A process for improving the operation of combustors includes the steps of burning a carbonaceous fuel in a 
combustor system and determining 
combustion conditions within the 
combustor system that can benefit from a targeted treatment additive, wherein the determinations are made by calculation including computational fluid dynamics and observation The process further includes locating introduction points in the 
combustor system where introduction of the targeted treatment additive could be accomplished. Based on the previous steps, a 
treatment regimen for introducing the targeted treatment additive to locations within the combustor system results in one or more benefits selected from the group consisting of reducing the 
opacity of plume, improving 
combustion, reducing 
slag, reducing LOI and / or unburned carbon, reducing 
corrosion, and improving 
electrostatic precipitator performance. The targeted treatment additive comprises an 
alloy represented by the following generic formula (Aa)n(Bb)n(Cc)n(Dd)n( . . . )n, wherein each 
capital letter and ( . . . ) is a 
metal, wherein A is a 
combustion modifier, B is a deposit modifier; C is a 
corrosion inhibitor; and D is a combustion co-modifier / 
electrostatic precipitator enhancer, wherein each subscript letter represents compositional 
stoichiometry, wherein n is greater than or equal to zero and the sum of n's is greater than zero, and wherein the 
alloy comprises at least two different metals, with the proviso that if the 
metal is 
cerium, then its compositional 
stoichiometry is less than about 0.7.