TYPES   of   TREATABLE   SCALE
 

 

Types of scaling compounds that can be treated

As noted elsewhere in this site, Professor John Donaldson and Dr. Sue Grimes of the Chemistry Department of the City University, London have stated that “A magnetic field will interact with any substance that caries a charge, however small in any fluid. The nuclei on which the crystals start growing and the growing crystallites are very small and will have charged surfaces. As they pass through the magnetic field, these charged particles encounter considerable forces as the magnetic field interacts with them. The magnetic field acts at the surface of the crystallites modifying the nature of the charges at the surface. This alters the growth of the crystal in general and on specific planes.” This is discussed in the accompanying articles one, two and three.

Magnetic Fluid Treatment (MFT) functions for only diamagnetic substances. Diamagnetic substance react differently under the influence of magnetic fields to how paramagnetic and ferromagnetic substances react. When a diamagnetic substance is passed through a magnetic field under certain conditions, the velocity of the electrons is increased, and subsequent to passing through the magnetic field the electrons continue to revolve at their new higher velocity, that is, the electrons remain in the higher energy or excited state. It is this higher energy state of the electrons that results in the diamagnetic substance displaying modified properties such as change in size and shape of the crystals.

It is therefore obvious that the range of substances that may be affected by magnetic fluid treatment is very large. It has been found through long experience that diamagnetic substances with a magnetic susceptibility of less than -0.25, when subjected to a magnetic field under certain specified conditions, that the properties of the scaling forming crystals are changed in a beneficial way in that they have a tendency against sticking to the walls of vessels and pipes, that is, they no longer exhibit the characteristic of forming scale deposits. Microphotographs of treated and untreated crystals show that magnetic fluid treatment results in a change in the size and structure of the scale forming crystals, with the crystals having "softer" or rounded edges. The strength of crystal bonding to form scale is in the sharp edges of the untreated crystals (the electric charge concentrates at the sharp edges). The softer or rounded edges of the MFT treated crystals reduce crystal bonding strength (rounded edges reduces the concentration of electric charge) with the result that the crystals then don't grow as large and do not aggregate to form scale build ups. This also explains why MFT is scale type dependent and not industry type dependent.

The most commonly treated inorganic mineral salts are the calcium and magnesium salts found in water systems in the form of calcite, aragonite, gypsum and dolomite. Other inorganic scales include those occurring in industry such as zinc phosphates and barium sulphates.

Magnetic fluid treatment is also effective in controlling/eliminating organic scaling compounds such as paraffins, waxes and asphaltenes present in petroleum process systems and proteins, lactose and fats found in milk process systems.

The following tabulation gives the magnetic susceptibility of but a few examples of treatable inorganic and organic scales that cause problems in industrial, commercial and domestic fluid process systems.