Estrutura de capital, estratégia e competição de mercado na indústria de gás liquefeito de petróleo (GLP) no período 1995-2003

A indústria brasileira de gás liquefeito de petróleo, GLP, tem sido alvo freqüente, nos últimos anos, da atenção de órgãos reguladores, mídia e público em geral. Muitas têm sido as especulações a respeito de seu padrão de conduta publicados na imprensa, variando desde práticas predatórias até a formação disciplinada de cartel. A presente pesquisa, baseada em depoimentos de executivos da indústria e no acesso a dados das firmas dessa indústria tomado públicos - dados financeiros e operacionais - explora qual seja, afinal, o padrão de competição desse oligopólio. O estudo parte da Teoria da Estrutura de Capital aplicada para decisões de competição e mercado - preços e quantidades a ofertar para constatar que, dadas suas escolhas de estrutura de capital, as firmas esta indústria específica simplesmente adotam um padrão tradicional de arrefecimento da competição a partir de sua dívida. A dívida, nesta indústria, é utilizada para a criação de barreiras de entrada. Ainda assim, casos de acirramento da competição e de concentração de mercado foram encontrados, indicando que não haja uma disciplina formal de conduta por parte de suas firmas as quais devem, eventualmente, encontrar dificuldades - ou falta de interesse - na convivência em um mercado em fase de transformação.

Margens de contribuição, gastos e lucro na cadeira de distribuição domiciliar de gás liquefeito de petróleo (Gás LP) : um estudo de caso do lucro na cadeia de distribuição de Gás LP domicilar no Brasil

A dissertação é um estudo de caso que tem como objetivo mapear a margem de contribuição, gastos e lucros na cadeia de distribuição do gás de cozinhas no Brasil. O trabalho focaliza o mapeamento da cadeia de valor a partir de uma das 21 distribuidoras de Gás LP e suas revendas em uma de suas áreas de atuação. Para o mapeamento dos custos e despesas fixos da distribuidora e de seus revendores foi utilizado o custeio baseado em atividade - ABC. Para o mapeamento do lucro foi utilizado o lucro antes dos juros, impostos, depreciação e amortização - Ebitda. Após o mapeamento buscou-se identificar as principais variáveis que explicam a atual configuração Ebitda da distribuidora e de suas revendas. Para isso foram geradas regressões de dados para entender o lucro unitário (reais por botijão de gás) da distribuidora e de suas mais de 500 revendas em uma das áreas de atuação. O resultado mostra uma estimativa de como a margem de contribuição, gastos e lucros na cadeia de distribuição do gás de cozinha no Brasil para o ano de 2007 se dividem entre as distribuidoras e revendedores de Gás LP domiciliar em termos percentual e unitário. Também foram explicadas quais as variáveis que mais impactam no Ebitda da distribuidora e revendas do estudo de caso. Por fim, o trabalho discute o potencial da metodologia de análise de mapeamento através do profit pool na cadeia de valor da indústria ao longo do texto e na conclusão do trabalho.

Análise do desempenho de um queimador infravermelho funcionando com gás liquefeito de petróleo e glicerina

The use of infrared burners in industrial applications has many advantages in terms of technical-operational, for example, uniformity in the heat supply in the form of radiation and convection, with greater control of emissions due to the passage of exhaust gases through a macro-porous ceramic bed. This paper presents an infrared burner commercial, which was adapted an experimental ejector, capable of promoting a mixture of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and glycerin. By varying the percentage of dual-fuel, it was evaluated the performance of the infrared burner by performing an energy balance and atmospheric emissions. It was introduced a temperature controller with thermocouple modulating two-stage (low heat / high heat), using solenoid valves for each fuel. The infrared burner has been tested and tests by varying the amount of glycerin inserted by a gravity feed system. The method of thermodynamic analysis to estimate the load was used an aluminum plate located at the exit of combustion gases and the distribution of temperatures measured by a data acquisition system which recorded real-time measurements of the thermocouples attached. The burner had a stable combustion at levels of 15, 20 and 25% of adding glycerin in mass ratio of LPG gas, increasing the supply of heat to the plate. According to data obtained showed that there was an improvement in the efficiency of the 1st Law of infrared burner with increasing addition of glycerin. The emission levels of greenhouse gases produced by combustion (CO, NOx, SO2 and HC) met the environmental limits set by resolution No. 382/2006 of CONAMA

