Mitigation and control of aluminosilicate scale through a novel feeding strategy of the inhibitor

Abstract

The invention provides a method of inhibiting the accumulation of DSP scale in the liquor circuit of Bayer process equipment. The method includes pre-treating surfaces of the process equipment with one or more particular silane based small molecules. These scale inhibitors reduce DSP scale formation and thereby increase fluid throughput, increase the amount of time Bayer process equipment can be operational and reduce the need for expensive and dangerous acid washes of Bayer process equipment. As a result, the invention provides a significant reduction in the total cost of operating a Bayer process.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.