Study of the influence of the supersaturation coefficient on scaling rate using the pre-calcified surface of a quartz crystal microbalance.

Scale deposition is a common issue in industrial plants, which creates technical problems, i.e. reduction of heat transfer, decrease of flow rate due to an obstruction of pipes. Therefore, the development of some appropriate methods based on well suitable in situ sensors to evaluate and predict the scaling propensity of water is a major concern in current research. This would be a good strategy for the optimization of anti-scaling treatments. In this study, scaling tests were carried out using a sensitive sensor, which has been developed using a quartz crystal microbalance with a pre-calcified electrode surface (SQCM). This technique allowed studying the influence of the supersaturation on the scaling rate. The set-up was tested with different water samples which were brought to a given supersaturation coefficient by degassing the dissolved CO. The prediction of the scaling propensity of water was then possible through the relationship between the scaling rate on a pre-calcified surface and the supersaturation coefficient. In addition, the kinetics of CaCO deposit on the pre-calcified SQCM surface was found to be slower for natural water than for synthetic water (same calcium concentration). Furthermore, the activation energy for scale deposit, in synthetic water, was found to be 22 kJ.mol, which may be related to the diffusion of ions and/or CaCO nuclei in solution.