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51 NACE INTERNATIONAL: VOL. 56, NO. 3 MATERIALS PERFORMANCE MARCH 2017 Without the EOR chemicals, CaCO 3 pre- cipitates were predominately in the form of aragonite. Trace amounts of calcite (<5%) were detected in the blank sample, and only aragonite was identified in the pres- ence of scale inhibitors. The surfactant/ polymer mixture promoted the formation of calcite and vaterite. In solutions with both EOR chemicals but no scale inhibitor, precipitates had 66% aragonite and 34% calcite. Vaterite was formed from solutions that included scale inhibitors. For example, precipitates were a mixture of 53% arago- nite, 7% calcite, and 40% vaterite with 20 mg/L of Inhibitor A; and 59% aragonite, 12% calcite, and 29% vaterite with 20 mg/L of Inhibitor B. For Inhibitor C, aragonite re- mained the dominant phase in the pres- ence of both EOR chemicals, but a signifi- cant amount of vaterite (20%) and a small amount of calcite (8%) were measured in solutions with surfactant alone. Conclusions Results presented in this study show that EOR chemicals, in particular the sur- factant tested in this work, can have a sig- nificant impact on CaCO 3 scale formation and inhibition. The surfactant has a pro- foundly detrimental effect on the perfor- mance of both phosphonate and polyacry- l a t e s c a l e i n h i b i t o r s a n d p r o m o t e s aragonite CaCO 3 precipitation. Although the HPAM polymer itself shows little influ- ence, it can escalate the impact of the sur- factant and further diminish the inhibitor efficacy. Thus, the EOR chemicals—both surfactant and polymer —should be in- cluded when evaluating CaCO 3 scale inhibi- tors in chemical EOR studies. Acknowledgment The authors would like to acknowledge the Saudi Aramco management for permis- sion to publish this article. References 1 C. Hinrichsen, "Preventing Scale Deposition in Oil Production Facilities: An Industry Re- view," C O RRO SIO N/98, pap er no. 98061 (Houston, TX: NACE International, 1998). 2 J. Oddo, M. Tomson, "The Prediction of Scale and CO 2 Corrosion in Oil Field Systems," CORROSION/99, paper no. 99041 (Houston, TX: NACE, 1999). 3 A. Flaaten, et al., SPE J. 15, 1 (2010): pp. 184- 196. 4 G. Ruschau, "Considerations for Polymers in Enhanc ed O i l Re c over y O p erations," CORROSION/97, paper no. 97086 (Houston, TX: NACE, 1997). 5 S. Wang, et al, "Scale Inhibitor Solutions for High Temperature Wells in a Steam Drive Reser voir," CORRO SION 2010, paper no. 10133 (Houston, TX: NACE, 2010). 6 P. Krumrine, E. Mayer, G. Brock, J. Petrol . Technol. 37, 8 (1985): pp. 1,466-1,474. 7 D. Denney, J. Petrol. Technol. 60, 1 (2008): pp. 50-52. 8 O. Karazincir, et al., SPE International Sym- posium on Oilfield Chemistr y, paper no. 141410 (Richardson, TX: SPE, 2011). 9 S. Lo, et al., SPE International Symposium on Oilfield Chemistry, paper no. 141551 (Rich- ardson, TX: SPE, 2011). 10 NACE TM0374-2007, "Laboratory Screening Tests to Determine the Ability of Scale In- hibitors to Prevent the Precipitation of Cal- cium Sulfate and Calcium Carbonate from Solution (for Oil and Gas Production Sys- tems)" (Houston, TX: NACE, 2007). 11 Q. Wang, F. Al-Dawood, H. AlSaiari, "Calcium Carbonate Scale Formation and Inhibition in the Presence of Zinc Ions," MP 51, 11 (2012): pp. 60-64. QIWEI WANG is a science specialist at the Saudi Aramco R&D; Center. He has 25 years of experi- ence in scale management, water treatment, and oilfield production chemistry. He holds a Ph.D. from Texas A&M; University and has been an active NACE member since 1995. HAMEED AL-BADAIRY is currently working as a science specialist at the Saudi Aramco R&D; Center. He holds a Ph.D. from Liverpool University. He has 25 years of academic and industrial experience in the fields of materials science and electron microscopy. Al-Badairy is a member of NACE and IOM3. SHOUWEN SHEN is a science specialist at the Saudi Aramco R&D; Center. He has more than 30 years of academic and industrial experience in x-ray mineralogy, sedimentology, and petroleum geology. He received a Ph.D. in petroleum geology from Chengdu University of Technology, Sichuan, China. He is an active member of SPE and AAPG. WALEED AL-NASSER is a science specialist at the Saudi Aramco R&D; Center. He has 22 years of experience on scale management and oilfield production chemistry. He holds a Ph.D. from Sheffield University and is an active member of NACE and SPE. Know Your Enemy Defeat preferential weld corrosion! Learn what you're up against and how to eff ectively mitigate PWC. Preferential Weld Corrosion of Carbon Steels BY Dale McIntyre & Mohsen Achour Now available at nace.org/store Calcium Carbonate Scale Formation and Inhibition During Enhanced Oil Recovery