Scale and Corrosion Prevention in Cooling Water Systems Part I: Calcium Carbonate

ABSTRACT

This paper presents the results of study that was undertaken to investigate the ability of a new antiscale, polyacrylamide in solving problems found in cooling water systems. The effects of the polymer on C-steel and copper dissolution in synthetic cooling water environment were studied through scale, Tafel, and Linear polarization measurements. The results obtained from this study showed that the new antiscale polymer can decrease scale build-up growth under experimental conditions. Both linear and Tafel polarization studies indicate that the polymer acted as an anodic type corrosion inhibitor on C-steel and mixed-type on copper, thus reducing metal dissolution. Morphological investigations of calcium carbonate deposits on both C-steel and copper surfaces were studied by optical microscopy. The polymer used in this study appears to have an excellent crystal modification effect on reducing calcium carbonate scale. The antiscale effect results from changes in crystallization behavior promoting bulk solution precipitation rather than formation of adherent scale.

Keywords:

Scale inhibition, cooling water treatment, polyacrylamide, calcium carbonate, electrochemical polarization, optical microscopy.