Novel polymeric anti-scaling agents derived from herbaceous plant residues: synthesis, characterization, and efficacy against carbonate scaling via static assessment

In this study, we developed and analyzed alpha–Polyphenolic lignin-derived compounds tailored for inhibiting carbonate and sulfate scale formation in reverse osmosis (RO) membrane desalination. Our investigation focused on a Herbaceous Plant Residue-derived agent, which displayed outstanding performance in preventing carbonate scale deposition. At an optimized temperature of 60 °C, this agent achieved an impressive inhibition efficiency of 95%. Notably, the effectiveness of the agent was strongly influenced by pH and salinity levels. Optimal performance was observed at a pH of 9, and a 20% increase in salinity led to a substantial enhancement in inhibition efficiency, reaching 86.7%. Maintaining a specific 1:3 agent-to-water ratio was highlighted as crucial for maximizing scale inhibition efficiency. Simulation results, conducted using the OLI ScaleChem software, corroborated our experimental findings, underscoring the Herbaceous Plant Residue-based agent as a promising, environmentally friendly solution for industrial RO membrane desalination processes. This research contributes to the advancement of sustainable desalination technologies.