Study of the effect of inorganic inhibitor on the calcium carbonate precipitation in the localized irrigation systems

The scale formed on the internal walls of the agricultural equipment that transport water causes huge technical, economic, and energetic problems. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of phosphate fertilizer NPK 13:40:13 on inhibiting the precipitation of CaCO 3 . This study was carried out on synthetic water, which is similar to natural water used for irrigation in the Tata region, (29° 45′ 48.9" N7° 59′ 31.5" W), through the conductivity test and the “Laboratory of environmental chemistry and engineering” technique (LCGE) at a temperature of 25 °C. The obtained results reveal a total inhibition of the precipitation of calcium carbonate after the addition of 1.2 mg/L of inhibitor to the calco-carbonic solution of hardness TH = 40 °F (French degree) at 25 °C. The comparison of the anti-scaling performances of the NPK inhibitor with other inhibitors already tested under the same working conditions has clearly demonstrated the effectiveness of the NPK inhibitor. Consequently, we recommend the use of NPK 13:40:13 fertilizer as an excellent new scaling inhibitor for irrigation installations.