Heavy Fuel Oil Additives for Oil & Refinery
Specialized Heavy Fuel Oil Additives formulations engineered to meet the operational and regulatory demands of Oil & Refinery. Manufactured in our two Cairo facilities since 1977 and shipped to clients across MENA, Africa and Europe.
Refineries burn their own heaviest streams — residual fuel oil in fired heaters, utility boilers, and steam plants — and that is where this family earns its place. CHIMI MAG 30 and CHIMI MAG 20 are organo-magnesium fuel additives (30% and 20% active content respectively) dosed continuously into heavy fuel oil upstream of the burners. Chemically, magnesium reacts with the vanadium and sodium compounds in residual fuel ash; typical refinery practice uses it to raise ash melting behaviour so deposits stay friable rather than fusing onto tube surfaces, and to reduce acid attack on cold-end equipment — outcomes that should be confirmed by trial on your own fuel. The choice between the two grades is a dosing question: CHIMI MAG 30 delivers more active magnesium per litre injected, while CHIMI MAG 20 suits installations that prefer lighter dosing and finer control. Before a trial, a refinery buyer should assemble a recent fuel analysis — vanadium, sodium, and sulphur — and agree with the supplier on the injection point, in-line mixing, and a monitoring plan covering deposit inspection and stack observation. Also ask about dosing-pump materials, storage (18-month shelf life, cool and dry), and how the dose rate will be adjusted as fuel batches change.
Why Heavy Fuel Oil Additives matter in Oil & Refinery
About Heavy Fuel Oil Additives
Advanced organo-magnesium additives for heavy fuel oil. Enhance combustion efficiency, reduce emissions, and maximize cost savings.
About Oil & Refinery
Fuel additives, combustion improvers, and process chemicals for refineries, terminals, and fuel distribution networks.
What does a fuel additive do in a refinery?
In a refinery, a fuel additive is dosed into the residual fuel oil burned in fired heaters and utility boilers. Organo-magnesium additives react with the vanadium and sodium in the fuel ash to form high-melting magnesium vanadates, so the ash stays dry and friable instead of fusing onto tubes, and neutralise sulphur trioxide that would otherwise condense as sulphuric acid at the cold end.
Residual fuel is the bottom of the barrel, and it carries the metals the crude brought with it. Vanadium pentoxide melts at roughly 690 °C and sodium–vanadium compounds at lower temperatures still, below the metal temperatures of superheaters and air preheaters — so the ash arrives molten, sticks, and attacks the alloy beneath it. Magnesium changes the ash chemistry rather than the fuel.
Vanadium, sodium and sulphur: the three fuel-ash problems
Vanadium causes hot corrosion of superheater and reheater alloys when its oxides are molten on the tube surface. Sodium lowers the melting point of the vanadium ash further and produces sodium sulphate slag. Sulphur burns to SO₂, a fraction of which oxidises to SO₃ and condenses below the acid dew point as sulphuric acid on economisers, air heaters and stacks. An organo-magnesium additive acts on all three: it raises the ash melting point (magnesium orthovanadate melts well above 1,000 °C), dilutes sodium compounds, and leaves magnesium oxide that reacts with SO₃ to form magnesium sulphate, a dry, removable deposit.
Dosing, injection and how a refinery proves the result
The dose is set by the fuel analysis, not by the additive drum: the magnesium-to-vanadium ratio is the controlling variable, and typical refinery practice works within a range chosen from the fuel's vanadium, sodium and sulphur content and confirmed by trial. The additive is injected continuously into the fuel line upstream of the burners with in-line mixing, or dosed into a day tank with recirculation. Proof comes from inspection and measurement: deposit friability and thickness at outages, tube-metal temperatures, stack opacity, and the magnesium content of the collected ash.
| Contaminant | Damage without treatment | Action of magnesium treatment |
|---|---|---|
| Vanadium | Molten vanadate slag; hot corrosion of superheater / reheater alloys | Forms high-melting magnesium vanadates — ash stays dry and friable |
| Sodium | Lowers ash melting point; fused sodium-vanadate and sulphate deposits | Dilutes and modifies sodium compounds; reduces fused slag formation |
| Sulphur (SO₃) | Acid dew-point corrosion of economisers, air heaters and stacks | Magnesium oxide neutralises SO₃ to magnesium sulphate, a dry deposit |
Standards & references
- ISO 8217:2024Specifications of marine fuels — the residual-fuel grade limits (vanadium, sodium, sulphur, ash) that refinery and power-plant buyers use to characterise heavy fuel oil.
