DEQUEST® 2000, 2010 and 7000

product series for industrial

water treatment applications

TABLE
Table OF
of CONTENTS
contents
1 Introduction
2 Physical and Chemical Properties
2.1 DEQUEST® 2000 series
2.2 DEQUEST® 2010 series
2.3 DEQUEST® 7000
2.4 Solubility
2.5 Hydrolytic stability
2.6 Halogen stability
2.7 Acidity constants
2.8 Calcium tolerance
3 Functional Properties
3.1 Sequestration
3.2 Crystal growth modification
3.3 Dispersion
3.4 Threshold effect
2 3
4 Applications of Dequest®
2000/2010/7000 Series
in Water Treatment
4.1 Cooling water treatment
4.1.1 Scale inhibition
4.1.2 Corrosion inhibition
4.1.3 Performance in the presence of water
contaminants
4.2 Boiler water treatment
4.3 Cleaners
5 Quality of Dequest® products
DEQUEST® 2000, 2010 and 7000 product series
for industrial water treatment applications
1 INTRODUCTION
The Italmatch Chemicals S.p.A. Dequest® Business
is offering unique specialty additives to meet the
needs of these industries involved in water
management or deal with processes or applications
where water plays a crucial role.
More than 40 years ago, Dequest® pioneered the
development of  phosphonate based antiscalants.
Dequest® phosphonates have been the product of
choice for antiscalants / dispersants / corrosion
inhibitors / chelants in various applications for many
years. Today  Dequest® offers a broad range of water
management additives including Dequest®
phosphonates, Dequest® P acrylic / maleic based
(co-) polymers, Dequest® PB biological polymers
and tailor made products for specific applications.
Dequest®  phosphonates and polymers are used
worldwide in a broad spectrum of markets and
applications, including industrial water treatment,
household & industrial detergents, industrial
cleaners, enhanced oil recovery operations and
various industrial processes such as desalination,
pulp production & bleaching of paper as well as
textiles.
DEQUEST® 2000, 2010 and 7000 series are members
of the family of organophosphonates marketed
under the Italmatch Chemicals S.p.A. registered
trademark DEQUEST®. All three series are excellent
scale inhibitors with corrosion inhibiting and
dispersing properties perfectly suited for severe
water treatment operating conditions This bulletin
provides a detailed overview of physical, chemical
and performance properties of
DEQUEST® 2000 series
DEQUEST® 2010 series
DEQUEST® 7000
 DEQUEST® 2000, 2010 and 7000 product series
for industrial water treatment applications

2 Physical and Chemical Properties of Dequest® 2000, 2010 and 7000 Product DEQUEST® 2010 DEQUEST® 2016
product series Abbreviation HEDP Na4HEDP

Appearance Clear water white to pale yellow aqueous Clear water white to pale yellow aqueous
solution solution
Physical & chemical
2.1 - DEQUEST® 2000 series Properties
• Chemical name: Aminotri (methylenephosphonic acid) - ATMP Active [%] content 60 (as acid) 21 (as acid)
30 (as salt)
• Chemical structure: O Molecular 206 294
weight
OH
Specific gravity @ 20/20°C 1.45 1.31
CH2 P

pH (1% at 25°C)
OH
HO
Freezing -25 It is recommended that Dequest® 2016 is
P CH2 N
point [°C] maintained above +5°C at all times
HO Chloride as [%Cl] < 0.1 < 0.1
OH
O Iron [ppm Fe] 20 max 20 max
CH2 P

OH

O Phosphorus as “P” 18.9% 6.6%

Product DEQUEST® 2000 DEQUEST® 2006

Abbreviation ATMP Na5ATMP 2.3 - DEQUEST® 7000
Product form Acid solution Pentasodium salt solution • Chemical name: 2-Phosphono 1,2,4 - butane tricarboxylic acid (PBTC)

Appearance Clear water white to pale Clear water white to pale • Chemical structure:
yellow aqueous solution yellow aqueous solution
O OH
Physical & chemical Properties
C
Active [%] content 50 (as acid) 29 (as acid)
O O
40 (as salt)
Molecular weight 299 409 C CH2 C CH2 CH2 C

