Synthesis and scale inhibition performance of a novel environmental friendly and hydrophilic terpolymer inhibitor

A novel environmental friendly and hydrophilic terpolymer with the sulfonic group and ether group was synthesized by maleic anhydride (MA), 2-acrylamido-2-methylpropanesulphonic acid (AMPS) and 3-allyloxy-2-hydroxy-1-propanesulfonate (AHPSE) in free radical polymerization. The structure of MA/AMPS/AHPSE was characterized by the 13C nuclear magnetic resonance, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy spectra, Ultraviolet Visible spectrophotometer and gel permeation chromatography. The inhibition performance of CaCO3 and zinc scales and the dispersion property of ferric oxide were investigated by static scale inhibition methods. The terpolymer had the best inhibition performance when the weight-average molecular weight (Mw) was 2.41×104, namely the ratio of MA/AMPS/AHPSE was 6/2/0.8. With the optimal Mw, the inhibition performance of the terpolymer was superior to that of MA/AMPS, AA/AMPS and PAA. The transmittance ratio of ferric oxide solution was 44.9% at 14mg/L and the inhibition efficiency of zinc scales reached 89.8% at 10mg/L. The results revealed that the suitable Mw and pluralistic functional groups of this typical terpolymer were the main keys for the excellent inhibition performance. The modified CaCO3 scales in the presence of MA/AMPS/AHPSE were analyzed by X-ray powder diffraction and scanning electron microscope.