- API RP 571 (3rd ed., 2020)Damage Mechanisms Affecting Fixed Equipment in the Refining Industry — the reference description of fuel-ash (vanadium) corrosion and sulphuric-acid dew-point corrosion in fired heaters and boilers.
- Directive 2010/75/EUEU Industrial Emissions Directive — emission limit values for SO₂, NOₓ and dust from combustion plants that frame why fuel-side treatment and fireside cleanliness are managed together.
Refinery fuel additives — frequently asked questions
What magnesium-to-vanadium ratio should a refinery use?
It is fuel-specific. The ratio is chosen from the vanadium, sodium and sulphur content of the fuel actually being burned, then confirmed by a monitored trial — deposit inspection, tube-metal temperatures and ash analysis. Under-dosing leaves lower-melting magnesium vanadates; over-dosing wastes additive and adds ash. Bring a recent fuel analysis to the trial.
Where is the additive injected?
Either continuously into the fuel line upstream of the burners with in-line mixing, or into a day tank with recirculation so each fuel batch is treated evenly. Continuous injection tracks load changes best; day-tank dosing suits plants with simple fuel systems. The injection point must give enough mixing before the burner.
Does an organo-magnesium additive reduce acid dew-point corrosion?
It helps: the magnesium oxide left after combustion reacts with sulphur trioxide to form magnesium sulphate, removing part of the SO₃ that would otherwise condense as sulphuric acid on economisers, air heaters and stacks. It does not change the fuel's sulphur content, so stack SO₂ is unaffected — the benefit is on the cold-end metal.
How does a plant prove the additive is working?
With evidence, not impressions: deposit thickness and friability at outages, superheater and reheater tube-metal temperatures, air-heater pressure drop, stack opacity, and the magnesium content of the collected ash. Agree the monitoring plan before the trial so the before-and-after comparison is fair.
Does CHIMI ART manufacture fuel additives?
Yes. CHIMI MAG 30 and CHIMI MAG 20 are organo-magnesium heavy-fuel-oil additives manufactured by CHIMI ART Industries in Egypt, supplied in 200 L drums and 1,000 L IBCs with technical data sheets, and backed by a manufacturer that has produced industrial chemistry since 1977 under ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and ISO 45001 management systems.
Heavy Fuel Oil Additives we supply to Oil & Refinery
2 products in this line — every batch certified to international specifications and shipped with TDS and SDS documentation suitable for Oil & Refinery compliance.
CHIMI MAG 30
An organo-magnesium fuel additive is an oil-soluble magnesium compound dosed into heavy fuel oil to control vanadium ash deposits and improve combustion. CHIMI MAG 30 is CHIMI ART's high-concentration grade, with 30% active organo-magnesium based on carboxylic acid chemistry in a high flash point hydrocarbon solvent. Manufactured in Egypt, it enhances combustion, helps reduce emissions, and protects boiler fireside surfaces in power-plant and refinery service.
CHIMI MAG 20
An organo-magnesium fuel additive is an oil-soluble magnesium treatment dosed into heavy fuel oil to prevent vanadium slagging and hot corrosion. CHIMI MAG 20 is CHIMI ART's standard grade, with a minimum 20% active organo-magnesium in the same carboxylic acid, high flash point solvent chemistry as CHIMI MAG 30. It suits units with lighter dosing requirements, supporting cleaner fireside surfaces, better energy recovery, and lower maintenance costs.
Other industries served by Heavy Fuel Oil Additives
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