Developing Catalyst Technology Independently, Pertamina Increases Production of High-Value Oil and Gas Products
Plaju, February 26, 2022 - PT Pertamina (Persero) continues to develop innovations to support the company's operational activities, one of which is the development of technology to produce Fluid Catalytic Cracking (“FCC”) catalysts.
Currently, Pertamina's Research Technology & Innovation (RTI), with Pertamina's Subholding Refining & Petrochemical, PT Kilang Pertamina Internasional (KPI), have tested the FCC catalyst at the Plaju Refinery with an injection volume of 250 MT. This injection process has been going on for three months, from December 2021 to February 2022. The catalyst performance has proven to be successful in improving the performance of the FCC unit at the Plaju refinery in terms of gasoline yield and gasoline RON parameters.
FCC catalyst is a substance that accelerates the rate of chemical reactions used in oil and gas products processing under certain operating conditions. In the processing stage, the FCC catalyst functions to break down the heavy fraction "crack" of petroleum, which has a high molecular weight and boiling point to high-value products such as gasoline, LPG, olefins, and petrochemical products.
Senior Vice President of RTI Pertamina, Oki Muraza, explained that the FCC Pertamina Catalyst formulation has gone through a series of processes from the formulation stage to a laboratory-scale test since 2016. Furthermore, the pilot plant scale was carried out and went through the validation of international institutions. It has been successfully formulated in line with the needs of the Plaju refinery.
On the same occasion, the Director of Operations of PT KPI, Yulian Dekri, expressed his hope that this innovation would not stop in the trial step at the Plaju refinery. It could also be implemented in other Pertamina refineries, including Cilacap Refinery, Balongan Refinery, and the Balikpapan Refinery after the Balikpapan RDMP project, which will build RFCC units.
"Highest appreciation to all parties, especially Pertamina officers of PT KPI and the RTI Function who continue to support the development of this FCC catalyst, until it reaches this success with satisfactory results and meets the expectations of all parties," said Yulian Dekri.
Vice President of Corporate Communication of Pertamina, Fajriyah Usman, conveyed that mastery of FCC catalyst technology independently is an innovation that is very beneficial for the Indonesian oil and gas industry, considering that currently the need for FCC catalysts is still met through imports. In the future, Pertamina's FCC catalyst is expected to fulfill oil refining and petrochemical industry catalysts needs.
"Pertamina has high hopes that FCC catalysts development in the future will increase petrochemical production in the energy transition era, reduce dependence on imported catalysts for national industrial needs, and support national energy security and independence," stated Fajriyah.**