Investigation of Green Scale Inhibitors for Calcium Carbonate and Calcium Sulfate Deposition in Oilfields

One of the common problems in porous media, such as oil reservoirs and surface facilities, is the mineral scale formation that directly affects the production rate. Controlling and mitigating scale formation have therefore been investigated intensively in both research and industrial fields for many years. Recently, due to the limitations applied by the international community for environmental protection and according to the point that laboratory investigations of any scale inhibitors under oilfield conditions is essential prior to its use in oil industries, environmentally friendly green inhibitors have attracted a great attention. In the present study, the performance of two green scale inhibitors and one commercial phosphate-based inhibitor against calcium carbonate and calcium sulfate formation were investigated using standard static tests (Jar tests) and XRD analysis to determine the performance of appropriate inhibitor. The results demonstrate that to achieve reasonable inhibition efficiency, inhibitor A is more efficient than B, although higher amount of green inhibitors is consumed in comparison with the commercial phosphonate-based ones.