The workers of the Venezuelan Institute of Petroleum Technology, Intevep, work hard in the investigation and creation of projects aimed at giving the oil industry autonomy and reducing the technological dependency that inhibits national development and makes the sanctions applied by the US feasible.
Along this line, researchers from the PDVSA subsidiary are installing a center for the manufacture of substances responsible for accelerating chemical reactions, called catalysts, as they are critical compounds used in oil refining and improvement processes.
Nearly 71% of the volume handled in the refineries of the national refining system and in the improvers of the mixed companies require catalysts, which are imported in their entirety at a cost that exceeds 110 million dollars a year.
Hence, this graft, thus called the research and creative contribution nuclei set up by the workers, begins to provide a solution to a vital problem for the national oil industry, since 84% of the catalysts were purchased from the United States, putting into endanger the operation of the process units of the Oil Refining and Improvement System. The catalyst project has a name: National Manufacture of Catalysts, Manacat. His responsibility is to ensure PDVSA efficiency in the production and refining of crude oil through the endogenous development of catalysis.
The project already has 66% of the national raw material for the manufacture of catalysts, of which 2.924 metric tons/year, (MT year) representing 88% of the products required by the national oil industry.
In 2022, Manacat approved to continue the design and implementation of the Venezuelan Catalyst Factory, Favecat, with a nominal capacity of 2.924 MT/year of catalysts supported on alumina. The plant and the list of expected products and inputs required for its development have already been conceptualized.
During the month of September 2022, the activation of the reaction and separation/centrifuge section (filter press) was completed. The reactivation of the Escalation Laboratory has a progress of 50%. A technical note was completed on the long list of catalyst manufacturing companies, of which 44 show interest in establishing strategic alliances for the development of catalysts.
In 2022, progress of 71% was achieved, while in the activities for the Conceptualization Project of the Venezuelan Catalyst Factory it was 48% with respect to what was planned. The execution of labor hours for the period in the Favecat project was 241%.
