A new measurement technique for monitoring inorganic scale deposition

Scale formation is one of the many challenges for flow assurance in the oil and gas industry in deep water oilfields. This work focuses on the development of a new technique for inorganic scale monitoring based on electrical measurements. Experiments were carried out using synthetic water with the composition of a pre-salt Brazilian oilfield. Two different methodologies were applied for fouling formation. The results showed that the multiple-batch methodology increased the content of inorganic deposits on the electrodes, improving the output signal decay analysis of the system. Scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive spectroscopy (SEM–EDS) studies was used to validate the presence of fouling deposits, corroborating the sensor's detection efficiency. The spatial distribution of the main scaling chemical elements was also demonstrated by SEM–EDS analysis across the batches. In addition, the effects of temperature and electrode surface orientation were determined. The decay of the sensor output signal increased for higher temperatures (80 °C and 60 °C) compared to 40 °C due to the reduced solubility of CaCO 3 . For the horizontal position of the electrodes, measurements of the sensor and SEM analysis revealed a greater accumulation of fouling compared to the vertical position.