Análise do desempenho de um queimador infravermelho funcionando com gás liquefeito de petróleo e glicerina

The use of infrared burners in industrial applications has many advantages in terms of technical-operational, for example, uniformity in the heat supply in the form of radiation and convection, with greater control of emissions due to the passage of exhaust gases through a macro-porous ceramic bed. This paper presents an infrared burner commercial, which was adapted an experimental ejector, capable of promoting a mixture of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and glycerin. By varying the percentage of dual-fuel, it was evaluated the performance of the infrared burner by performing an energy balance and atmospheric emissions. It was introduced a temperature controller with thermocouple modulating two-stage (low heat / high heat), using solenoid valves for each fuel. The infrared burner has been tested and tests by varying the amount of glycerin inserted by a gravity feed system. The method of thermodynamic analysis to estimate the load was used an aluminum plate located at the exit of combustion gases and the distribution of temperatures measured by a data acquisition system which recorded real-time measurements of the thermocouples attached. The burner had a stable combustion at levels of 15, 20 and 25% of adding glycerin in mass ratio of LPG gas, increasing the supply of heat to the plate. According to data obtained showed that there was an improvement in the efficiency of the 1st Law of infrared burner with increasing addition of glycerin. The emission levels of greenhouse gases produced by combustion (CO, NOx, SO2 and HC) met the environmental limits set by resolution No. 382/2006 of CONAMA

Características do aço API X70 utilizado em tubos de transporte de petróleo e gás

Having in mind that petroleum's history presents a huge growth, the exploration and production areas have been receiving lots of investments, in order to attend the increasing demand for gas and petroleum. Looking through that scenario, new technologies have been evolving in favor of discovering new natural petroleum deposits and act with effectiveness in truly deep waters without giving up the worldwide best operational security practices. The use of rigid pipes in marine installations have been rising quickly and, thanks to this reality, the many storage and pipe launching forms became study objects and are getting improved. The analysis of steel API X70 characteristics, proving that they are suitable for use in pipes developed to transport gas and petroleum is the theme of this presentation. A tensile test was conducted to determine the base metal's mechanical properties, draining's tension, traction's resistance, elasticity's modulus and maximum tension. An aspect that is concerning too is the metallographic analysis, in order to determine the studied iron's microstructure. Results of analyzes showed that the steel has high resistance, with good capacity for deformation and well defined yield point, concluding suitable for the application in question

Estudo do efeito Bauschinger em tubos de aço API 5l x70 aplicados no transporte de petróleo e gás

Despite the growing concern in seeking more sustainable energy sources, oil demand is likely to grow in coming years. To keep up with this growth, the oil industry has increasingly invested in innovation and efficiency. Knowing that, new technologies have been developed to explore deeper waters, without giving up the best practices in worldwide operational safety. The use of rigid pipelines in deepwater offshore facilities is increasing quickly and because of this, the ways of storing and launching pipe have been studied and perfected. In this paper the Bauschinger effect on API 5L X70 steel was analyzed proving that there was a reduction in yield strength when an effort was applied in a previous direction, then an effort was then applied in the opposite direction. To observe this phenomenon, the tensile test was conducted to determine the mechanical properties of the base metal, such as yield stress, tensile strength, elasticity and maximum tensile, so then compare it with the results obtained in the Bauschinger Effect Test. The analysis results showed that the steel had high resistance, with good plastic deformation capacity without failing, well-defined yield point, showing itself appropriate for the operation of oil and gas pipes

Características do aço API X70 utilizado em tubos de transporte de petróleo e gás

Having in mind that petroleum's history presents a huge growth, the exploration and production areas have been receiving lots of investments, in order to attend the increasing demand for gas and petroleum. Looking through that scenario, new technologies have been evolving in favor of discovering new natural petroleum deposits and act with effectiveness in truly deep waters without giving up the worldwide best operational security practices. The use of rigid pipes in marine installations have been rising quickly and, thanks to this reality, the many storage and pipe launching forms became study objects and are getting improved. The analysis of steel API X70 characteristics, proving that they are suitable for use in pipes developed to transport gas and petroleum is the theme of this presentation. A tensile test was conducted to determine the base metal's mechanical properties, draining's tension, traction's resistance, elasticity's modulus and maximum tension. An aspect that is concerning too is the metallographic analysis, in order to determine the studied iron's microstructure. Results of analyzes showed that the steel has high resistance, with good capacity for deformation and well defined yield point, concluding suitable for the application in question

