Crystalline Magnesium Silicate Research Articles

The characterization study of inhibited silica/silicate scale using vinyl sulfonated copolymer (VS-Co)

Silica/silicate scale is a significant problem, especially in oilfield production during Alkaline Surfactant Polymer (ASP) flooding, where chemical inhibitors are the preferred method to prevent them. In this study, the effect of inhibitor vinyl sulfonated copolymer (VS-Co) on silica/silicate scale formation was analysed using X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR).The functional group type of VS-Co are sulfonate ions, SO3-, and these interact in the scaling process. Bulk-inhibited scaling brine tests were conducted at 60C and pH 8.5. During these tests, the silicon brine (with VS-Co) representing the inhibited ASP leachate was mixed with a magnesium brine representing the connate water to replicate reservoir conditions during ASP flooding. The samples tested in this study were non-inhibited Si/Mg mixed brine of 60 ppm Mg2+ and 940 ppm Si4+ (60Mg:940Si) as a blank, and inhibited 60Mg:940Si mixture with various VS-Co concentrations of 20 ppm, 50 ppm, and 100 ppm. The inhibition efficiency of the VS-Co was determined, followed by the characterisation study of the silica/silicate scale deposited from both test conditions.The IR spectra of all 60Mg:940Si samples show a similar peak at 1050 cm-1 to 1080 cm-1, attributed to a Si-O covalent bond and a band at 790 cm-1 to 800 cm-1 showing the presence of Si-O-Si stretching. XRD patterns produced a broad scattering peak for all samples at 2 of 24 showing that the samples are amorphous silica. For tests of high Mg2+ in the brine mix, 900Mg:940Si, a mix of crystalline silica and crystalline magnesium silicate was produced. Based on these results, it can be concluded that the scale formed even with 100 ppm of VS-Co present. Further studies are required to address how to mitigate scale formation effectively in the future.Based on the research conducted, we can conclude that the VS-Co alone could not significantly inhibit the formation of silica/silicate scale even at the highest concentration (100 ppm) of VS-Co. However, having VS-Co present caused an alteration in IR spectra frequency which requires further investigation to assess how best to develop the inhibiting properties of the VS-Co product. The application of nanoparticles and their successful stories spark the interest of authors in searching for an efficient method of managing the silica/silicate scale where the modification of potential scale inhibitor (SI) with nanoparticles may be able to improve the inhibition efficiency towards the silicate/silicate scale.The presence of VS-Co in the scaling brine only slightly inhibits the Mg2+ ion (initially comes from connate water) from reacting. It is worth further investigation on how this VS-Co can make it happen. Hence, the functional groups responsible for this may be altered by adding other functional groups to provide a synergistic effect in preventing this silica/silicate scale; or by modifying the VS-Co with nanoparticles to improve their adsorption/desorption capacity.The newly developed technique in analysing the inhibition mechanism of a chemical inhibitor using various spectroscopic analysis is promising where an alteration in the spectra may provide proof of the chemicals inhibition efficiency.

Comet 2I/Borisov in Comparison with Comets of the Solar System

The brief review summarizes data on the chemical and mineral composition, as well as on the phys ical properties, of the first extrasolar comet 2I/Borisov, obtained from observations that were carried out from September 2019 to the end of March 2020. It is noted that the qualitative chemical composition of the volatile and mineral components comet 2I/Borisov is similar to the composition of comets in the Solar System, but there are differences that indicate the specific conditions for the formation of its nucleus in a circumstellar gas and dust disk. Different release rates of CO and H2O molecules in the vicinity of perihelion indicate the pos sible heterogeneity of the comet’s nucleus, which was formed from more homogeneous ice blocks, but differ ing in composition. These constituent blocks could have formed over a wide range of radial distances: from the snow line of H2O to the CO snow line. Their accumulation in the comet’s nucleus indicates large-scale mixing of protocometary bodies in the circumstellar disk. No spectra of finely crystalline magnesium silicates were found in cometary coma of 2I/Borisov, which can be interpreted as the absence of a significant amount of gas and dust transfer from the inner hot regions of the disk to the outside, into the zone of formation of protocometary bodies.

