Inhibition of calcium carbonate becomes increasingly difficult with increasing calcium carbonate supersaturation. Scarcity of good quality water and tougher water discharge regulations are driving higher reuse of water, which leads to higher cycles in recirculating cooling tower water.

In terms of the supersaturation, which is a ratio of the product of free scale forming ions to the equilibrium solubility product, the water treatment industry in the past was able to control calcium carbonate inhibition up to 100-120X calcite supersaturation. This paper reports chemical technology capable of controlling calcium carbonate precipitation under highly alkaline conditions (pH above 9.0) >300X calcite supersaturation. Results of both laboratory and pilot studies are discussed in the paper.

Subject
Acids, Water, Inhibitor performance, Precipitation (solids), Calcium carbonate, Tubes, Carbonate scales, Calcium, Acidity, Supersaturation, Heat exchangers, Cycles of concentration, Corrosion inhibitors
© 1994 Association for Materials Protection and Performance (AMPP). All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of AMPP. Positions and opinions advanced in this work are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of AMPP. Responsibility for the content of the work lies solely with the author(s).
1994
Association for Materials Protection and Performance (AMPP)
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