Traditional and Eco-friendly Antiscalants: Advantages and Disadvantages

With the rapid development of industrial production, water shortage and water pollution have become a worldwide social crisis. Fouling formation in industrial water systems is the second significant hazard after the corrosion of materials and equipment. Using scale inhibitors to control scaling is the most economical and efficient technical approach. This chapter introduces the scale formation and scale inhibition measures. It explains the scale inhibition mechanism: complexation solubilization, lattice distortion, solution-limiting effect, electrostatic repulsion and dispersion, intense polar group action, and regeneration-self-releasing membrane hypothesis. The research and application of traditional scale inhibitors (phosphorus-containing polymer scale inhibitors and copolymer scale inhibitors) and eco-friendly scale inhibitors (polyepoxide succinic acid [PESA] and polyaspartate [PASP], plant extracts, and nanocarbon scale inhibitors) in the field of water treatment were reviewed. This chapter focuses on the characteristics, advantages, and disadvantages of traditional and eco-friendly scale inhibitors and proposes suggestions for their future development direction.