Architected mesoporous crystalline magnesium silicates with ordered pore structures

Novel approaches to harness earth abundant silicates as building blocks for carbon dioxide removal, capture, utilization, and storage are gaining increasing attention in the context of sustainable and low carbon energy and resource recovery. Advancing a calibrated understanding of these fluid-silicate interactions is essential for developing scalable processes. One of the challenges in developing predictive controls over these interactions is the compositional and morphological heterogeneity of naturally occurring, heterogeneous magnesium silicate minerals. To address this challenge, the synthesis of architected mesoporous crystalline magnesium silicate (Mg2SiO4) is proposed. While synthesis routes for producing amorphous mesoporous magnesium silicates have been developed via sol-gel methods, approaches to synthesize crystalline magnesium silicates with well-controlled pore size distributions have not been explored. The conventional approaches of converting matter that is amorphous to crystalline states at elevated temperatures results in a heterogeneous pore size distribution. To develop controls on pore size distribution, amorphous mesoporous magnesium silicates are coated with carbon. This approach retains the pore structure during the amorphous to crystalline transformations of Mg-silicates at elevated temperatures. The carbon coating is removed on heating. Magnesium silicate particles produced using this approach have highly ordered pores around 2.58 nm and a specific surface area of 124.25 m2/g. In this study, we report the chemical compositions, morphologies, phase transitions, and pore structures of the intermediate materials produced during the synthesis of crystalline mesoporous magnesium silicates. The synthesis routes discussed in this study can be applied translationally to produce metal silicates with ordered mesoporous structures.

The precipitation of “magnesium silicate” under geothermal stresses. Formation and characterization

Geology presents a well-defined family of minerals in the case of crystalline magnesium silicates. However, in industrial water processes deposits that contain both “Mg” and “Si” are usually referred to as “magnesium silicate” scales. In this paper we attempt to delineate the true nature of such Mg- and Si-containing precipitates formed under the severe stresses simulating geothermal-like conditions. The purpose of this work is to deliberately form precipitates in the presence of Mg2+ ions and soluble silica (silicic acid) and study these with a variety of analytical techniques, to reveal morphology, texture, structure and composition. Such precipitates are better described as “magnesium-containing amorphous silica”.

Conversion of Ethanol and Acetaldehyde to Butadiene over MgO–SiO2 Catalysts: Effect of Reaction Parameters and Interaction between MgO and SiO2 on Catalytic Performance

For the effect of structural features on the catalytic performance of the conversion of ethanol and acetaldehyde to butadiene to be investigated, a series of MgO–SiO2 catalysts with different structural properties were synthesized by tuning the calcination temperature, investigated, and characterized. The best butadiene selectivity of 80.7% appears for the MgO–SiO2 catalyst calcined at 500 °C using a mixture of acetaldehyde/ethanol/water (22.5:67.5:10 wt %) as feed. Addition of the appropriate amount of water (10 wt %) improved butadiene selectivity by inhibiting the formation of 1-butanol and C6 compounds. Results from XRD, FT-IR, and 29Si MAS NMR indicate the generation of a significant amount of amorphous magnesium silicates along with few crystalline magnesium silicates for the catalyst calcined at 500 °C. XPS results indicate that it contains the lowest binding energies of both Si–O and Mg–O from Si–O–Mg bonds. For the catalysts calcined at low temperature (350 and 400 °C), more 1-butanol and C6 comp...

Products of hydratation in fine grained mixtures MgO – SiO2

The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of time of ageing on phase evolution of paste from MgO-SiO2-H2O phase system. The paste was composed of fine grained sintered magnesia and microsilica in 1:2 molar ratio and water, with water to solid ratio equal 0,5. After preparation the paste was ageing during specified time up to 180 days in temperature 20° C. Phase composition of mixture of MgO and SiO2 with water was studied by XRD, DTA-TGA. The analysis revealed that product of reaction in mixture of MgO, SiO2 and water was a probably poorly crystalline magnesium silicate.

Synthesis, characterization, and catalytic activity of nitridated magnesium silicate catalysts

Amorphous and crystalline magnesium silicates (MgSils) were prepared by sol–gel and template-assisted hydrothermal synthesis methods, respectively. The obtained materials were nitridated with NH3 at 300, 500, and 800 °C for 24 and 48 h generating nitridated MgSil catalysts. The catalysts were characterized by XRD, FTIR, TG–MS, N2-physisorption, Hammett indicators, and elemental analysis methods. MgSils nitridated at 300 °C were found to be more active for the Knoevenagel condensation reaction, compared to those nitradated at 500 or 800 °C. A larger amount of nitrogen was incorporated in the framework of amorphous MgSil compared to the crystalline MgSil. FTIR analysis indicated the presence of NHx species, which were known to form upon reaction between NH3 and M-OH groups. It was also found that the presence of Si–OH and Mg–OH groups along with the basic –NH2 functional groups is responsible for the enhanced catalytic activity of the low-temperature nitridated catalysts.

