in two phases
Comperj will be built in two phases. The first phase of the works is focused in the assemblage of the refining units, which will process up to 165,000 barrels of oil per day, producing diesel, LPG, aviation kerosene, naphtha, coke and sulphur to supply the national market and to supply raw materials for petrochemical units. The second phase of the refining plant is scheduled to start in 2018. The start of the petrochemical units is scheduled for 2017, producing ethylene, propene, polyethylene and polypropylene, among others. The expectation is to double the initial production when the second refining unit starts to produce.
Besides the increase in the national capacity of processing heavy oil, Comperj will change the social and economic profile of its area of influence. A study carried out by the Fundação Getúlio Vargas (FGV) concludes that the complex will attract 724 industries—most of them (about 90 percent) of micro and small sizes—due to the availability of raw materials. According to FGV, the expectation is that—if all estimations are right—Comperj will cause a growth of 39 percent in the GDP of its area of direct influence. The survey highlights also that even the municipalities that will receive lower investments—such as Tanguá (35 percent of the GDP) and Guapimirim (29 percent of the GDP)—will have a huge economic increase.
The expectation is that the complex would be a hub of strong attraction of the whole chain that will transform petrochemical products into consumption goods such as components for automotive industries, surgical materials and home appliances, among others.
Strategic location
The complex is located in a geographic center in the municipality of Itaboraí, which has conditions to attend the states of Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais, São Paulo and Espírito Santo. Its logistic facilities will ensure the access to the main roads and ports of the Southeast region. To ensure this condition, primary and secondary access roads are being paved, in addition to an alternative access for the transport of large equipment.
Located near the ports of Itaguaí (103 km) and Rio de Janeiro, and the terminals of Angra dos Reis (157 km), Ilhas d’Água and Redonda (30 km), Itaboraí is served by roads and railways. It has also as neighbors the Duque de Caxias Refining Plant (Reduc) (50 km), the petrochemical plants of Rio Polímeros and Suzano (50 km) and the Center of Research and Development Leopoldo Américo Miguez de Mello - Cenpes (38 km).
Human resources living in the cities that will be directly affected by the complex are also receiving training courses offered by the Integration Center – another project suggested and put into practice. The expectation is to qualify about 30,000 professionals, whose qualifications will be stored in a database for future jobs, in the Comperj or in other companies attracted to the site.
Risk management
Programs of Risk Management and Noise Follow-up and Control, among others, will be installed in the complex. The first one will be of responsibility of the contracted companies and includes the development and maintenance of preventive and control measures, according to the environmental regulations and the standards of Petrobras. The hypotheses of higher probability of accidents are oil spilling, vehicle or machine collision and people trampling.
The second program aims to reduce the effects of noise generated by construction activities through measures such as use of ear protection by the workers and of equipment with silenced exhausting systems.
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