Research progress on scaling mechanism and anti-scaling technology of geothermal well system

Geothermal energy is a new renewable and clean energy source with low cost and wide distribution. In the process of production and reinjection of geothermal well system (mainly including facilities such as wellbore, downhole casing, wellhead device and surface pipe sink), due to various factors such as temperature, pressure, pH, flow velocity, degree of supersaturation, and presence of other salts and ions interfering in solution, precipitation is easily formed, resulting in the phenomenon of scaling in geothermal well system. This phenomenon can seriously affect the normal production operation of the geothermal well system, reduce the service life of the equipment, and cause a series of problems such as energy waste and economic loss. This paper presents a review of recent research progress on scaling and scale inhibition in geothermal well systems. The mechanism of scaling in geothermal well systems, as well as the main technical means of scale inhibition and removal currently adopted were introduced. The future research directions of scale inhibition and descaling in geothermal well systems are also presented.