Petrokimia Gresik Develops Silica into Filtering Material to Reduce Production Costs

PT Petrokimia Gresik (Persero), an agro-industry solutions company and member of the PT Pupuk Indonesia (Persero) holding, has successfully developed an innovation to utilise silica by-products as a filtering material for liquid sulphur during the sulphuric acid production process. This innovation transforms a material that was previously a management challenge into a useful resource, while simultaneously reducing the company’s dependence on external filtering materials.

The President Director of Petrokimia Gresik, Daconi Khotob, stated on Monday (21/09/2026) that the innovation has been granted a Simple Patent Certificate by the Ministry of Law of the Republic of Indonesia. The certificate was presented directly by the Minister of Law, Supratman Andi Agtas, to the Senior Vice President (SVP) of Operations III at Petrokimia Gresik, Bambang Ariwibowo, during the “What’s Up Campus Calls Out” (WCCO) event organised by the Ministry of Law at the Airlangga Convention Centre recently.

“Previously, the filtration of liquid sulphur utilised diatomaceous earth sourced from third parties. Through this innovation, we have not only found a solution for the silica by-products generated by the company, but we have also introduced an alternative filtering material that can support production process efficiency,” said Daconi.

Silica is a by-product of the aluminium fluoride (AlF₃) production process. Every month, this production unit generates approximately 990 tonnes of silica in solid form. This volume requires adequate management and storage areas.

This challenge prompted Petrokimia Gresik to develop silica as an alternative filtering material for the sulphuric acid production process.

Sulphuric acid is one of the essential materials used in fertiliser production. The production process involves a stage of filtering liquid sulphur to produce clean material that meets quality standards. Through the innovation developed by Petrokimia Gresik, the silica resulting from aluminium fluoride production can now be utilised as an alternative filtering material in this process.

The utilisation of silica provides dual benefits for the company. In addition to optimising by-products to ensure they have practical utility, the innovation also reduces the need for filtering materials from external parties and has the potential to lower production costs.