Estudo do efeito Bauschinger em tubos de aço API 5l x70 aplicados no transporte de petróleo e gás

Despite the growing concern in seeking more sustainable energy sources, oil demand is likely to grow in coming years. To keep up with this growth, the oil industry has increasingly invested in innovation and efficiency. Knowing that, new technologies have been developed to explore deeper waters, without giving up the best practices in worldwide operational safety. The use of rigid pipelines in deepwater offshore facilities is increasing quickly and because of this, the ways of storing and launching pipe have been studied and perfected. In this paper the Bauschinger effect on API 5L X70 steel was analyzed proving that there was a reduction in yield strength when an effort was applied in a previous direction, then an effort was then applied in the opposite direction. To observe this phenomenon, the tensile test was conducted to determine the mechanical properties of the base metal, such as yield stress, tensile strength, elasticity and maximum tensile, so then compare it with the results obtained in the Bauschinger Effect Test. The analysis results showed that the steel had high resistance, with good plastic deformation capacity without failing, well-defined yield point, showing itself appropriate for the operation of oil and gas pipes

Estudo do comportamento em fadiga de um tubo de aço API 5CT soldado por resistência elétrica

The oil extraction in deep waters sparked new areas of knowledge, the creation of engineering courses dedicated just to these processes and a wide field of analysisvoiding multiple impacts in case of faults, mainly the economic and environmental. This paper aims to show on the effects and causes of fatigue failure in steel tubes used for oil and gastransportation (linepipe), mainly caused by vortex induced vibrations, or VIV. To make this, through laboratory tests, it found trough the curve Stress versus Number of Cycles, and thus estimating that with a stress value of 350 MPa or less, the fatigue life cycle of the API 5CT T95 (1% Cr) pipe is estimated infinite. It could conclude that the analyzed material has good fatigue failure resistance for offshore use, taking into account only the influence of VIV's, since there are no stress concentrators

Avaliação da influência da taxa de resfriamento posterior ao tratamento térmico nas propriedades mecânicas do aço API 5L X70

In this work a study about the mechanical properties of the API 5L X70 steel, with or without heat treating, has been made, with the intetion of assess the influence of cooling after the austenitization heat treating by air cooling (normalizing) and a rapid cooling with oil (tempering). This steel is known by high strength and ductility values and it is commonly used in the manufacture of oil pipes. The growing energy demand encouraged the study and manufacture of this material. Although this microalloyed dispense subsequent heat treatings, it was proven that its implementation is very advantageous for this type of application, improving hardness and plastic stability. It was also assessed that the faster the cooling rate is, the better will be these properties

Estudo em fadiga no aço API 5L X80 soldado pelo processo HF/ERW

The technological advancement in order to improve the methods of obtaining energy sources such as oil and natural gas is mainly motivated by the recent discovery of oil reserves. So, increasingly , there is a need for a thorough knowledge of the materials used in the manufacture of pipelines for transportation and exploration of oil and natural gas. The steels which follow the API standard (American Petroleum Institute), also known as high strenght low alloy (hsla), are used in the manufacture of these pipes, as they have, with their welded joints, mechanical properties to withstand the working conditions to which these ducts will be submitted . The objective of this study is to evaluate the fatigue behavior in microalloyed steel grade API 5L X80 welded by process HF / ERW . For this, axial fatigue tests to obtain S-N curve (stress vs. number of cycles ) were conducted. To complement the study, it was performed metallographic , fractographic , Vickers hardness tests and tensile tests to characterize the mechanical properties of the steel and check whether the values satisfy the specifications of the API 5L standard . From the fatigue tests , it was concluded that the surface finish influences directly on the fatigue life of the material

