台灣地區天然條件相當豐富，造就了珍貴的溫泉資源，其溫泉泉質種類繁複不一，但大致可分為以氯離子為主的氯化物泉、以碳酸根離子為主的碳酸氫鹽泉、以硫酸根離子的硫酸鹽泉，其中又以含碳酸根離子成份的泉質，為主要之溫泉成份。而溫泉水在管線輸送之過程，容易因富含礦物質之泉質造成管線、儲存設備結垢之情形，若長時間不處理維護，即可能導致管線爆裂、腐蝕、棄置、泉質惡化等相關問題，造成人力資源浪費、增加經營成本。而目前最常見之結垢抑制辦法為添加複磷酸鹽類，作為結垢物之抑制、清除，但由於其成份含有氮、磷，一但排入水體，亦會造成水體負擔，影響生態平衡。
緣此，本研究以物理性之方式處理溫泉管線結垢的問題，利用超音波技術所產生之物理性效應，在不同反應條件下，進行一系列之實驗及可行性之探討。本實驗之設計以人工調配之模擬溫泉水樣(含過飽合之鈣離子及碳氫根離子)，設定在不同溫度及流速下，運用超音波換能器處理，觀察系統中水樣之pH值變化，作為判斷在不同參數設定下結垢與否之依據；此外，將實驗(反應)前後之水樣，進行鈣離子濃度之分析，並依其量化數據探討該技術應用於溫泉結垢抑制之效果。
超音波物理震盪效應抑制結垢物生成之結果顯示，超音波震盪處理系統適合於環境參數在低溫及低流速時，其物理性震盪效應可增加陰陽離子以離子態存在，因而產生穩定之抑制機制。因此，本研究所使用之超音波功率及頻率，受溫度及流速之影響，其震盪處理效應於低溫及低流速下較具抑制成效；然於高溫及高流速狀態時，其抑制效益較不明顯，此項結論仍需持續之研究及探討。 There were three types of hot spring water in Taiwan, including chlorine salt type, carbonate type and sulfate salt type. When the hot spring water was delivered by pipeline system, the carbonate was easily precipitated in the pipeline and storage system, which considered as an essential problem for the owners of hot spring industry. These scaling problems corroded and damaged the pipes, leading the potential explosion problems. The major treatment methods were adding the chemical agents that contained the phosphorous and nitrate to inhibit the scaling, which caused the serious eutrophication problems in our natural environment. Replacing the pipes frequently was considered as a way to solve problems and free for chemical pollutants. However, the maintenance cost was huge and the wasted pipes were considered as an environmental issue. Therefore, in order to solve scaling problems with green technologies, this study applied ultrasound energy to the simulation process of hot spring delivery system. The increase/decrease of pH values were determined and the before/after concentrations of calcium ion were analyzed. Thus, the potential formation mechanisms of scaling in hot spring water and the performance of ultrasound assisted inhibition process were carefully examined.
The performance of ultrasound assisted inhibition process: The results indicated that ultrasound assisted inhibition process of scaling problem was depended with flow rate and temperature. When the control system was under lower flow rate and temperature, the performance functioned well in inhibiting the scaling problems. However, the performance was not obvious under higher flow rate and temperature. The experimental results of this study are insufficient to conclude the optimization control conditions of ultrasound assisted inhibition process, which needs further researches and studies to fulfill the requirements.
