Lwart Lubrificantes will invest US$ 135.3 million to modernize production
DCI
Lwart Lubrificantes, specialized in collecting and rerefining of used lubricating oils, should make investments of up to R$ 230 million (US$ 135.3 million) in the purchase of technology, equipment and services for the modernization of its industrial plant of Lençóis Paulistas (SP). The goal of the company is to allow the processing of 150 thousand cubic meters of used oils a year. For 35 years in the market, the company has 300 oil collection trucks and it processes 12 million liters of oil a month. Besides the São Paulo unit, Lwart Lubrificantes has a plant in Feira de Santana (BA).
According to the company, the new structure and the service rendered to a market that still imports 100% of the product in Brazil will allow 25% of growth the earnings of Lwart Lubrificantes in five years. "The goal of the company is to meet the increasing demand for high quality base oils, resulting from the great technological advance had by engines and equipment", says the CEO of Lwart Lubrificantes, Thiago Trecenti. Called Project H, the investments in modernization will allow the use of hydrofinishing or hydrotreatment technology. "This is a chemical process in which hydrogen reacts in the presence of a catalyst, removing contaminants and imperfections in the molecular structure of the hydrocarbons that integrate the base oil, providing a better quality product", explains the Officer. To make the project feasible, the company intends to use nearly 80% of equipment produced in Brazil.
Project H will allow the plant to produce both base mineral oils from Group II and Group I, currently already made in the plant. "Such flexibility depends only on the adjustment of the treatment with hydrogen and the Brazilian market demand for nobler products, which is our greatest expectation", highlights Thiago Trecenti. Another positive point of the progress of the company concerns the environmental issues of the process. "With that technology, we will generate less low value-added by-products, minimize water consumption and get rid of the need of some inputs, such as sulfuric acid", explains the company officer.
Brazil ranks fifth in the worldwide consumption of lubricating oils (1.25 million cubic meters a year) and first in Latin America. In 2009, the import of base oils in the country amounted to 315 thousand cubic meters.