The effect of a phosphonate-based antiscalant on the morphology and precipitation kinetics of gypsum: The Red Sea – Dead Sea project

Abstract

The proposed plan for the 'Red Sea – Dead Sea project' has raised concerns that the surface water of the Dead Sea would turn white due to gypsum precipitation. The occurrence of such an event would depend on the precipitation kinetics and the morphology of the precipitating crystals. Batch experiments were conducted to study the effect of a phosphonate-based antiscalant on the precipitation kinetics and morphology of gypsum under the conditions of this project. Addition of the antiscalant was found to increase the induction time by a factor of 1.2-5 over the entire range of Dead Sea – Seawater mixtures investigated, depending on brine composition. Once nucleation occurred, the antiscalant also slowed the crystal growth by a factor of 1.2-3. However, when the solutions were seeded with gypsum, the rate of crystal growth with and without antiscalant were similar, within uncertainty. More crystals precipitated from unseeded solutions with no antiscalant and the crystals were smaller and less tabular than those precipitated from unseeded solutions with antiscalant.