PRH 20.1 - Petroleum and Biofuels Chemistry Program

• Grant number: 25/03082-5
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Start date: September 01, 2025
• End date: August 31, 2030
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Chemistry
• Principal Investigator: Débora França de Andrade
• Grantee: Débora França de Andrade
• Host Institution: Instituto de Química. Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ). Ministério da Educação (Brasil)
• Pesquisadores principais: Ana Lúcia de Lima ; Camila Palombo Ferraz ; Carlos Adam Conte Junior ; Celeste Yara dos Santos Siqueira ; Claudia Moraes de Rezende ; Claudio José de Araujo Mota ; DANIELLA LOPEZ VALE ; Daniella Rodrigues Fernandes Noronha ; Denise Maria Guimarães Freire ; Elisa D Avila Costa Cavalcanti ; Elizabeth Roditi Lachter ; Fábio César Sousa Nogueira ; Fernando Henrique Cincotto ; João Francisco Cajaiba da Silva ; João Monnerat Araujo Ribeiro de Almeida ; Jorge de Almeida Rodrigues Junior ; JUSSARA LOPES DE MIRANDA ; Michelle Jakeline Cunha Rezende ; Pierre Mothé Esteves ; RAFAEL DIAS MESQUITA ; Ricardo Sposina Sobral Teixeira ; Rodrigo Leandro Silveira ; Rosane Aguiar da Silva San Gil ; Simone Pereira da Silva Ribeiro ; Victor de Oliveira Rodrigues ; Vinicius Ottonio Oliveira Gonçalves ; Vinicius Tadeu Kartnaller Montalvão

Abstract

The Oil, Natural Gas, and Biofuels sector increasingly requires specialized and highly qualified Chemistry professionals to address the emerging technological challenges. Since 2009, the Institute of Chemistry (IQ) at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) has been training human resources for the sector, with graduates being employed by various companies such as Petrobras, Ipiranga, Halliburton, and institutions/agencies like the National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels (ANP), the National Institute of Technology (INT), universities, and federal institutes, thus sustaining the necessary professional pipeline for the petroleum industry. The target audience for the Petroleum Chemistry and Biofuels Program includes all individuals interested in obtaining a specialized and robust education in Petroleum Chemistry, natural gas, biofuels, and biotechnology, developing research, development, and innovation (R&D&I) projects with researchers of proven excellence in their fields. The faculty composition for this proposal was based on a hybrid approach, comprising the expertise of established faculty and researchers within the Program and the most recent faculty members of the IQ/UFRJ, catalyzing a process of innovation and renewal, fostering the enhancement of existing emphases and the development of new areas, and most importantly, promoting new collaborations and partnerships. There has been significant engagement from researchers focused on biotechnology applied to the oil, gas, and biofuels sector. The R&D&I areas of the Program cover the following segments of Oil, Natural Gas, and Biofuels, which align with the emphases proposed in this project: Exploration, development, and production; Transportation, refining, and processing of natural gas; Biofuels and other renewable energies; Low carbon economy; Nanotechnology and new materials; Biotechnology. All these emphases are included in the courses offered by the Program, as well as in the ongoing projects conducted by its researchers. It is important to note that the Petroleum and Biofuels Chemistry Program already falls under the theme Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS), a process that aims to capture this CO2, with the sequestration of carbon in biofuel production plants or in the generation of electricity from biomass, followed by its geological storage, since this theme is contemplated in Emphasis 4 (Low Carbon Economy). (AU)