Chemical Control of Silica Scaling in Geothermal Systems

在地热系统中保护碳钢免受矿物结垢的常见方法是将阻垢剂连续注入工艺流体中。这些抑制剂可以通过许多不同的机制起作用，以减少矿物垢的成核和/或生长。当温度越高时，许多阻垢剂的功能就丧失了。虽然开发化学稳定的抑制剂是可能的，但这通常是以增加毒性和降低生物降解性为代价的。由于与用于工业过程的化学品相关的立法越来越严格，新抑制分子的合成证明极具挑战性。最近的研究已经合成了一类新的化学物质，这些化学物质显示出控制二氧化硅沉积的潜力，尽管抑制的机制仍不清楚。该项目将探索使用定制的高压和高温系统评估这种抑制分子的新方法，目的是提高对阻垢机制的理解。这个与斯伦贝谢剑桥研究中心的联合博士项目将专注于新开发的地热二氧化硅阻垢剂的评估和优化。这些新的化学物质旨在减轻在苛刻的高温含CO2水溶液环境中碳钢上的内部二氧化硅结垢沉积，类似于地热系统中遇到的情况。

A common method for protecting carbon steel against mineral scaling in geothermal systems is the continuous injection of scale inhibitors into the process fluid. These inhibitors can function through a number of differing mechanisms in order to reduce the nucleation and/or growth of mineral scales. Towards higher temperatures, the functionality of many scaling inhibitors is lost. Although the development of thermodynamically stable inhibitors is possible, this typically comes at a price of increased toxicity and reduced bio-degradability. Due to the ever-tightening legislation associated with chemistries used for industrial processes, the synthesis of new inhibitory molecules proves extremely challenging. Recent research has resulted in the synthesis of a new class of chemistries which have shown potential for control of silica deposition, though the mechanism of inhibition remains unclear. The project will explore new methodologies for the evaluation of such inhibitory molecules using bespoke high pressure and high temperature systems, with the intention of improving the understanding of the scaling inhibition mechanisms. This joint PhD project with Schlumberger Cambridge Research Centre will focus on the evaluation and optimisation of newly developed geothermal silica scaling inhibitors. These new chemistries are designed to mitigate internal silica scaling deposition onto carbon steel in demanding, high temperature aqueous CO2-containing environments, analogous to those encountered in geothermal systems.