Case Studies

Challenge

A major Cairo water utility was struggling with high settled turbidity during Nile flood season, requiring frequent filter backwashes and high chemical doses with their existing alum-based treatment.

Solution

CHIMI ART's technical team conducted jar tests with ferric chloride and optimized the dose and pH for flood-season conditions. A 3-month trial at one treatment plant was followed by full conversion across 3 plants.

Results

• 40% reduction in settled water turbidity
• 18% decrease in chemical costs (lower dose offsets higher unit price)
• 25% fewer filter backwashes per day during flood season

Challenge

A large refinery in Saudi Arabia was facing rising fuel costs and pressure to reduce stack emissions to meet new environmental regulations without major capital investment in flue gas treatment.

Solution

CHIMI ART recommended a combustion catalyst additive for the refinery's furnaces and boilers. The additive was injected directly into the fuel supply at a controlled rate of 1:4000.

Results

• 8% reduction in fuel consumption
• 15% decrease in SO₂ emissions
• Payback period of 4 months (fuel savings vs. additive cost)

Challenge

A textile dyeing facility in Alexandria was discharging highly colored wastewater that exceeded regulatory limits for color, COD, and suspended solids. The facility faced fines and potential shutdown.

Solution

CHIMI ART designed a two-stage treatment: ferric chloride coagulation for color and COD removal, followed by anionic polyacrylamide flocculation for solids separation. Dosing was automated based on flow rate.

Results

• 95% color removal across all dye types
• COD reduced from 1,200 mg/L to below 250 mg/L discharge limit
• Full compliance with Egyptian environmental regulations achieved in 6 weeks

Challenge

A gold mining operation in East Africa needed to recover process water from tailings ponds to reduce freshwater intake in a water-scarce region. High suspended solids and clay content made natural settling impractical.

Solution

CHIMI ART supplied anionic polyacrylamide flocculant optimized for the mine's specific tailings chemistry. A thickener-based system was designed to continuously process tailings and return clarified water to the process.

Results

• 85% water recovery from tailings (vs. 30% with natural settling)
• 60% reduction in freshwater intake from local sources

Challenge

A 600 MW heavy fuel oil-fired power station in Upper Egypt was facing escalating pressure from the Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency (EEAA) to reduce stack emissions. The plant's aging boilers were producing elevated levels of SO₂, particulate matter, and visible stack opacity, exceeding the limits set by Law 4/1994. Capital investment in flue gas desulfurization was not economically feasible.

Solution

CHIMI ART's technical team conducted a 90-day field trial using CHIMI MAG-30 organo-magnesium combustion catalyst, dosed at a ratio of 1:4000 into the heavy fuel oil supply line via a metering pump. Flue gas analysis was performed continuously using a certified emissions monitoring system (CEMS), with baseline data collected for 30 days prior to additive introduction.

Results

• 18% reduction in SO₂ emissions (from 2,100 to 1,720 mg/Nm³)
• 5% improvement in boiler efficiency, saving approximately 12,000 tonnes of HFO annually
• Visible stack opacity reduced below 20% Ringelmann, achieving full EEAA compliance

Challenge

A major dairy and juice processing facility in 6th of October City needed to upgrade its water treatment plant to use only NSF/ANSI 60-certified chemicals, as required by a new export customer audit and HACCP recertification. The existing treatment used non-certified alum-based coagulants that posed a compliance risk.

Solution

CHIMI ART supplied NSF 60-certified Ferric Chloride FR-4011 and Liquid PAC PC-30 as replacement coagulants. Jar tests demonstrated that the optimized dual-coagulant approach — PAC for primary turbidity removal followed by a polishing dose of ferric chloride for color and organics — achieved superior results at lower total chemical consumption.

Results

• Full HACCP and NSF compliance achieved, passing export customer audit
• 30% reduction in total coagulant consumption compared to previous alum-based treatment
• Treated water turbidity consistently below 0.3 NTU, exceeding WHO drinking water guidelines

Challenge

A hot-dip galvanizing facility processing structural steel and transmission tower components was experiencing inconsistent zinc coating thickness, with bare spots and excessive dross formation. The existing flux bath was poorly maintained, with iron contamination above 8 g/L and unstable Baumé density, leading to a 15% rejection rate on coating thickness inspections.

Solution

CHIMI ART performed a complete flux system overhaul: the old flux was drained and the tank chemically cleaned, then refilled with CHIMI FLUX Powder dissolved to the optimal 14°Bé concentration. ART CLEAN 15 degreaser was introduced as a pre-treatment step. A maintenance protocol was established with daily Baumé and pH checks, weekly iron level monitoring, and monthly complete analysis.

Results

• 35% improvement in coating thickness uniformity (CV reduced from 28% to 18%)
• 20% reduction in zinc dross formation, saving approximately 6 tonnes of zinc per year
• Rejection rate dropped from 15% to below 3%, with zero bare-spot complaints

Challenge

A phosphate mining and beneficiation operation near the Red Sea coast was struggling with slow tailings settling rates in its thickener circuit. The high clay content (> 30% < 2 µm particles) and elevated phosphate levels created stable colloidal suspensions that resisted natural settling, resulting in excessive freshwater consumption and expanding tailings storage requirements.

Solution

CHIMI ART's mining applications team conducted bench-scale thickener tests with multiple anionic PAM grades. The selected flocculant — a high-molecular-weight (18 million Da), medium-charge-density anionic polyacrylamide — was optimized at a dose of 25 g/tonne of dry solids. A two-point addition system was designed: 70% of the dose at the thickener feedwell and 30% at the feed pipe.

Results

• 90% solids capture in underflow, with overflow clarity < 100 mg/L TSS
• 75% of process water recovered and recycled, reducing freshwater intake by 4,000 m³/day
• Thickener underflow density increased from 35% to 52% solids, reducing tailings storage volume by 30%