1. Honest scope: where FB Bombas operates in the O&G chain
Oil and gas has subsectors with very different technical requirements. FB Bombas focuses on midstream (terminals, tank farms and onshore transfer pipelines) and downstream (refineries, fire systems and process thermal oil). Offshore subsea equipment — blowout preventers (BOP), subsea manifolds, FPSO production systems and well water injection — is out of scope.
This boundary saves the specifier time: whoever sizes an offshore platform knows from the start that another kind of supplier is needed, and whoever specifies a terminal or a refinery finds the FB series criteria here. Supply references, when requested, are handled in the commercial enquiry.
Note
FB Bombas reports registration in the Petrobras supplier registry (CRC, formerly CRCC). According to Petrobras, the CRC is valid for tender eligibility, for up to one year, for the families stated on the certificate, and is not required to take part in procurement; it is not a product certification. Eligibility, documentation and lead time are checked in each project and proposal.
2. Midstream: transfer in terminals and tank farms
Terminals and tank farms move petroleum products — diesel, gasoline, kerosene, fuel oil, asphalt, lubricants and chemicals — with ship loading and unloading, tank-to-tank transfer and dispatch to tank trucks. Pump requirements vary by product.
- Diesel, gasoline, kerosene and jet fuel: low viscosity and, in the most volatile, high vapor pressure — FBCN (or FBE), with NPSH calculated hot and sealing defined with the seal manufacturer
- Heavy fuel oil and BPF: high viscosity, temperature-dependent — FBE with speed chosen by viscosity and heating chamber (CA) when needed
- Asphalt (CAP) and bitumen: product that must be kept heated — FBE with CA chamber (1.1/2" to 6") or FBEI with jacket (steam up to 185 °C and thermal fluid up to 232 °C, at 10 bar)
- Finished lubricants: viscosity varies by grade — FBE or FBEI; the FBE catalog lists lubrication systems among its applications
- Chemicals and additives: material and sealing defined by the product data sheet — FBCN or FBE, depending on viscosity
Engineering note
In terminals with classified areas (ABNT NBR IEC 60079-10-1), motor, panel and instrumentation need Ex certification for the zone, gas group and temperature class; in Brazil, compulsory certification follows Inmetro Ordinance No. 115/2022. FB Bombas quotes the assembly with a motor certified by the motor manufacturer, according to the stated classification.
3. Downstream: pumps in refinery processes
A refinery has dozens of chained process units — atmospheric and vacuum distillation, fluid catalytic cracking (FCC), reforming, hydrotreating, alkylation, coking, sulfur recovery and gas treating — each with pumps of distinct requirements: tower bottoms, reflux, side draw, charge, product, sour water and caustic.
Process services such as tower bottoms, unit charge and hot products are usually specified to API 610, often with between-bearings or vertical pumps, API 682 sealing and buyer-defined materials. The documented FB Bombas portfolio does not include pumps specified to API 610 for these services, and the FBOT is documented for organic thermal oils, not process hydrocarbons. These services are assessed case by case, requirement by requirement, as engineered-to-order projects — not as catalog items.
For refinery utilities (water, lube oil, thermal oil and fire-fighting), the series described in this guide apply.
4. Refinery fire system — NFPA 20 and ABNT NBR 16704
Refineries process flammables on a large scale, and the fire-fighting system is defined by the fire design and the adopted standard — NFPA 20, on the installation of stationary pumps for fire protection, or ABNT NBR 16704, when specified. A common arrangement has an electric main pump, a diesel pump and a jockey pump to keep the network pressurized; quantity and configuration come from the design.
FB Bombas supplies FBFS packages mounted on a baseplate, with scope defined in the proposal — pumps, drivers, panels, valves and instrumentation — designed to NFPA 20 or ABNT NBR 16704 when specified. Factory tests, documentation and commissioning follow what is contracted; system approval belongs to the design and the competent authorities.
5. Thermal oil in refining processes
Several units use thermal oil — such as Therminol, Mobiltherm or Dowtherm — as the heating fluid between the heater and reboilers, exchangers and tank heaters.
The pump of this circuit is the FBOT application: a back pull-out centrifugal pump for organic thermal oils, with two-stage sealing (graphite packing and mechanical seal) and no external cooling, a 350 °C series limit and a maximum discharge pressure that falls with temperature — about 16 bar at 100 °C and 10 bar at 350 °C, in Figure 1 of manual MTEC-16/00. The thermal oil guide details the criteria.
6. Materials for H2S (sour) service: buyer requirements
In services with hydrogen sulfide (H2S), material specification against sulfide stress cracking follows standards defined by the buyer — for example, NACE MR0103/ISO 17945 for refining environments or NACE MR0175/ISO 15156 for oil and gas production — with hardness limits and manufacturing conditions per material.
The standard documentation of the FB series does not declare compliance with these standards: the FBCN manual documents casings in cast iron, A216 WCB carbon steel and A743 CF8M stainless. When the service requires sour-service requirements, state the standard and the conditions (H2S, pH, chlorides, temperature) for case-by-case assessment, with materials, controls and certificates defined in the proposal.
7. Selection table FBE × FBCN × FBOT × FBFS by application
The table crosses refinery and terminal applications with the FB line to evaluate. It is a starting point: the final specification depends on the duty point, NPSH available, temperature, materials and sealing arrangement.
| Application | What drives selection | FB line |
|---|---|---|
| Diesel, gasoline and kerosene transfer | Viscosity, NPSH available, classified area | FBCN (or FBE) |
| Heavy fuel oil / BPF | Viscosity at temperature; heating | FBE (CA when needed) |
| CAP asphalt / bitumen | Viscosity; pump heating | FBE-CA or FBEI with jacket |
| Process services (tower bottoms, unit charge) | Buyer specification (for example, API 610) | Case-by-case assessment (engineered-to-order) |
| Reflux and light products | NPSH available and vapor pressure | FBCN, per specification |
| Sour water with H2S | Buyer material requirements (NACE MR0103/ISO 17945) | Case-by-case assessment |
| Process thermal oil | Fluid data; pressure × temperature limit | FBOT (series up to 350 °C) |
| Fire system | Fire design; NFPA 20 or ABNT NBR 16704 when specified | FBFS |
8. Domestic supplier vs imported global portfolio: when each applies
Global portfolios offer families specified to API 610 — including between-bearings and vertical pumps — and experience in large projects. They apply when the specification requires those constructions, when the end client contractually requires a supplier with global reach or when the service is outside the documented series of a domestic supplier.
FB Bombas applies when the service fits the documented series — FBCN, FBE, FBEI, FBOT and FBFS — and the buyer values application engineering in Brazil, service in Portuguese and domestic manufacturing. Spare parts for the FB series are listed in the catalogs and manuals; availability, lead time and price are confirmed at quotation. API 610 requirements are assessed requirement by requirement, as an engineered-to-order project.
9. What we do NOT cover — offshore subsea
Reinforcing the opening boundary: FB Bombas does not supply offshore subsea equipment — blowout preventers (BOP), subsea manifolds and connectors, FPSO production systems, subsea multiphase pumps and high-pressure well water injection systems. For these applications, look for suppliers specialized in subsea equipment.
Onshore midstream and downstream — terminals, tank farms, transfer pipelines, refinery utilities, fire systems and thermal oil — are the fronts where the FB series have published technical documentation.