Petrobras quietly installed an artificial intelligence system called Smart Tocha in six of its largest refineries, and the technology independently controls the burning of gases to reduce emissions without any operator needing to intervene.

Written by Douglas Avila

Published on 12/04/2026 at 17:47

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The Smart Tocha Petrobras uses artificial intelligence and computer vision to analyze the flame of the torches in real time, automatically adjusting steam injection and ensuring efficient combustion in six refineries across the country, with energy savings equivalent to the consumption of an entire city of 20,000 inhabitants

The Smart Tocha Petrobras is a system that few know outside the refining world, but it is quietly transforming how six of Brazil’s largest refineries control their emissions. Developed by Petrobras in partnership with Cenpes and PUC-Rio, the system uses artificial intelligence and computer vision to monitor the burning of gases in the torches — those giant flames visible at the top of the refineries — and automatically adjust steam injection to ensure complete combustion.

According to Nicolás Simone, Executive Director of Digital Transformation and Innovation at Petrobras, “the gains brought by the Smart Tocha in the refineries are equivalent to the energy supply of a city with about 20,000 inhabitants, seeking performance improvement and environmental compliance in operations.” Therefore, the impact goes far beyond a simple technological update.

How the Smart Tocha Petrobras sees the flame and corrects the burning by itself

Monitoring camera with computer vision of the Smart Tocha Petrobras installed near the torch

The torches are mandatory safety equipment in refineries. Thus, they burn flammable or toxic gases that cannot be released directly into the atmosphere. For combustion to be complete and not generate pollutants, it is necessary to inject steam in an exact proportion to the volume of gases. Before the Smart Tocha Petrobras, this adjustment was done manually or with fixed parameters, which led to excess steam or incomplete burning.

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The six refineries that already operate with the Smart Tocha Petrobras

Control room of the refinery monitoring Smart Tocha Petrobras in real time

The system has been implemented in six Petrobras refining units spread across three Brazilian states. Thus, the coverage includes some of the largest refineries in the country:

Repar (Presidente Getúlio Vargas) — Araucária, Paraná
RPBC (Presidente Bernardes) — Cubatão, São Paulo
Revap (Henrique Lage) — São José dos Campos, São Paulo
Reduc (Duque de Caxias) — Duque de Caxias, Rio de Janeiro
Recap (Capuava) — Mauá, São Paulo
Replan (Paulínia) — Paulínia, São Paulo

The development involved the expertise of researchers from PUC-Rio, including professors Hélio Lopes, Simone Barbosa, Marcos Kalinowski, and Marcus Poggi from the Department of Computer Science. Additionally, the concept of the Smart Tocha Petrobras was formalized in mid-2020, and the implementation in the six refineries took place between 2023 and 2024. Thus, the law that requires oil companies to invest billions in technology finds in the Smart Tocha a concrete example of results.

RefTOP Program: US$ 300 million to make Brazilian refineries globally competitive

Aerial view of Petrobras refinery complex with Smart Tocha Petrobras in operation

The Smart Tocha Petrobras is part of the RefTOP (World-Class Refining) program, which anticipated initial investments of US$ 300 million by 2025. Therefore, the program’s goal is to position Petrobras refineries among the best in the world in operational efficiency.

The gains from the Smart Tocha Petrobras include reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, savings in steam consumption, and improvements in energy efficiency. At Revap, in São José dos Campos, the results already demonstrate concrete improvements in energy efficiency and GHG reduction, as reported by PUC-Rio.

The profession of operator in large oil facilities gains a new dimension with systems like this, where AI supervision complements human experience.

What the Smart Tocha Petrobras still does not solve and what lies ahead

Despite significant advancements, the Smart Tocha Petrobras still has limitations. Petrobras has not disclosed exact percentages of emission reductions per refinery, nor specific return on investment metrics for the system. Additionally, detailed results by unit are not publicly available, only aggregated data.

However, the initiative demonstrates that artificial intelligence applied to refining is no longer a theoretical concept — it is operational reality in six Brazilian units. Still, scalability to other Petrobras refineries and the private sector remains the next challenge. On the other hand, the low implementation cost, based on cameras and software over existing infrastructure, suggests that expansion could be faster than in other industrial automation projects.

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Petrobras quietly installed an artificial intelligence system called Smart Tocha in six of its largest refineries, and the technology independently controls the burning of gases to reduce emissions without any operator needing to intervene.

How the Smart Tocha Petrobras sees the flame and corrects the burning by itself

The six refineries that already operate with the Smart Tocha Petrobras

RefTOP Program: US$ 300 million to make Brazilian refineries globally competitive

What the Smart Tocha Petrobras still does not solve and what lies ahead

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Petrobras quietly installed an artificial intelligence system called Smart Tocha in six of its largest refineries, and the technology independently controls the burning of gases to reduce emissions without any operator needing to intervene.

How the Smart Tocha Petrobras sees the flame and corrects the burning by itself

The six refineries that already operate with the Smart Tocha Petrobras

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What the Smart Tocha Petrobras still does not solve and what lies ahead

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In Botswana, a salt flat of up to 16,000 km² that was once an African megalake spends months as an absolute white desert, but during the rainy season it transforms into a shallow sea that reappears from nowhere and can be seen from space in the middle of southern Africa.

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