Issue 9, 2019

A microfluidic approach for probing hydrodynamic effects in barite scale formation

Abstract

Crystallization of mineral scale components ubiquitously plagues industrial systems for water treatment, energy production, and manufacturing. Chemical scale inhibitors and/or dissolvers are often employed to control scale formation, but their efficacy in flow conditions remains incompletely understood. We present a microfluidic platform to elucidate the time-resolved processes controlling crystallization and dissolution of barite, a highly insoluble and chemically resistant component of inorganic scale, in the presence of flow. In a growth environment, increasing the flow rate leads to a crossover from a transport-limited to a reaction-limited kinetic regime. In situ optical microscopy reveals that addition of diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid (DTPA), a common dissolution agent, alters the morphology of barite crystals grown under flow. In a dissolution environment (i.e. alkaline solutions without barium sulfate), increasing the flux of DTPA, whether by increasing the flow rate or DTPA concentration, enhances the rate of dissolution of barite. Trends in the rate of barite dissolution with DTPA concentration and flow rate indicate an optimal combination of these parameters. The combined use of microfluidics and optical microscopy provides a robust and broadly-useful platform for capturing crystallization kinetics and morphological transformation under dynamic flow conditions.

Graphical abstract: A microfluidic approach for probing hydrodynamic effects in barite scale formation

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
19 Jan 2019
Accepted
26 Mar 2019
First published
27 Mar 2019

Lab Chip, 2019,19, 1534-1544

Author version available

A microfluidic approach for probing hydrodynamic effects in barite scale formation

R. D. Sosa, X. Geng, M. A. Reynolds, J. D. Rimer and J. C. Conrad, Lab Chip, 2019, 19, 1534 DOI: 10.1039/C9LC00061E

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements