Petrobras RECAP (Capuava) Maua Refinery

Petrobras RECAP (Capuava) Maua Refinery is a refinery in Brazil with a reported capacity of 57,000 BBL per day. It processes crude oil into fuels and petrochemical feedstocks through distillation, cracking and reforming. It is operated by Petróleo Brasileiro SA. By capacity it ranks #10 of 13 oil refineries tracked in Brazil. It emits about 621,131 tonnes of CO₂e per year (Climate TRACE) — roughly the tailpipe emissions of 144,786 cars. Its CO₂ per unit of capacity is about 29% above the median refinery.

Facility data: Climate TRACE v6 (asset-level capacity & CO₂e, CC BY 4.0), id ct-3143758.

في السياق: كيف يتم مقارنة هذا المنشأة

عند 57,000 BBL per day، يكون Petrobras RECAP (Capuava) Maua Refinery أقل من متوسط refinery في Brazil (170,000 BBL per day). القطاع الفرعي: oil-and-gas-refining. كـ refinery، يتطلب حرارة عملية مكثفة (عادة 200–600°C) لعملياته الصناعية الأساسية — حرارة يجب توفيرها بواسطة الغلايات أو الأفران أو الاحتراق المباشر، والخسائر من خلال الحاويات والأنابيب غير المعزولة تمثل وقود مهدر. يمكن للعزل المعياري القابل للإزالة أن يقلل هذه الخسائر بمقدار 80-96٪، وتبريد الأسطح إلى ≤45°C، مع فترة استرجاع غالباً أقل من سنتين. تقوم المصافي بتسخين وتجزئة وتحويل النفط الخام كيميائياً إلى الوقود والمواد الخام البتروكيميائية من خلال التقطير والتكسير اللذين يتطلبان طاقة كثيفة — متطلبة بشكل استثنائي لتوليد البخار وتعافي الحرارة.

مقارنة السعة وكثافة CO₂ محسوبة من بيانات منشآت Climate TRACE الصناعية؛ دور القطاع بناءً على مرجع الهندسة.

What 621,131 t CO₂e a year looks like

This facility's reported annual CO₂e in the everyday equivalents from the US EPA Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies calculator:

Equivalencies: US EPA Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies. Emissions: Climate TRACE.

Capacity vs largest oil refineries in Brazil

Reported capacity (BBL per day), Climate TRACE v6 (asset-level capacity & CO₂e, CC BY 4.0).

Operator

Operated by Petróleo Brasileiro SA. All facilities by this operator →

Local climate

Petrobras RECAP (Capuava) Maua Refinery sits in a humid subtropical climate zone (Köppen Cfa), at 23.6°S in the southern hemisphere.

Köppen zone: Köppen-Geiger world climate classification (Kottek et al. 2006, 0.5° grid).

How it compares & nearby sites

The #10 largest of 13 oil refineries in Brazil by reported capacity.

Nearby industrial sites

• Braskem ABC Petrochemical Complex, Santo Andre,Sao Paulo · Petrochemical · 991,618 t CO₂
• Sublime Estamparia Ltda Me · Textiles · 302 t CO₂
• P. S. Pinheiro Confeccoes De Roupas * Me · Textiles · 302 t CO₂
• Célia M Pereira Confecções Me · Textiles · 302 t CO₂
• Confeccoes Vane Will Ltda · Textiles · 302 t CO₂
• P.S.Pinheiro Confeccoes De Roupas Me · Textiles · 302 t CO₂

Location

Coordinates -23.64363, -46.47789. View on OpenStreetMap.

Heat loss & insulation profile

A refinery like this runs hot equipment that sheds heat continuously: crude & vacuum distillation columns, fired heaters, heat exchangers, steam lines, valves & flanges (surface/process temperatures around 150–550 °C). These surfaces lose energy to the air year-round; removable modular insulation cuts that loss, brings outer surfaces to ≤45 °C, and unclips for inspection.

Indicative recoverable energy

On an already-insulated site (pipes & valves in cladding / jackets), closing the remaining gaps, flanges and damaged sections and switching to removable covers indicatively recovers about 38,000 MWh/yr (≈ 7,600 t CO₂/yr) — scaled to this site's reported CO₂ within its sector. Bare or damaged surfaces recover several times more.

See Inzonex insulation → Estimate your site →

Indicative, not a measurement. Conservative floor for an already-insulated plant; a TIPCHECK on-site audit gives a measured figure. Industry context: EiiF TIPCHECK — industrial insulation can save ~14 Mtoe/yr in EU, payback typically <2 years.

Safety & the no-regret first step

Bare hot surfaces here exceed the touch-safe limit (EN ISO 13732-1); insulation to ≤45 °C is a worker-safety and compliance win. And before electrification, fuel-switching or CCS, eliminating surface heat loss is the cheapest, fastest, lowest-risk step — audit the bare spots first, rip-and-replace later.

External climate finance your country can access

Domestic energy-efficiency grants are limited here; industrial decarbonisation is mainly funded externally:

• Japan JCM (Joint Crediting Mechanism) — Japan co-finances diffusion of decarbonising tech incl. INDUSTRIAL ENERGY EFFICIENCY in partner countries, in exchange for carbon credits. Channels: MOEJ model projects, ADB trust funds, NEDO demonstrations.
• UK International Climate Finance (ICF / ODA) — ~GBP 6bn ODA over 3 yrs; industrial-decarbonisation flows via Climate Investment Funds (CIF) - Clean Technology Fund.
• Green Climate Fund (GCF) + ADB / World Bank / UNIDO — Concessional finance & grants for industrial energy efficiency. E.g. GCF $200M ADB-led India Green Finance Facility; World Bank FP071 'Scaling Up Energy Efficiency for Industrial Enterprises in Vietnam'; ASEAN ACGF energy-efficiency revolving funds incl. SMEs.

CBAM. Exporters of cement, steel, aluminium, fertiliser, hydrogen and electricity to the EU face the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism — cutting embedded emissions (efficiency + insulation) lowers the levy.

Routed via national development banks / accredited entities — not a direct factory grant. Verified 2026.

Frequently asked questions