Research progress in carbonate and its component determination methods in industry-specific systems

Accurate determination and prediction of carbonate and its components are of great significance in industry-specific systems, such as industrial production, life sciences, and environmental monitoring in the development of valuable resources, scale inhibition and prevention, extension of the production cycle, characterization of animal/plant physiological characteristics, and exploration of the natural carbon cycle. However, the conventional measurements cannot fully meet the application requirements of different industries, due to the low accuracy in the general carbonate systems with the limited conditions, particularly without considering the differences of specific systems. It is still lacking in the accurate determination approaches with high adaptability, leading to restricting basic research and industrialization in the industry. This review aims to analyze the development potential of carbonate and its component determination in the industry-specific system. The NO₃⁻improved Alerkin classification was also introduced to define the industry-specific system categories. The principle was determined the free carbonic acid, CO₃²⁻ and HCO₃⁻ using the relationship between the existing form of carbonate and the alkalinity, as well as the pH changes. A classification was then made on the determination methods of carbonate and its components in the specific systems, the scope of application and the relationship between carbonate and industry-specific system categories in industry. The future development direction was finally prospected in this case. The accuracy of determination depended mainly on the deep understanding of the principles, development status, and applicable systems of carbonate and its component determination methods. The current status of carbonate systems and component determination methods in industry-specific systems showed that the industrial production water system had entered the mode of on-site detection and automated monitoring of CO₃²⁻ and HCO₃⁻ concentrations. Soft measurement methods were also used to predict the total alkalinity of boiler water. The combination mode of chemical titration and instrumental chemistry was established for the boron-rich carbonate salt-lake brine system, serum HCO₃⁻, and seawater carbon dioxide carbonate system, indicating the greatly improved accuracy. Multiple ion selective electrodes were also developed suitable for the water quality system of oil and gas fields, the seawater carbon dioxide carbonate system. Laser Raman spectroscopy was introduced as well. The crop soil water and soil carbonate buffer system relied mostly on the indirect measurement of SIC content using dry combustion. Hyperspectral technology was introduced to quantitatively predict the soil inorganic carbon. Therefore, the current determination methods of carbonate and its component were divided into four modes in different industry-specific systems, including system automation and field detection, chemical titration and instrumental analysis, new ion selective electrode research and development, as well as the introduction of new method mode. The appropriate mode was selected in the different industry-specific systems, according to the subsequent application requirements. The following directions were still needed to be carried out in the future: 1) To accelerate the standardization of determination methods of carbonate and its components in industry-specific systems. 2) To supplement and improve the expression of the total alkalinity in various industry-specific systems, in order to balance the measurements in the development of various industries. 3) To optimize and innovate the combination mode of chemical titration and instrumental analysis. The trend of automation was also combined to form the key technology of accurate determination, and then to broaden the scope of application, and finally realize the linkage between various industry-specific systems. 4) The finding can also provide a strong reference for the accurate determination and technologies for the carbonate and the components in new industry-specific systems.