Release performance of cement-based control release beads (CRBs) for mineral scale control in water system
Release performance of cement-based control release beads (CRBs) for mineral scale control in water system
Mineral scaling poses major operational challenges in water-transporting systems across various industries, leading to substantial economic losses globally. Scale inhibitors are specialty chemical agents with functional groups to prevent or interfere with scale formation. Traditionally, scale inhibitors are introduced into water-transporting systems through continuous injection. However, this approach is limited by its short protection duration and reliance on continuous inhibitor injection, which results in high capital and operating costs, as well as increased chemical waste. To address this issue, this study synthesized cement-based controlled release beads (CRBs) loaded with 1-hydroxyethylidene-1,1-diphosphonic acid (HEDP) scale inhibitor for scale control. The release performance of HEDP from the CRBs was systematically evaluated through static batch and dynamic column experiments. Quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring (QCM-D) and turbidity tests confirmed the effectiveness of the CRBs in inhibiting BaSO4 scale formation. Batch experiments demonstrated that increasing CRB size and lowering the temperature could reduce the release rate of HEDP while prolonging the release duration, without changing the total amount of HEDP released. Dynamic column experiments revealed that higher temperatures resulted in higher peak concentrations of HEDP and earlier peak occurrences, while increasing flow velocity shifted the release curves slightly backward and shortened the overall release time. The presence of Ca2+ and HCO3− ions had no noticeable effect on the dynamic release behavior. These findings deepen our understanding of the release mechanisms of scale inhibitors from cement-based CRBs and highlight their potential as an innovative and sustainable solution for long-term scaling control in water-transporting systems.
Cement, Control release beads, HEDP, Mineral scale, Release performance
Wang, Yuanyuan
3a880197-fe32-45fd-bd74-1949270e2ad8
Huang, Chong
34b46fe7-9ff5-4557-ba83-a0a851b4f33d
Wu, Haixu
ab5d97e2-e340-4b61-be6f-685c34c60859
Chong, Jeng Yi
2f9ead94-86f2-4e20-9e67-75f10759555b
Zhang, Ping
2def4374-679d-41d1-bf3a-483028a73275
13 August 2025
Wang, Yuanyuan
3a880197-fe32-45fd-bd74-1949270e2ad8
Huang, Chong
34b46fe7-9ff5-4557-ba83-a0a851b4f33d
Wu, Haixu
ab5d97e2-e340-4b61-be6f-685c34c60859
Chong, Jeng Yi
2f9ead94-86f2-4e20-9e67-75f10759555b
Zhang, Ping
2def4374-679d-41d1-bf3a-483028a73275
Wang, Yuanyuan, Huang, Chong, Wu, Haixu, Chong, Jeng Yi and Zhang, Ping
(2025)
Release performance of cement-based control release beads (CRBs) for mineral scale control in water system.
Journal of Water Process Engineering, 77, [108500].
(doi:10.1016/j.jwpe.2025.108500).
Abstract
Mineral scaling poses major operational challenges in water-transporting systems across various industries, leading to substantial economic losses globally. Scale inhibitors are specialty chemical agents with functional groups to prevent or interfere with scale formation. Traditionally, scale inhibitors are introduced into water-transporting systems through continuous injection. However, this approach is limited by its short protection duration and reliance on continuous inhibitor injection, which results in high capital and operating costs, as well as increased chemical waste. To address this issue, this study synthesized cement-based controlled release beads (CRBs) loaded with 1-hydroxyethylidene-1,1-diphosphonic acid (HEDP) scale inhibitor for scale control. The release performance of HEDP from the CRBs was systematically evaluated through static batch and dynamic column experiments. Quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring (QCM-D) and turbidity tests confirmed the effectiveness of the CRBs in inhibiting BaSO4 scale formation. Batch experiments demonstrated that increasing CRB size and lowering the temperature could reduce the release rate of HEDP while prolonging the release duration, without changing the total amount of HEDP released. Dynamic column experiments revealed that higher temperatures resulted in higher peak concentrations of HEDP and earlier peak occurrences, while increasing flow velocity shifted the release curves slightly backward and shortened the overall release time. The presence of Ca2+ and HCO3− ions had no noticeable effect on the dynamic release behavior. These findings deepen our understanding of the release mechanisms of scale inhibitors from cement-based CRBs and highlight their potential as an innovative and sustainable solution for long-term scaling control in water-transporting systems.
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Accepted/In Press date: 9 August 2025
e-pub ahead of print date: 13 August 2025
Published date: 13 August 2025
Keywords:
Cement, Control release beads, HEDP, Mineral scale, Release performance
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 505492
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/505492
ISSN: 2214-7144
PURE UUID: d4ddae6c-2892-40de-9d28-5240d9ce1e30
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Date deposited: 10 Oct 2025 16:32
Last modified: 11 Oct 2025 02:22
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Contributors
Author:
Yuanyuan Wang
Author:
Chong Huang
Author:
Haixu Wu
Author:
Jeng Yi Chong
Author:
Ping Zhang
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