Inhibition of calcium oxalate monohydrate by poly(acrylic acid)s with different end groups

Water‐soluble low molecular weight polymers are known to affect the crystal habit of scale‐forming minerals and their rates of deposition. Poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) and poly(maleic acid) are commonly used to control scale formation in sugar mill evaporators. Calcium oxalate (both mono‐ and dihydrate) forms the bulk of the hard intractable scale found in Australian sugar mills, causing efficiency losses of significant economic importance. In this work, the formation of calcium oxalate monohydrate in a synthetic juice solution was investigated in the presence of PAAs of varying molecular weights and end‐group functionality and a strong dependency on both of these factors was observed. Terminal functionality was controlled using three chain‐transfer agents (CTA): thioethanol, thioglycolic acid, and dodecanthiol. Effectiveness of inhibition varied with CTA in the order thioethanol ∼ thioglycolic acid > dodecanthiol for all molecular weights. This suggests that polymer end groups play a role in scale inhibition. The polymers that were prepared with dodecanthiol accelerated rather than inhibited calcium oxalate formation, implying a different mode of action on calcium oxalate crystallization. Consistent with previous reports for other scales, the calcium oxalate inhibition tests show optimum effectiveness for PAAs of molecular weight 2000–4000. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 91: 2035–2041, 2004