Specific gravity @ 20/20°C 1.33 1.42 HO OH

pH (1% at 25°C) <2 10 - 11 HO P OH

Freezing point [°C] -15 -21

O
Chloride as [%Cl] <1 <1

Iron [ppm Fe] 20 max 20 max

Product DEQUEST® 7000
Phosphorus as “P” 15.5% 9%
Abbreviation PBTC

Appearance Clear water white to pale yellow aqueous solution

2.2 - DEQUEST® 2010 series
Physical & chemical Properties
• Chemical name: 1-Hydroxyethylidene (1,1 diphosphonic acid) - HEDP
Active [%] content 50 as acid
• Chemical structure:
Molecular weight 270
OH OH OH
Specific gravity @ 20/20°C 1.28

HO P C P OH
pH (1% at 25°C) 1.8 - 1.9

Freezing point [°C] - 15°C

O CH3 O Iron [ppm Fe] 20 max

Phosphorus as “P” 5.7%

Iron (Fe), ppm 20 ppm max

4 5
 DEQUEST® 2000, 2010 and 7000 product series
for industrial water treatment applications

2.4 - Solubility 2.7 - Acidity constants

DEQUEST 2000, DEQUEST 2010 and DEQUEST   7000
® ® ®
Phosphonates behave as multibasic acids with seve­ral
are miscible in all proportions with water and acid inflexion points. Acidity constants are mention­ed
solutions. DEQUEST 2010 is readily soluble in glycol and
®
in the table  I below for DEQUEST   2000
®
and
methanol. The solubility of DEQUEST® 2000, DEQUEST® DEQUEST® 2010:
2010 and DEQUEST® 7000 in alkaline solutions strongly
varies with pH. Neutralization of concentrated solutions of Acidity DEQUEST®
DEQUEST® 2000
constant 2010
DEQUEST®  2000, DEQUEST® 2010 and DEQUEST® 7000
pK1 <2 <1
should therefore be carried out with care. Please contact
pK2 <2 2.54
your representative for guidance.
pK3 4.30 6.97
pK4 5.46 11.41
2.5 - Hydrolytic Stability pK5 6.66 NA
Inorganic polyphosphates tend to hydrolyze to pK6 12.3 NA
orthophosphate. This reversion affects scale inhibition Table I: Test conditions for acidity constant
properties and can lead to calcium orthophosphate scale determination:
- DEQUEST® 2000: 1 mole KNO3 (21°C)
formation. DEQUEST® 2000, DEQUEST® 2010 and
- DEQUEST® 2010: in 0.5M tetramethyl- ammonium 3 Functional properties of
DEQUEST® 7000 series of phosphonates are hydrolytically chloride (25°c ) DEQUEST® 2000, 2010 and 7000
stable over a wide range of pH values and operating
product series
temperatures. This superior resistance to decomposition
is a major advantage of the DEQUEST® phosphonates. 2.8 - Calcium Tolerance 3.1 - Sequestration
Operating efficiently an industrial cooling system under DEQUEST®  2000, DEQUEST®  2010 and DEQUEST® 7000
2.6 - Halogen stability high alkaline conditions requires a chemical treatment are good sequestering agents for most metal ions. A
The presence of oxidising biocides (hypochlorous, program that includes an organic calcium tolerant organo ­common way of comparing the effectiveness of seques-
­hypobromous acids, ozone, chlorine dioxide) will affect phosphonates based inhibitor and a polymeric component. tering agents is the stability of the complex formed.
the performance of DEQUEST 2000 and DEQUEST 2010.
® ® This value is a measure of the extent to which a complex
CALCIUM ION TOLERANCE TEST CONDITIONS- 320 ppm will form from free metal and sequestrant.
Therefore, appropriate formulatory and application con-
Ca2+ - 80 oC - pH 9.2 - 20 hrs
siderations have to be taken. Under the same conditions,
DEQUEST® 7000 remains unaffected. 102 For the formation of a given complex:

% Residual Ca2+ in solution

DEQUEST 7000
100 M+n + L-m ML(n-m)
Increasing order of phosphonate stability in the presence of
98 DEQUEST 2000
oxidising biocides is as follows:
96 DEQUEST 2010
The equilibrium constant would be:
94
Chlorine: DEQUEST® 7000 > DEQUEST® 2010 >>>> DEQUEST® 2000

92 [ML(n-m)]
Bromine: DEQUEST® 7000 > DEQUEST® 2000 >>> DEQUEST® 2010 Ke =
90
[M ] [L ]
+n -m
Ozone: DEQUEST® 7000 = DEQUEST® 2010 >> DEQUEST® 2000
Chlorine dioxide: DEQUEST® 7000 = DEQUEST® 2010 >> DEQUEST® 2000 0 20 40 60 80

ppm inhibitor “as is” where M+n is the metal ion, L-m the sequestering agent, and
ML(n-m) the complex formed. The stability constant is then
Fig. 1 Dequest calcium ion tolerance
®
expressed as the logarithm of the equilibrium constant.

