Supplying power to 200 million people: GEA supplies Suape Energia with Brazil’s most efficient slop oil processing plant

The new equipment has been running since early 2017 and the results have been impressive. Residual water content in the recovered oil is <0.3 per cent allowing it to be recycled as fuel and sold on the open market at an average price of BRL 0.67 per Kg. 'In just nine months we have achieved BRL350,000 in recovered oil sales,' said Venceslau.

Sandro Roberto da Silva was the GEA Account Manager for the project. He said that the water recovered from the sludge was suitable for use within the plant for cleaning purposes, thereby significantly reducing the plant's overall water consumption. 'This represents a considerable volume of water every month which saves money for the company and provides a great benefit to the environment and to the local community,' he explained.

Instead of disposing of the entire volume of slop oil produced by the process, Suape Energia now must pay to remove only the solid matter. This has reduced the total by 70% to just 270 tons a month requiring only two trucks a week (compared with seven previously). The combined savings in water usage and disposal costs, added to the revenue from oil sales, meant that payback, which was contractually fixed at 6 to 12 months, was achieved in only four.