Multifunctional, Environmentally Friendly Additives for Control of Inorganic Foulants in Industrial Water and Process Applications

摘要

This article is part of a continuing effort to identify and exploit novel "green" water technologies to effectively inhibit mineral scale growth or remove it. PEI-CMI-25 polymer blends seem to have a significant synergistic inhibitory effect on silica formation. PEI, at this point, has a prohibitive cost for large-scale, water-related applications, but full understanding of its inhibition chemistry may lead to structurally similar, more cost-effective additives. CMI-25, on the other hand, is already in large-scale production from a renewable source (inulin) and is cost-effective. Crystalline mineral deposits, such as CaCO_3, CaSO_4, BaSO_4, and SrSO_4, can be effectively inhibited by CMI-25, thus demonstrating its good inhibitory power. Since such deposits often plague water systems in oilfield drilling applications, CMI-25 is an excellent inhibitor in such environments. Additionally, CMI-25 possesses multifunctional inhibition properties, as it is capable of inhibiting a variety of scale deposits (CaCO_3, CaSO_4, and BaSO_4). This may prove extremely useful in scaling environments that present a risk of composite fouling, where more than one salt is prone to precipitate and deposit.