A compra do botijão de gás na cidade de Petrópolis (RJ): uma tradição de família

O mercado de gás liquefeito de petróleo brasileiro passou por profundas mudanças após a desregulamentação governamental iniciada a partir da segunda metade da década de 1990. Neste período, a intervenção estatal foi substituída por um modelo de livre concorrência que impulsionou a expansão das quatro principais empresas do setor para uma atuação nacional. Estes movimentos criaram um novo cenário competitivo no mercado. Após uma década destas mudanças, e apesar da forte competição entre as quatro grandes companhias que detém 86 % do mercado, a liderança do segmento residencial em cada estado brasileiro continua sendo exercida pela mesma marca do passado (ou sua sucessora). Este fato indica a necessidade das companhias adotarem uma nova abordagem de marketing para alterar de maneira significativa a percepção do consumidor em relação à sua preferência de marca. Logo, o conhecimento dos fatores críticos na escolha de botijões de gás para uso residencial é fundamental para esta mudança. Este estudo propõe uma nova abordagem das estratégias de mercado na indústria do GLP no Brasil, baseada numa perspectiva antropológica, que tenha como pilar o estudo do consumo doméstico deste produto como um processo de natureza cultural e simbólica, contradizendo a visão utilitarista que o estrutura como um simples reflexo de uma razão prática, fundamentada em critérios econômicos. Para atingir este objetivo, o pesquisador realizou uma análise do comportamento do consumidor de botijões de gás para uso doméstico apoiado nos principais estudos sobre o consumo na base da pirâmide, abordando os aspectos culturais brasileiros que possuem influência relevante nesta decisão de compra. Este estudo também contemplou os principais conceitos sobre a formação de hábitos de compra bem como a teoria sobre a lógica dominante em serviços. Os dados primários foram obtidos no município de Petrópolis/RJ, através de metodologia qualitativa, utilizando as entrevistas em profundidade como técnica de coleta de dados. Como resultado deste trabalho, foi proposto pelo autor um modelo teórico para explicar o fenômeno de compra do botijão de gás para uso doméstico no Brasil. Este modelo explica que a formação do hábito de compra do botijão de gás tem início na transmissão familiar da preferência por determinada marca para os membros mais novos da família, através do convívio e observação da rotina de escolha. Em seguida a nova consumidora experimenta o produto habitual da família e confirma as promessas de serviço embutidas na preferência familiar. Após esta fase, a consumidora consolida a preferência e coloca a recompra do botijão de gás no modo automático, disparando o loop do hábito de consumo deste produto. Segundo esta proposta, apenas uma dissonância cognitiva gerada pelo não cumprimento da promessa de serviço prestado é capaz de interromper o loop do hábito de compra da marca preferida pela família.

Sistema Híbrido de Inferência Baseado em Análise de Componentes Principais e Redes Neurais Artificiais Aplicado a Plantas de Processamento de Gás Natural

Nowadays, where the market competition requires products with better quality and a constant search for cost savings and a better use of raw materials, the research for more efficient control strategies becomes vital. In Natural Gas Processin Units (NGPUs), as in the most chemical processes, the quality control is accomplished through their products composition. However, the chemical composition analysis has a long measurement time, even when performed by instruments such as gas chromatographs. This fact hinders the development of control strategies to provide a better process yield. The natural gas processing is one of the most important activities in the petroleum industry. The main economic product of a NGPU is the liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). The LPG is ideally composed by propane and butane, however, in practice, its composition has some contaminants, such as ethane and pentane. In this work is proposed an inferential system using neural networks to estimate the ethane and pentane mole fractions in LPG and the propane mole fraction in residual gas. The goal is to provide the values of these estimated variables in every minute using a single multilayer neural network, making it possibly to apply inferential control techniques in order to monitor the LPG quality and to reduce the propane loss in the process. To develop this work a NGPU was simulated in HYSYS R software, composed by two distillation collumns: deethanizer and debutanizer. The inference is performed through the process variables of the PID controllers present in the instrumentation of these columns. To reduce the complexity of the inferential neural network is used the statistical technique of principal component analysis to decrease the number of network inputs, thus forming a hybrid inferential system. It is also proposed in this work a simple strategy to correct the inferential system in real-time, based on measurements of the chromatographs which may exist in process under study