Metabolites empowering minerals

Acrylic Acid-Allylpolyethoxy Carboxylate Copolymer Dispersant for Calcium Carbonate and Iron(III) Hydroxide Scales in Cooling Water Systems

A novel environmentally friendly type of calcium carbonate and iron(III) scale inhibitor (ALn) was synthesized. The anti-scale property of the Acrylic acid-allylpolyethoxy carboxylate copolymer (AA-APELn or ALn) towards CaCO3 and iron(III) in the artificial cooling water was studied through static scale inhibition tests. The observation shows that both calcium carbonate and iron(III) inhibition increase with increasing the degree of polymerization of ALn from 5 to 15, and the dosage of ALn plays an important role on calcium carbonate and iron(III)-inhibition. The effect on formation of CaCO3 was investigated with a combination of scanning electronic microscopy (SEM), Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) analysis and Fourier transform infrared spectrometer, respectively. The results showed that the ALn copolymer not only influences calcium carbonate crystal morphology and crystal size but also the crystallinity. The crystallization of CaCO3 in the absence of inhibitor was rhombohedral calcite crystal, whereas a mixture of calcite with vaterite crystals was found in the presence of the ALn copolymer. Inhibition mechanism is proposed that the interactions between calcium or iron ions and polyethylene glycol (PEG) are the fundamental impetus to restrain the formation of the scale in cooling water systems.