Antiscalants Market

Antiscalants Market

The global antiscalants market is valued at USD 4.5 billion in 2024 and is projected to reach USD 5.9 billion by 2029, growing at 5.4% cagr from 2024 to 2029. The antiscalants market is growing due to the diverse applications of these versatile materials across different sectors. Antiscalants are available in various types, such as phosphonates, carboxylates/carbonates, sulfonates, fluorides, and others. They serve various applications such as power & construction, oil & gas, mining, water treatment & desalination, food & beverage, chemical & pharmaceutical, pulp & paper, and others, all of which make use of the different properties of antiscalants to enhance their performance, particularly in terms of scale treatment capacities. The advanced properties and innovative technologies utilized in antiscalants propel the growth of the market. The antiscalants market is also segmented based on process type into scale inhibitors, crystal modification, dispersion, and others. Various sectors utilize antiscalants for different applications for their exceptional properties, including delaying nucleation, reducing precipitation rates, distorting crystal structures, and altering carbon dioxide concentrations.

Attractive Opportunities in Antiscalants Market

Source: Interviews with Experts, Secondary Research, and MarketsandMarkets Analysis

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Antiscalants Market Dynamics

Driver: High growth in applications in end-use industries

The growing demand for applications, such as chemical & pharmaceutical, municipal water treatment & desalination, oil & gas, mining, power & construction, and pulp & paper, which make use of antiscalants due to their advantages and versatile properties, are leading to market growth. Demand for antiscalants in end-use industries is attributed to their compatibility with all types of membranes, effective inhibition of scale buildup, requirement for low dosages of chemicals, high recovery rates, cost-effectiveness, and the management of scale-causing minerals. In municipal water treatment and desalination, antiscalants work by sequestering scale-forming ions, such as calcium and sulfate, from crystallizing and depositing as solids on membranes and equipment. Antiscalants also have a particle dispersion quality that maintains particles in dispersion, reducing the tendency for scale formation. The three types of antiscalants commonly utilized in the seawater desalination industry are polyacrylic acid (CA), polyphosphonate (PP), and carboxylated dendrimeric (DN).

Restraint: Volatility in cost of raw materials

Raw material price volatility could significantly restrain the market due to the uncertainty and affect the profit margins of manufacturers. Restraints are attributed to the requirement of chemicals, which are the basic raw materials required for manufacture. To enable controlling these fluctuations, companies are required to increase operational costs, making it difficult to offer competitive prices and control their expenditures. For instance, if input prices rise unexpectedly, it is difficult to pass on such costs to consumers without affecting demand. This results in a squeeze in margins, in which escalation of costs takes place simultaneously with the fall in sales prices. This, therefore, affects profitability in the long term.

Opportunities: Increasing demand for oil & gas applications

Antiscalants help prevent scale deposition on diverse equipment and processes and are especially useful in the oil & gas industry. They find use in the petroleum and gas industries in applications in water injection systems, pipeline transmission, and pumping. Crystallization and the deposition of minerals is thus prevented. It enables the optimization of operational efficiency, reduction of maintenance costs to achieve high overall productivity, and high reliability of oilfield operations.

Challenges: Potential of membrane fouling threat to growing market

The use of antiscalants in reverse osmosis (RO) systems always comes bundled with challenges, as they could be fouling in nature. In fouling, undesirable materials, such as particles, microorganisms, and organic compounds, deposit on the surfaces and inside the pores of filtration membranes during filtration. This builds up a boundary layer in contact with the membrane and seriously affects it by reducing the permeate flow and modifying the filtration properties. Fouling can, however, be divided into reversible and irreversible fouling, depending upon the strength of attachment of these materials to membranes. While antiscalants are utilized to act as inhibitors for scaling, they often form complexes with constituents in the feed water that precipitate or deposit on membrane surfaces. This can be further accelerated by factors such as incorrect dosing, variation in water chemistry, and the presence of other contaminants.

Antiscalants Market: Ecosystem

Prominent companies in this market include well-established, financially stable manufacturers of antiscalants. These companies have been operating in the market for several years and possess diversified product portfolios and strong global sales and marketing networks. Prominent companies in this market include Dow (US), BASF SE (Germany), Ecolab (US), Solenis (US), Kemira (Finland), Kurita Water Industries Ltd. (Japan), Syensqo (Belgium), Clariant (Switzerland), Veolia (France), and Italmatch Chemicals S.p.A. (Italy).

Based on type, fluorides is projected to be the second-fastest-growing type in terms of volume, in the antiscalants market.

