Quartz crystal microbalance investigation of electrochemical calcium carbonate scaling

Electrochemical calcareous scaling was investigated by using a quartz microbalance in order to devise an accelerated scaling test. The chronoamperometric and the chronoelectrogravimetric curves were simultaneously recorded during scaling in carbonically pure waters. The basic processes involved in scale gravimetric evaluation were surveyed: influence of mass transport on O-2 reduction, influence of electrode vibration, and calibration of the mass measurement; Then the validation of the quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) technique was carried out by changing some experimental conditions: flow rate, calcium concentration, and polarization potential. At the end foreign ions, commonly encountered in natural waters, were added to the synthetic waters. The scaling rate was determined by deriving the chronoelectrogravimetric curve. It was demonstrated that the QCM technique gives much more information on the scaling process than chronoamperometry and can be used as a practical scaling test.