"A story from Dung Quat"

Few people know that the specialized fuel used to power the A80, with its impressive displays by fighter jets, submarines, etc., is produced at Dung Quat – the country's first oil refinery, built and technologically mastered by Vietnamese people.

The pride of Dung Quat

The Dung Quat Refinery is the final piece that completes the oil and gas industry as envisioned by President Ho Chi Minh. Since its commercial operation began in 2009, the Dung Quat Refinery has made a significant contribution to ensuring the country's energy security, no longer being entirely dependent on imports, which inherently carry many risks of disruption.

From 2009 to the present, BSR has produced over 102.7 million tons of products, achieving revenue of 1,807 trillion VND, contributing nearly 245 trillion VND to the State budget, earning over 53.8 trillion VND in after-tax profit, and ensuring more than 30% of domestic fuel demand. These figures speak volumes about BSR's crucial role in ensuring national energy security.

Back in 2012, "self-sufficiency in specialized fuels for national defense" was a dream, as the country had only a fledgling petrochemical industry that had been producing commercial products for the civilian market for three years. The task of researching and producing defense fuels, assigned to BSR by the Party, Government, and Ministry of National Defense, was extremely important, directly related to the national security and defense of the country. The products that needed to be successfully researched and produced were Jet A1-K for jet aircraft, DO-L62 for submarines and surface ships, and A80-RON83 gasoline for military vehicles.

Speaking about this, Comrade Nguyen Viet Thang – Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee and General Director of BSR – said that this was a glorious but extremely difficult task… But with patriotism, a desire to serve the Fatherland, and a passion for conquering and mastering science and technology, the experts at Dung Quat refinery were determined to carry it out and successfully accomplished it.

Complete the mission of "courage in peacetime".

In the initial phase, BSR's engineers and experts faced a series of seemingly insurmountable challenges.

Recalling the context and the difficult early days of researching and producing defense fuel, Comrade Mai Tuan Dat – Deputy General Director of BSR – shared: The first difficulty was that the design of the Dung Quat Refinery did not include defense fuel products, only civilian fuel. The second difficulty was the legal obstacles as this project was unprecedented. The third difficulty was the psychological barrier, fearing it would affect the plant's original mission of producing gasoline and diesel for the domestic market. However, under the leadership of the Petrovietnam Party Committee, the BSR Party Committee, and with a burning desire to serve the Fatherland, those involved in this project from the beginning considered it both a special political task, a challenge, and an opportunity to prove that Vietnamese intelligence could conquer the most advanced technologies.

Hundreds of prototype tests were conducted by BSR personnel during the research and production of specialized fuels for national defense.

As one of the first to participate in this glorious but challenging mission, Comrade Truong Thi Thu Ha – Deputy Head of the Human Resources Management and Development Department of BSR – recounted that in 2012, she worked in the laboratory under the Quality Management Department and was assigned the task, along with several other engineers, of researching the production of defense fuel "starting from scratch".

According to Comrade Ha, the technical standards for specialized fuels are much higher than those of ordinary gasoline. Given the need for sudden and rapid changes in speed and altitude to support combat operations, fuel for the JET A-1K jet aircraft must have good flow properties within the engine under all temperature and pressure conditions; it must evaporate completely and ignite within a wide range; ensure sustainable combustion at high speeds; be ash-free and soot-free; have wear resistance; and possess high stability for transportation and storage…

As for DO L62, designed for submarines operating in deep sea conditions, it must have a limited filtration temperature and a low freezing point (not exceeding -10°C)...

The biggest technical hurdle is that the Dung Quat Refinery was not designed to produce products with the characteristics and technical standards mentioned above. Changing the refinery's production configuration could affect the production of petroleum products for the domestic market.

Due to the constant and sudden changes in altitude and speed during combat and training, the technical requirements for the specialized JET A1-K fuel used in the SU30 MK2 fighter jet are extremely stringent. Photo: Phong Son

The research team identified key technical bottlenecks and developed innovative technological solutions to optimize the adjustment of raw material sources and expand the operational limits of the CDU, KTU, and LCO-HDT technology workshops to produce specialized fuels such as JET A-1K and DO L-62 aviation fuels that meet the stringent military standards issued by the Ministry of Defense. Subsequently, samples of JET A-1K and DO L-62 were tested in numerous independent laboratories worldwide. After meeting all standards and conditions and receiving approval from Russian experts, these fuels were tested on various types of engines on land and at sea under different climatic and weather conditions.

Comrade Le Xuan Huyen - Member of the Standing Committee of the Party Committee, Deputy General Director of Petrovietnam, stated that these innovative and groundbreaking solutions demonstrate that the BSR engineering team has mastered petrochemical refining technology at an advanced level, maximizing the original design of the Dung Quat Refinery to create entirely new products. This also helps shorten the time for trial production deployment and save investment costs.

After BSR successfully produced specialized fuel, the Ministry of Defense conducted thorough testing on aircraft, warships, and other vehicles. The results showed that the specialized fuel from BSR was evaluated by the units as having good quality and meeting the technical requirements of military equipment. For submarine and warship fuels, specifically DO L-62 fuel, there are requirements for a low freezing point and a high open-cup flash point.

Sharing his practical experience using specialized fuel produced by BSR for fighter aircraft, Captain Nguyen Tien Thanh - Deputy Squadron Commander of Squadron 2, Air Defense and Air Force Command, shared that through practical testing and performance analysis data at 5, 15, 25, and 50 flight hours, fuel from Dung Quat Refinery ensures safety and good operation for aircraft, helping the unit to better complete training and combat readiness tasks.

Regarding L-62 diesel fuel for submarines, Lieutenant Colonel Pham Van Thuan, Captain of submarine 186 Da Nang, Vietnam Navy, stated: "We have been using fuel produced from the Dung Quat Refinery for over three years. During the use of this new fuel, the components and machinery on the submarine operate stably and efficiently. In addition, we have periodically taken samples for analysis of the reserve fuel, and the results show that all quality indicators are within the permissible standards, completely replacing imported fuel from abroad."

Sunshine

Vietnamese Youth

Source: https://bsr.com.vn/web/bsr/-/cau-chuyen-tu-dung-quat