A Study of the Kinetics, Structure, and Morphology of the Effect of Organic Additives on Barium Sulfate Precipitation Reactions in Propan-1-ol–Water and Ethanol–Water Mixture Solutions

Abstract

Barium sulfate precipitation in production industrial facilities and in petroleum reservoir systems is a dangerous operational problem. The solvent acts as a second component in the system during the onset of crystallization from solution, significant impacting the kinetics. Few studies have investigated the influence of organic solvents on barium sulfate precipitation. In this study, we examine the precipitation reaction of barium sulfate in mixed propan-1-ol–water and ethanol–water solvents at 303.15 K. The temporary conductivity variation is determined to follow the kinetics of the precipitation reaction and the germination time of barium sulfate crystals. A large variation is found in the precipitation reaction rate and induction time due to differences in physical parameters such as polarity and dielectric constants between water and organic solvents. This difference in physical properties leads to a stronger variation in intermolecular interaction between the solute and the solvent, especially in hydrogen bonds. The solid phase obtained at the end of the precipitate reaction is characterized through FTIR, XRD, and SEM techniques, demonstrating an important difference in the structure, morphology, and agglomeration phenomena of the precipitate obtained in water–ethanol and water–propan-1-ol mixtures compared to pure water solutions.