AFC 705 in Fuels Containing Vanadium and Sulfur

Crude oils from Alberta, Canada and from Venezuela contain considerable amounts of dissolved vanadium oxides. Normal refinery practice does not provide for the removal of these vanadium oxides. In fact, a major source of commercial vanadium is derived from the fly ash from burning Canadian crude.

In an engine where there is no catalysis for the fuel combustion, unused oxygen can cause the vanadium (oxidation state of three) to be oxidized to vanadium pentoxide, V₂O₅. This V₂O₅ can be a problem in itself because it deposits as a hard coating on the surface on the combustion chamber walls. Under many circumstances it has to be manually chiseled off.

If an engine is already damaged by vanadium deposits (V₂O₅) it is unlikely that AFC 705 can burn off these deposits. Whereas, if the deposits were carbon, adding AFC 705 to the fuel will definitely burn off these carbon deposits.

In addition, the presence of V₂O₅ can catalyze the transformation of sulfur dioxide, SO₂, to form sulfur trioxide, SO₃. This is important because sulfur trioxide (SO₃) and water gives the highly corrosive sulfuric acid.

Since water is one of the products of hydrocarbon combustion, much damage occurs to all metal parts of the combustion chamber and the exhaust system, resulting from the acid that is produced when vanadium is in the fuel.

The use of AFC 705 results in the complete use of the oxygen present in combustion, leaving little or no oxygen to oxidize the mixed vanadium oxides to the V₂O₅. By using up all the available oxygen to burn the fuel completely, there is little or no oxygen left over to oxidize the SO₂ to SO₃ whether V₂O₅ is present or not.

In new engines and boilers, the use of AFC 705, will significantly diminish the formation and deposits of V₂O₅, and therefore prevent production of SO₃ and the resultant acids. This clearly and significantly diminishes engine damage caused by acidic corrosion.

As a result, engine life and overhaul cycles will be dramatically extended, while engine maintenance, down time, and overall cost of operations will be significantly reduced. The cost of ALGAE-X AFC 705 is more than justified on the basis of its effect on preventing the oxidation of the vanadium oxides and sulfur which are very difficult to remove from fuels.