Potencial Biodiesel

Potencial Biodiesel is an industrial unit belonging to the Potencial Group that aims to stand out in the clean energy market by producing biodiesel. When inaugurated in 2012, it produced 350,000 liters of biodiesel per day and already had the goal of becoming a reference in the clean energy market.

After five years and some investments, the company, part of the Potencial Group, reached the milestone of 1 million liters per day.

With the need for a new unit with greater production capacity, in 2020 the company inaugurated a new plant. Adding both, Potencial Biodiesel’s daily production reached 2.5 million liters.

In October of the same year, the National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels (ANP) announced the company as the largest biodiesel production unit in Brazil, with an annual output forecast of 900 million liters.

Continuing its mission of producing renewable energy using innovative technologies, Potencial Biodiesel acquired an HPB/B&W boiler with a production capacity of 88,300 kg/h of superheated steam at 520 °C under 67 bar pressure.

It will be equipped with a combustion system capable of operating with various combinations of fuels: the Bubbling Fluidized Bed (BFB). The solution offers combustion efficiency above 99.5%, even when feedstocks have high moisture levels (up to 65%).

One feature of the Bed that influenced the choice of this solution was its higher operational availability, since the lower maintenance requirements result in fewer shutdowns for this purpose and, consequently, lower costs.

The boiler will also include an Electrostatic Precipitator, a solution with low operating cost and higher efficiency in capturing particulate matter. In addition, the technology is characterized by reduced maintenance and extended operational availability. The steam generator is also equipped with auxiliary burners that operate at up to 100% capacity with natural gas.