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Silica Simulation

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One method that has been used to precipitate silica from geothermal fluids is by adding salt such as magnesium chloride to the brine (Bourcier et al., 2005). Magnesium cations increase polymerization rates and facilitate agglomeration of silica (Bourcier et al., 2005). Synthetic polymer electrolytes can also be used, but are more costly (Bourcier et al., 2005). In geothermal systems that have been acidified with the pH modification method to control silica scale formation, adding base to increase the pH will induce silica precipitation (Bourcier et al., 2001, 2005; Gallup, 1998). Although silica solubility does not vary significantly at pH values less than about 8, the rate of silica polymerization does increase with increasing pH (Bourcier
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