A universal scale inhibitor: A dual inhibition/dispersion performance evaluation under difficult brine stresses

Spinthaki, Argyro; Kamaratou, Michaela; Skordalou, Georgia; Petratos, George; Tramaux, Axel; David, Ghislain; Demadis, Konstantinos D.

doi:10.1016/j.geothermics.2020.101972

Cited by 23 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 46 publications

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“…It has been also used successfully for mineral scale dispersion approaches to control scale deposition. 33,34 Our experiments revealed that short-alkyl chain-length aminoalkylphosphonate inhibitors (C1-D, C2-D, C3-D, C4-D, and C6-D) at low doses (100 and 1000 ppm) showed no turbidity due to the high solubility of the Ca−SI "complexes" formed. When high doses (10,000 and 50,000 ppm) of the SIs were used, medium to high turbidity values were observed due to dispersed Ca−SI "complexes".…”

Section: Synthesis Of Sis and Characterizationmentioning

confidence: 83%

Systematic Molecular-Size Variants in Diphosphonate Inhibitors for Oilfield Scale Management

et al. 2023

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Organophosphorus-based scale inhibitors (SIs) have been widely used in the petroleum industry for several decades. Among them, aminomethylenephosphonates (possessing at least one −NH+–CH2–PO3H– moiety) have shown outstanding inhibition efficiency against carbonate and sulfate oilfield scales. However, one of the main drawbacks of aminomethylenephosphonate-based SIs with multiple phosphonate (−PO3H2) groups is their poor tolerance against high-calcium brines. In this work, the calcium tolerance of aminomethylenephosphonates was improved by reducing the number phosphonate groups in the inhibitor backbone to less than three and introducing a variable-length non-polar alkyl side chain while maintaining acceptable inhibitory efficiency levels. Hence, we synthesized a series of variable-length alkyl chain-based amino-di(methylenphosphonate) [(H2O3P–CH2)2–N–(X)] inhibitors, (X = methyl, ethyl, propyl, butyl, hexyl, octyl, and dodecyl). In addition, we also studied the role of the alkyl side-chain length in the diphosphonate structure backbone on the scale inhibitory activity. All newly synthesized aminomethylenediphosphonates were evaluated as SIs for calcium carbonate (calcite) and barium sulfate (barite) in brines based on the Heidrun oilfield using a high-pressure dynamic tube blocking rig at 100 °C and 80 bar. Furthermore, we investigated the calcium compatibility of all aminomethylenediphosphonate SIs at several levels of calcium stresses. The new aminoalkyldiphosphonate inhibitors possessing shorter alkyl chain lengths (X = methyl, ethyl, propyl, butyl, and hexyl) gave better calcite scale inhibition performance and outstanding calcium compatibility of up to 1000 ppm of Ca2+ compared to the commercial benchmark ATMP SI [amino-tris(methylenephosphonate)] and longer alkyl-chain diphosphonates, that is, octylamine-N,N-di(methylenephosphonate) (ODMP, C8-D) and dodecylamine-N,N-di(methylenephosphonate) (DDMP, C12-D). Moreover, we tested the thermal stability (at 130 °C for one week) of the best-performing additive (based on calcite inhibition and calcium tolerance performances), and it was found that methylamine-N,N-dimethylenephosphonate (MDMP, C1-D) was thermally stable under these harsh conditions without any loss of its inhibition performance. The Ca-C8-D “complex” was deliberately synthesized and structurally characterized. It appears that the major factor for its poor Ca tolerance is the tight packing of the octyl side-chain groups.

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Section: Synthesis Of Sis and Characterizationmentioning

confidence: 83%

Systematic Molecular-Size Variants in Diphosphonate Inhibitors for Oilfield Scale Management

et al. 2023

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“…With biodegradability and other advanced properties, they have been widely used in the petroleum industry as corrosion inhibitors, flocculants, and thickening agents [114][115][116]. Spinthaki et al [117,118] have prepared interrelated methacrylate-structured polymers, including the grafting of phosphonic acid (PHOS) to a methacrylate acid side-chain or with grafting of polyethylene glycol (PEG), as shown in Figure 8. These authors evaluated these polymeric scale inhibitors with eight different types of scales, including amorphous silica, carbonates, silicates, and sulfides.…”