지오폴리머 기술에 의한 포스테라이트 분말의 저온합성

Forsterite is a crystalline magnesium silicate with chemical formula Mg₂SiO₄, which has extremely low electrical conductivity that makes it an ideal substrate material for electronics. In this study, forsterite precursors were synthesized with magnesium silicate gels from the mixture of magnesium nitrate solution and various sodium silicate solution by the geopolymer technique. Precursors and heattreated powders were characterized by thermogravimetrical differential thermal analyzer(TG-DTA), X-ray diffractometer(XRD), scanning electron microscopy(SEM), Si magic angle spinning nuclear magnetic resonance(MAS-NMR), transmission electron microscopy(TEM). As the result of analysis about the crystallization behavior by DTA, the synthesized precursors were crystallized in the temperature range of 700℃ to 900℃. The XRD results showed that the gel composition began to crystallize at various temperature. Also, it was found that the sodium orthosilicate based precursors(named as ‘FO’) began to crystallize at above 550℃. The FO peaks were much stronger than sodium silicate solution based precursors(named as ‘FW’), sodium metasilicate based precursors(named as ‘FM’) at 800℃. TEM investigation revealed that the 100㎚ particle sized sample was obtained from FO by heating up to 800℃.

Crystalline silicates in comets: How did they form?

Two processes have been proposed to explain observations of crystalline silicate minerals in comets and in protostellar sources, both of which rely on the thermal annealing of amorphous grains. First, high temperatures generated by nebular shock processes can rapidly produce crystalline magnesium silicate grains and will simultaneously produce a population of crystalline iron silicates whose average grain size is ∼10–15% that of the magnesium silicate minerals. Second, exposure of amorphous silicate grains to hot nebular environments can produce crystalline magnesium silicates that might then be transported outward to regions of comet formation. At the higher temperatures required for annealing amorphous iron silicates to crystallinity the evaporative lifetime of the grains is much shorter than a single orbital period where such temperatures are found in the nebula. Thermal annealing is therefore unable to produce crystalline iron silicate grains for inclusion into comets unless such grains are very quickly transported away from the hot inner nebula. It follows that observation of pure crystalline magnesium silicate minerals in comets or protostars is a direct measure of the importance of simple thermal annealing of grains in the innermost regions of protostellar nebulae followed by dust and gas transport to the outer nebula. The presence of crystalline iron silicates would signal the action of transient processes such as shock heating that can produce crystalline iron, magnesium and mixed iron–magnesium silicate minerals. These different scenarios result in very different predictions for the organic content of protostellar systems.

Condensation processes in astrophysical environments: The composition and structure of cometary grains

Abstract— We review the results of our recent experimental studies of astrophysical dust analogs. We discuss the condensation of amorphous silicates from mixed metal vapors, including evidence that such condensates form with metastable eutectic compositions. We consider the spectral evolution of amorphous magnesium silicate condensates as a function of time and temperature. Magnesium silicate smokes anneal readily at temperatures of about 1000–1100 K. In contrast we find that iron silicates require much higher temperatures (˜1300 K) to bring about similar changes on the same timescale (days to months). We first apply these results to infrared space observatory observations of crystalline magnesium silicate grains around high‐mass‐outflow asymptotic giant branch stars in order to demonstrate their general utility in a rather simple environment. Finally, we apply these experimental results to infrared observations of comets and protostars in order to derive some interesting conclusions regarding large‐scale nebular dynamics, the natural production of organic molecules in protostellar nebulae, and the use of crystalline magnesium silicates as a relative indicator of a comet's formation age.

Crystallization of grain boundary phases in hot-pressed silicon nitride materials

The mechanical properties of hot-pressed silicon nitrides containing crystalline magnesium silicate phases were investigated at room temperature and at elevated temperatures. Scanning electron microscopy of fracture surfaces was used to identify the fracture-initiating flaws at room temperature and the modes of fracture at higher temperatures. The mechanical properties of these materials at elevated temperatures were interpreted in terms of a subcritical crack growth mechanism involving grain boundary sliding, which implied the presence of residual glass phases at the grain boundaries.