Bancada para ensaios de precipitação e incrustação de carbonato de cálcio sob a ação do ultrassom

Abstract

In the exploration of Brazilian pre-salt oil fields, carbonate incrustations are recurrent. They can cause a series of losses due to the partial or total blockage of some plant elements such as heat exchangers, pumps, valves, and pipes. Cavitation generated by ultrasound is a promising mechanical cleaning method as the cavitation bubbles provide removers of organic and inorganic residues, such as calcium carbonate. To better understand the effects of ultrasound on carbonate scale and enable the creation of new prevention and cleaning techniques, a modular and instrumented test bench dedicated to studying the effects of ultrasound on the incidence and scale of calcium carbonate was developed. This work showed the development of this equipment’s systems, its operation, its specificity, validation, and tests were carried out to evaluate the effect of ultrasound on the forma tion of calcium carbonate scale. Two groups of tests were carried out to study the effects of ultrasound on the formation of calcium carbonate scale. The first without ultrasonic irradiation and the second, with ultrasound applied to the occurrence of the formation of calcium carbonate crystals, in both cases the same process parameters were used on the Precipitation and Scaling Test Bench. In each fouling test carried out, the induction pe riod was analyzed, obtaining by measuring the conductivity of crystallization occurrence and the pressure difference between the inlet and outlet of the fouling module. The mass embedded in a specimen, analysis of images of crystals taken using SEM, and phases of the crystals produced using Raman spectroscopy.