Section: Grafted Copolymermentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Table 4 summarizes the key properties, including efficiency and toxicity of these phosphorusbased polymers. Grafted copolymer [117,118] Able to control multiple scales in any process field, in particular under harsh conditions;…”

Section: Other Terpolymermentioning

confidence: 99%

Review of Phosphorus-Based Polymers for Mineral Scale and Corrosion Control in Oilfield

Liu

Zhang

2022

Polymers

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Production chemistry is an important field in the petroleum industry to study the physicochemical changes in the production system and associated impact on production fluid flow from reservoir to topsides facilities. Mineral scale deposition and metal corrosion are among the top three water-related production chemistry threats in the petroleum industry, particularly for offshore deepwater and shale operations. Mineral scale deposition is mainly driven by local supersaturation due to operational condition change and/or mixing of incompatible waters. Corrosion, in contrast, is an electrochemical oxidation–reduction process with local cathodic and anodic reactions taking place on metal surfaces. Both mineral scaling and metal corrosion can lead to severe operational risk and financial loss. The most common engineering solution for oilfield scale and corrosion control is to deploy chemical inhibitors, including scale inhibitors and corrosion inhibitors. In the past few decades, various chemical inhibitors have been prepared and applied for scaling and corrosion control. Phosphorus-based polymers are an important class of chemical inhibitors commonly adopted in oilfield operations. Due to the versatile molecular structures of these chemicals, phosphorus-based polymeric inhibitors have the advantage of a higher calcium tolerance, a higher thermal stability, and a wider pH tolerance range compared with other types of inhibitors. However, there are limited review articles to cover these polymeric chemicals for oilfield scale and corrosion control. To address this gap, this review article systematically reviews the synthesis, laboratory testing, and field applications of various phosphorus-based polymeric inhibitors in the oil and gas industry. Future research directions in terms of optimizing inhibitor design are also discussed. The objective is to keep the readers abreast of the latest development in the synthesis and application of these materials and to bridge chemistry knowledge with oilfield scale and corrosion control practice.

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“…The hydrogen bonds between ether bonds and silicic acid molecules (Si(OH) 4 ) account for their scale inhibition process. 15 The cationic polymers can inhibit scale by attracting silicic acid molecules, where the main functional group is the amine group, and their silica scale inhibition efficiency is around 60%. 16,17 A cationic polymer, polyethyleneimine ethoxylate (PEIE), is extensively used in the laundry industry and has been first found to be effective in inhibiting silica scale formation in our study.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An efficient silica scale inhibiting strategy for geothermal systems: Combination of cationic and anionic polymers

Chen

Peng

et al. 2023

J of Applied Polymer Sci

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Cationic silica scale inhibitors are widely used, but are prone to precipitation and exhibit poor performance in geothermal systems. In this study, the cationic polymer polyethyleneimine ethoxylate (PEIE) was first found to have high silica scale inhibition efficiency. Three anionic polymers were added separately to PEIE solutions to alleviate the precipitation and scaling. The inhibition effect of PEIE alone and PEIE with anionic polymers were measured at 40 C without salt and 136.7 C with salt. Molecular dynamics simulation was used to investigate the inhibition mechanism. The results showed that PEIE exhibited good inhibition efficiency of 62% at 40 C without salt and 48% at 136.7 C with salt, while the addition of the anionic polymer acrylic acid-2-acrylamide-2-methylpropanesulfonic acid (AA/AMPS) to PEIE further improved to 71% and 62%. Compared with commercial inhibitors, the PEIE + AA/AMPS enhanced at least 15% scale inhibition efficiency. This is because the addition of AA/AMPS: (1) enhances the attraction of PEIE to silicic acid and inhibits the silicic acid condensation process; (2) chelates metal ions that promote condensation; and (3) enhances dispersion ability, stabilizing the colloid formed by PEIE and silicic acid. This study provides a promising new inhibitor and efficient strategy for inhibiting silica scale in geothermal systems.

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A universal scale inhibitor: A dual inhibition/dispersion performance evaluation under difficult brine stresses

Cited by 23 publications

References 46 publications

Systematic Molecular-Size Variants in Diphosphonate Inhibitors for Oilfield Scale Management

Systematic Molecular-Size Variants in Diphosphonate Inhibitors for Oilfield Scale Management

Review of Phosphorus-Based Polymers for Mineral Scale and Corrosion Control in Oilfield

An efficient silica scale inhibiting strategy for geothermal systems: Combination of cationic and anionic polymers

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