State of art bio-materials as scale inhibitors in recirculating cooling water system: a review article

Abstract

During the operation of the circulating cooling water system, inorganic scale deposition may cause technical problems, such as reduction of heat transfer efficiency in cooling systems and obstruction of pipes. In the industry, chemicals are often used as scale inhibitors in scale deposition control, antiscalants popular in industry are generally phosphorus and nitrogen-containing chemicals, which may lead to eutrophication. However, increasing environmental concern and discharge limitations have guided antiscalants to move toward biodegradability, nontoxicity and cost–effectiveness. This paper reviews current research on the application of using bio-materials as scale inhibitors, including proteins and amino acids, polysaccharides, plant extracts, microbial reagents, and microbiological products. The non-bioaccumulation, low cost, readily biodegradability and sustainably available characters promote the development of green-scale inhibitor chemistry. HIGHLIGHTS Scale inhibition mechanisms, evaluation methods and traditional scale inhibitors were prepared.; Scale inhibition efficiency of various bio-materials including proteins, polysaccharides, plant extracts are comprehensively reviewed, critically evaluated and along with their scale inhibition mechanism thoroughly discussed.; Utilizing biological methods on scaling control was proposed as future research direction.;

Keywords

• bio-materials
• calcium carbonate scaling
• cooling water system
• scale inhibitors