Ion Exchange Resins
Ion Exchange Resins
Ion Exchange (IX) Resin is one the oldest & well proven treatment technologies to produce demineralised or ultrapure water and has the capability to handle a wide range of dissolved contaminants from a variety of challenging feed streams extending well beyond water treatment.
Compared to conventional adsorption technologies, Selectivity and regeneration of ion exchange resins is what makes them unique and re-usable in most water & process treatment applications.
Source – Wikipedia
Applications of Ion Exchange Resins
Ozira offers custom-engineered raw water treatment systems which can help your facility remove some of the major contaminants.
Purification
Removal of hardness and sulfates from water by softening, and demineralisation or condensate polishing to reduce TDS/conductivity for boiler water treatment.
Separation
Selectively removing hazardous contaminants/ions like heavy metals, Nitrates, Sulfates from waste water without demineralisation for meeting EPA discharge limits.
Concentration
Valuable components like gold/PGM/Uranium and other precious metals are adsorbed on to the resins and the regenerated stream is concentrated for increasing efficiency of downstream processing.
Types of Ion Exchange Resins
Strong acid cation (SAC) exchange resins.
Weak base anion (SBA) exchange resins
Weak acid cation (WAC) exchange resins
Chelating resins
Strong base anion (SBA) exchange resins
Resin selection Grid
Ion Exchange Resins FAQ’s
What are ion exchange resins?
Majority of the commercially available ion exchange resins are based on an organic polymer crosslinked with DVB. PolyStyrene and Poly Acrylate beads either in Gel or Macroporous morphology are the most common ion exchange resins. These porous polymer beads are then functionalised with a suitable chemical to produce ion exchange sites called functional groups. At this point these resins are mechanically stable and offer excellent osmotic properties.
Ion exchange resins based on the functional groups can be classified as Strong Acid Cation (SAC), Weak Acid Cation (WAC)
How do ion exchange resins work?
Ion exchange resins basically work on the principle of ionic equilibrium and selectivity. In most cases this is a reversible chemical reaction where dissolved ions/contaminants (Cations, Anions, Organics) are removed from solution and replaced with counter ions in the resin structure.
What is resin regeneration?
Over time, all the available exchange sites in the Ion Exchange resin are loaded by the contaminants in the feed solution and at this stage the resin is exhausted. A suitable chemical regeneration process is then required to reverse the equilibrium and restore the chemical form of the resin.
At Ozira we can provide guidance on regeneration of resins and ways to optimise resin life.