The Good Performance of The Mixture of Sulfamic, Acetic, and Citric Acid as an Alternative Carbonate Scale Dissolution at Laboratory Scale
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Calcium carbonate scale is one of the challenges faced by the oil and gas industry, as it can disrupt production activities. Acidification using hydrochloric acid is widely applied as a scale remover; however, this reagent is highly corrosive.Hence, this study aims to investigate the effect of combining sulfamic acid, citric acid, and acetic acid in ratios of 9:3:3, 6:6:3, and 3:9:3 at temperatures of 35°, 45°, and 50 °C on an environmentally friendly scale dissolution. The percentage of scale dissolution from the three acids was then compared with 5, 10, and 15% hydrochloric acid at temperatures of 35°, 45°, and 50°C using the gravimetric method. The results of the study on a laboratory scale showed that the largest % scale solubility was obtained with a ratio of sulfamic acid: citric acid: acetic acid of 9:3:3 of 65.79% at a temperature of 50°C. When compared with 5% HCl at 50°C as a control, scale dissolution was 63.49%. This result is supported by scanning electron microscope data, which show that the surface of the scale on the pipe after treatment with three acid combinations has a smoother surface morphology compared to using commercial scale removal (HCl). The use of three acid combinations in this study can serve as an alternative to commercial-scale removal.
Language: English
Subfield: Biomaterials
Field: Materials Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W4413809100