Stability constant = log Ke

6 7
 DEQUEST® 2000, 2010 and 7000 product series
for industrial water treatment applications

A comparison of the stability constants then gives an

3.4 - Threshold effect 4 Application of DEQUEST® 2000, FIG. 3A: COOLING WATER - ZINC CORROSION PROGRAM
CONTROL pH
indication of the amount of unsequestered metal ion in
The sum of the above mentioned properties results in a 2010 and 7000 product series in
solution. The larger the value, the smaller the amount of Zn / phosphonate
“threshold effect”. Threshold scale inhibition is the industrial water treatment systems dose / response plot
free ion.
prevention of precipitation from supersaturated solutions
100 PHOSPHONATE
at sub-stoechiometric amounts of scale inhibitor (Fig. 2). 80 +3 ppm Zn

% inhibition
Table II is presenting the stability constants of the active PHOSPHONATE ALONE
60
component of DEQUEST® 2000, DEQUEST® 2010, indicating The different functional properties of DEQUEST series®
40
their sequestering effect with various metals. Increasing calcium are the basis of their application in the following fields:
20
organophosphonate • cooling water treatment 0
precipitation
DEQUEST 2000
®
DEQUEST 2010
® • boiler water treatment -20
(ATMP) (HEDP) • off-line/online cleaners -40
Turbidity Region 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
phosphonate dosage (ppm AA)
Ion Log Ke metal complex Log Ke metal complex

Ca+2 7.5 6.05 4.1 - Cooling water treatment

Threshold Sequestration FIG. 3B: COOLING WATER - PHOSPHATE CORROSION PROGRAM
Mg+2 7.2 6.55 B CONTROL pH
Region Region
Fe+3 14.6 16.21
4.1.1 - Scale Inhibition
A C dose / response plot
In order to minimize operational costs, nowadays, cooling
Ni+2 11.06 9.24 120
water systems run at high cycles of concentration resulting 100
Zn+2 16.37 10.73 80
in high pH and high scaling tendencies. Therefore scale

% inhibition
Increasing mole ratio of organophosphonate to calcium 60
inhibition with avoidance of the use of acid at high 40
TABLE II: stability constants of dequest® 2000 and PHOSPHONATE ALONE
stressed conditions is becoming of major importance. This 20
dequest 2010®
Fig. 2: Threshold Effect OF ORGANOPHOSPHO- 0
PHOSPHONATE + 5 ppm PO4

NATES required scale inhibition can be achieved by inclusion of PO4 ALONE

-20
DEQUEST series in cooling water formulations at dosages
®
-40
of few ppm. DEQUEST® phosphonates are compatible with -60
3.2 - Crystal Growth Modification As a result DEQUEST phosphonates are very effective in a
®
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
wide variety of precipitating systems at very low use each other and with most other treatment chemicals used dosage (ppm AA)
Crystal growth modification is the primary functionality
necessary in a sludge modification agent to produce fluid, concentrations ( typically 0,2-0,5 ppm level) as outlined in in cooling water treatment such as corrosion inhibition

non-adherent sludge. DEQUEST® phosphonates cause a table III below. systems like zinc, phosphates. In some cases remarkable

delayed, altered crystal growth which may give a technical synergies may be achieved with mixtures of

synergistic effect in formulation with other agents such as DEQUEST® phosphonates and DEQUEST® P low molecular
Ca Phosphate

Cu / Fe oxides
Ca Oxalate

weight polymers. For more information about the

Ba/Sr SO4

polymers.
CaCO3

CaSO4

CaF2

SiO2

DEQUEST® P product series please, refer to the

"Introductory Brochure" and the Product Data Sheets for
3.3 - Dispersion
DEQUEST® P 9000, P9020 and P9030.
DEQUEST® phosphonates are effective dispersants for
DEQUEST® 2000
slurries such as clays, calcium carbonate, barium
DEQUEST® 2010
carbonate, barium sulfate. This efficiency is comparable to
DEQUEST® 7000 4.1.2 - Corrosion Inhibition
sodium tripolyphosphate but organophosphonates offer
Cooling water installations are typically subject to
the advantage of being stable at elevated temperatures.
Good corrosion. Although DEQUEST® provides a reduction of the
corrosion, they exhibit beneficial synergy when formulated
Excellent
with zinc, molybdenum or poly-phosphates.
table III: dequest ®
performance versus various Figure 3A represents synergies between DEQUEST®
scale forming salts organophosphates and zinc for corrosion inhibition.
Figure 3B represents synergies between DEQUEST®
organophosphates and phosphates for corrosion
inhibition.

