Quantitative simulation of silica scale deposition from physical kinematics perspectives

Silica scaling restricts the heat extraction and deteriorates the power generation efficiency in geothermal systems. We conducted a deeply stepped analysis on the scaling phenomena with physical kinematics. We simulated the mechanical action on fine particles considered to be spherical in geothermal fluid. In addition, we evaluated the probability of particle re-entrainment from the wall surface and compared the scale deposition rate obtained from different ways of direct calculations. We succeeded not only in matching the order of deposition rate with experimental data, but also explaining the tendency of increase in partial scale deposition amount. Furthermore, our simulation using particles with various diameters indicates the prevention effect of scale buildup by controlling the colloidal aggregation.