Tagged scale inhibitor compositions and methods of inhibiting scale

Abstract

Scale inhibitor compositions and methods of inhibiting scale formation generally include a tagged scale inhibiting (co)polymer including at least one scale inhibiting moiety and an imidazole moiety. The imidazole moiety fluoresces at a wavelength of about 424 nm and can be used to detect the amount of scale inhibitor present.

1 . A scale inhibiting (co)polymer including an imidazole moiety, comprising:
 at least one scale inhibiting polymerized monomer selected from the group consisting of acrylic acid; vinyl sulfonic acid or vinyl sulfonate salts; vinyl phosphoric acid or vinyl phosphonate salts; vinylidene diphosphonic acid or salts thereof; methacrylic acid; vinyl acetate; vinyl alcohol; vinyl chloride; unsaturated mono- or di-carboxylic acids or anhydrides; vinyl chloride; styrene-p-sulfonic acid, or styrene sulfonates salts; acrylamido-2-methylpropanesulfonic acid (AMPS); hydroxyphosphonoacetic acid (HPA); hypophosphorus acids acrylamides, propargyl alcohol having formula HC≡C—CH 2 —OH; butyr-1,4-diol, and mixtures thereof; and   a 1-vinyl imidazole polymerized monomer of the formula:   
       
         
           
           
               
               
           
         
         wherein R, R 1  and R 2  are the same or different, and each R, R 1 , and R 2  is selected from the group consisting of H, an alkyl group, an aromatic group, a phosphate group, a nitrate group, and a sulfate group. 
       
     
     
         2 . The scale inhibiting (co)polymer of  claim 1 , wherein the average molecular weight of the scale inhibiting (co)polymer is 1200 to 15,000 Daltons. 
     
     
         3 . The scale inhibiting (co)polymer of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one scale inhibiting polymerized monomer comprises the vinyl imidazole and the maleic acid, and sodium allyl sulfonate. 
     
     
         4 . The scale inhibiting (co)polymer of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one scale inhibiting polymerized monomer is acrylic acid. 
     
     
         5 . The scale inhibiting (co)polymer of  claim 1 , wherein the 1-vinyl imidazole polymerized monomer is at a weight percent of total monomer of less than 20% of the scale inhibiting (co)polymer. 
     
     
         6 . The scale inhibiting (co)polymer of  claim 1 , wherein the 1-vinyl imidazole polymerized monomer is at a weight percent of total monomer of 2% to 20% of the scale inhibiting (co)polymer. 
     
     
         7 . A process for determining a concentration of a scale inhibiting (co)polymer for inhibiting scale formation, the process comprising:
 introducing an effective amount of the scale inhibition (co)polymer to an aqueous medium to inhibit calcium carbonate, calcium sulfate, barium sulfate, and/or calcium phosphate scale formation, wherein the scale inhibition (co)polymer includes at least one scale inhibiting moiety and an imidazole moiety formed by polymerizing at least one scale inhibiting monomer and a 1-vinylimidazole monomer;   measuring a fluorescence signal corresponding to the imidazole moiety; and   determining a concentration of the scale inhibiting (co)polymer based on the fluorescence signal.   
     
     
         8 . The process of  claim 7 , wherein the at least one scale inhibiting monomer is selected from the group consisting of acrylic acid; vinyl sulfonic acid or vinyl sulfonate salts; vinyl phosphoric acid or vinyl phosphonate salts; vinylidene diphosphonic acid or salts thereof; methacrylic acid; vinyl acetate; vinyl alcohol; vinyl chloride; unsaturated mono- or di-carboxylic acids or anhydrides; vinyl chloride; styrene-p-sulfonic acid, or styrene sulfonates salts; acrylamido-2-methylpropanesulfonic acid (AMPS); hydroxyphosphonoacetic acid (HPA); hypophosphorus acids acrylamides, propargyl alcohol having formula HC≡C—CH 2 —OH; butyr-1,4-diol, and mixtures thereof. 
     
     
         9 . The process of  claim 7 , wherein the at least one scale inhibiting monomer is the acrylic acid. 
     
     
         10 . The process of  claim 7 , wherein the at least one scale inhibiting monomer is a sodium allyl sulfonate monomer and the acrylic acid monomer. 
     
     
         11 . The process of  claim 7 , wherein the imidazole moiety is at a wt % of total monomer of 2 to 20, wt % of the scale inhibiting (co)polymer. 
     
     
         12 . The process of  claim 7 , wherein the average molecular weight is 2000 to 3500 Daltons. 
     
     
         13 . The process of  claim 7 , wherein the effective amount is less than 35 parts per million. 
     
     
         14 . The process of  claim 7 , wherein the effective amount is 0.5 to 35 parts per million. 
     
     
         15 . The process of  claim 7 , wherein the process is a squeeze application. 
     
     
         16 . A water treatment solution for inhibiting scale formation, comprising:
 a scale inhibiting (co)polymer including an imidazole moiety, comprising at least one scale inhibiting polymerized monomer selected from the group consisting of acrylic acid; vinyl sulfonic acid or vinyl sulfonate salts; vinyl phosphoric acid or vinyl phosphonate salts; vinylidene diphosphonic acid or salts thereof; methacrylic acid; vinyl acetate; vinyl alcohol; vinyl chloride; unsaturated mono- or di-carboxylic acids or anhydrides; vinyl chloride; styrene-p-sulfonic acid, or styrene sulfonates salts; acrylamido-2-methylpropanesulfonic acid (AMPS); hydroxyphosphonoacetic acid (HPA); hypophosphorus acids acrylamides, propargyl alcohol having formula HC≡C—CH 2 —OH; butyr-1,4-diol, and mixtures thereof; and a 1-vinyl imidazole polymerized monomer of the formula:   
       
         
           
           
               
               
           
         
         wherein R, R 1  and R 2  are the same or different, and each R, R 1 , and R 2  is selected from the group consisting of H, an alkyl, an aromatic, phosphate, nitrate, and sulfate; and
 a solvent. 
 
       
     
     
         17 . The water treatment solution of  claim 16 , wherein the solvent is brine or water. 
     
     
         18 . The water treatment solution of  claim 16 , wherein the scale inhibiting (co)polymer is in an amount of less than 35 parts per million. 
     
     
         19 . The water treatment solution of  claim 16 , wherein the scale inhibiting (co)polymer is in an amount of less than 0.5 to 35 parts per million. 
     
     
         20 . The water treatment solution of  claim 16 , wherein the imidazole moiety is at a weight percent of monomer of 2 to 20% of the scale inhibiting (co)polymer. 
     
     
         21 . The water treatment solution of  claim 16 , wherein the average molecular weight is 1200 to 2000 Daltons. 
     
     
         22 . The water treatment solution of  claim 16 , further comprising at least one additional tagged scale inhibiting material having an fluorescence emission signal different from the scale inhibiting (co)polymer.