The fluorides segment is projected to be the second-fastest-growing type, in terms of volume, during the forecast period. Silica and silicate-based scales create operational problems in desalination, cooling, geothermal, and reverse osmosis systems. The water solubility of amorphous and crystalline silica materials is poor. Once scaling develops, removal is difficult, and frequently, aggressive mechanical or chemical cleaning is required. Fluorine-based acids, such as hydrofluoric acid, ammonium fluoride, and fluoroboric acid, help in the effective removal of silicate deposits. These fluorine compounds are highly resistant environmentally and may also bioaccumulate, multiplicatively affecting aquatic life and human health. The contribution of these compounds to the corrosion of equipment is well recognized. In addition, their incompatibility with most other water treatment chemicals limits their application.

Based on application, oil & gas is the largest segment, in terms of volume, in the antiscalants market.

Antiscalants are multipurpose and adaptable materials being used by the oil & gas industry for various applications. In the oil & gas industry, antiscalants are essential in inhibiting the formation of scales during the exploration, treatment, and transportation processes. Scaling deposits may occur due to the supersaturation of the produced water with dissolved ions such that the insoluble mineral salts start precipitating out. Such scaling leads to significant problems related to reducing flow rates, equipment damage, and loss of production time. These can be countered with the use of antiscalants, which are added to processes during various stages and operating conditions to prevent the formation of different types of scales. This prevents scale buildup in reservoir valves, pumps, pipelines, heat exchangers, and boilers used in downhole operations.

Based on process type, crystal modificators are projected to be the second-largest process type, in terms of volume, during the forecast period.

Antiscalants inhibit scale formation during the crystal modification process by altering the morphology of the forming crystals. They take up residence on developing crystal surfaces so that the normal crystal structure cannot form properly. As a result of this disruption, the softer, misshaped crystals are then able to attach to surfaces. At a more precise level, antiscalants disrupt the crystal growth process through the destabilization of the formation of a solid crystal lattice. This explains why the crystal modification process finds applications in a number of industries, from oil & gas to power generation and from water treatment to mining. Scaling problems that characterize these respective industries are highly complex, and hence demand advanced solutions such as crystal modification.

Asia Pacific to be the fastest-growing market during the forecast period, in terms of volume.

The market in the Asia Pacific is the fastest-growing globally, owing to economic growth in countries, such as India, China, South Korea, Malaysia, and Australia. It is the leading consumer of antiscalants globally and has witnessed exponential growth in the consumption of antiscalants in recent years. The presence of highly populated countries, such as China and India, has benefited the antiscalants market owing to the increasing demand for applications such as power & construction, oil & gas, mining, municipal water treatment & desalination, food & beverage, chemical & pharmaceutical, pulp & paper, and others. China, India, Japan, and South Korea are among the world's most populous countries and require water for various purposes, consistently generating demand for antiscalant products in the municipal water treatment & desalination sector.

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Antiscalants Market Players

The antiscalants market is dominated by a few major players that have a wide regional presence. The key players in the antiscalants market are Dow (US), BASF SE (Germany), Ecolab (US), Solenis (US), Kemira (Finland), Kurita Water Industries Ltd. (Japan), Syensqo (Belgium), Clariant (Switzerland), Veolia (France), and Italmatch Chemicals S.p.A. (Italy).

During the last few years, companies have adopted growth strategies, such as product launches, investments, acquisitions, and expansions, to capture a larger share of the antiscalants market.

Antiscalants Market Report Scope

This report categorizes the global antiscalants market based on type, application, process type, and region.

On the basis of type, the antiscalants market has been segmented as follows:

• Phosphonates
• Carboxylates/Carbonates
• Sulfonates
• Fluorides
• Other types

On the basis of application, the antiscalants market has been segmented as follows:

• Power & construction
• Oil & gas
• Mining
• Municipal water treatment & desalination
• Food & beverage
• Chemical & pharmaceutical
• Pulp & paper
• Other applications

On the basis of process type, the antiscalants market has been segmented as follows:

• Threshold inhibitors
• Crystal modification
• Dispersion
• Other process types

On the basis of region, the antiscalants market has been segmented as follows:

• Asia Pacific
• Europe
• North America
• Middle East & Africa
• South America

Recent Developments

• In July 2024, Kemira expanded its product portfolio by acquiring Norit's UK reactivation operations. This strategic move enables Kemira to offer activated carbon services, complementing its existing range of water treatment chemicals. This development has helped Kemira in enabling the removal of micropollutants, such as PFAS from water.
• In October 2023, Solenis acquired CedarChem LLC, which offers a diverse range of water and wastewater treatment products for the industrial and municipal markets with a focus on the US. The acquisition is supported by the company’s direct go-to-market strategy, enhancing its ability to offer improved water treatment chemicals.

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