Performance of a commercial scale inhibitor to thwart mineral precipitation

It is of the great importance to find the mechanisms through which scale inhibitors (SIs) could mitigate mineral precipitation. Accordingly, the current work puts the brine-brine interactions in the absence and presence of a commercial phosphonate-based SI under examination. To achieve this goal, the ۷-day static tests were carried out at ۳۶۳ K and ۱ atmosphere. Moreover, the extended Derjaguin-Landau-Verwey-Overbeek (XDLVO) theory was utilized to explore the interactions between gypsum particles immersed in the brines of ۳۰۰۰ mg/L and ۶۰۰۰ mg/L of [Ca۲+] while the gypsum-brine surface energy properties play a crucial role. The findings revealed that the SI markedly mitigates the precipitation propensity.

Keywords:

Gypsum , Static test , Precipitation , Scale inhibitor , Surface energy , XDLVO theory