8 9
 DEQUEST® 2000, 2010 and 7000 product series
for industrial water treatment applications

4.1.3 - Performance in the presence of 4.2 - Boiler water treatment

water contaminants DEQUEST® 2000 series, DEQUEST® 2010 series and
In situations where high cycles and reduced blowdown DEQUEST® 7000 are resistant to hydrolytic and thermal
dictate operations, some interfering species such as ferric degradation to orthophosphate. Since these products
ions (Fe3+) or phosphates can have an adverse effect on function as crystal growth modifiers and as chelating
the performance of these inhibitors. FIG.4 indicates impact agents, they should be evaluated as synergistic additives
of phosphate. In FIG.5, the impact of ferric Iron is described. for boiler water treatment formulations.
FIG 4: EFFECT OF PHOSPHATE
CONCENTRATION ON CaCO3 INHIBITION DEQUEST® phosphonate based treatment programs can
800 ppm CaH - 800 ppm TAC - 50 oC
be designed for low - and medium - pressure (up to 6 MPa)
- pH 8.9 - 20 hrs - @ 200 rpm
boiler systems. Blends DEQUEST® phosphonates with
100
dispersants and sequestrants will be able to handle a wide
90
range of boiler water system conditions, resulting in clean
80
boiler internals and providing optimum performance.
% CaCO3 inhibition

70
60
50 • Compatibility:
40 DEQUEST® 2000 series, DEQUEST® 2010 series and
30 DEQUEST® 7000 phosphonates are compatible with
20 most typically used chelants, sludge modification
10 agents, corrosion inhibitors and oxygen scavengers in
0 boiler water treatment applications.
0 5 10
ppm phosphate as P04 3-
5 Quality of DEQUEST® products
Dequest 7000 - 3.0 ppm “as is”
Dequest 2000 - 3.0 ppm “as is” 4.3 - Cleaners
DEQUEST® products are covered by certification to quality
Dequest 2010 - 1.7 ppm “as is” In off-line or on-line, low pressure boiler, chemical
standard ISO 9002.
cleaning procedures mixtures of sequestrants and
FIG 5: EFFECT OF PPM Fe3+ CONCENTRATION ON dispersants are used. DEQUEST® phosphonates may be
CaCO3 INHIBITION In addition, the Newport (UK) Dequest® manufacturing site
included in these mixtures in order to assist in
800 ppm CaH - 800 ppm TAC - 50 oC is certified to the Environment Management System
- pH 8.9 - 20 hrs - @ 200 rpm disintegrating deposits and in removal of sludge.
Standard ISO 14001. It also participates in the European
Also in industrial cooling water cleaning applications
100 Community EMAS regulation (Eco Management Audit
the DEQUEST® phosphonates enhance the cleaning
90 Scheme) which requires independent verification of
80 performance, provide scale inhibition and help to disperse
environmental performance.
removed solids in order to prevent their redeposition.
% CaCO3 inhibition

70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
0 1
ppm Fe3+

Dequest 7000 - 3.0 ppm “as is”

Dequest 2000 - 3.0 ppm “as is”
Dequest 2010 - 1.7 ppm “as is”
10 11
 DEQUEST® 2000, 2010 and 7000
product series for industrial
water treatment applications

More information
If you would like to obtain more detailed information about DEQUEST® products or are interested in obtaining a
sample for evaluation in your system, please contact your nearest Italmatch Chemicals S.p.A. representative or visit
our website: http://www.dequest.com

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The information in this bulletin is to the best of our knowledge true and accurate but all instructions, recommendations or suggestions are made without guarantee. Since the
conditions of use are beyond their control, Italmatch Chemicals S.p.A. and its subsidiaries disclaim any liability for loss or damage suffered from use of these data and suggestions.
Furthermore, no liability is accepted if use of any product in accordance with these data or suggestions infringes any patent.