São Paulo – the Brazilian state-owned oil company Petrobras and the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) will inaugurate today (30th) the Laboratory of Corrosion and Non-Destructive Testing, located in campus Cidade Universitária, in the capital of the state of Rio. The inauguration will be attended by president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and the chairman of Petrobras, José Sergio Gabrielli.
The laboratory will be one of the world’s most advanced for testing on corrosion, material inspection and soldering, the highlights being testing and research required for oil production in the pre-salt layer. The result of a partnership between Petrobras and UFRJ, it has received 26 million reals (US$ 11.9 million) in investment by the state-owned company. By 2011, investment should total approximately 30 million reals (US$ 13.7 million).
According to information disclosed in a press release, the technological challenges posed by the pre-salt layer demand testing in singular conditions, similar to those founding the fields discovered. The laboratory was conceived so as to enable testing at high pressures and temperatures, and with the presence of corrosive fluids.
The construction of the laboratory is part of Petrobras’ strategy of investing in experimental infrastructure and human resource formation in Brazilian universities and research institutes, under a model of sustainable relations, by means of the establishment of Networks for technological partnership in areas of strategic interest to the company.
Petrobras is investing around 400 million reals (US$ 183.1 million) a year, since 2006, in 36 different thematic networks, involving approximately 100 universities and research institutes across the country. Thanks to these technological partnership, a world-class technological park for the oil, natural gas and energy fields is being built in Brazil.
*Translated by Gabriel Blum
