Resine Mixed Bed

Mixed Bed resins, a mixture of cation and anions are used as polishers to obtain low conductivity water. Typically, low conductivity water is required for bolier feed for high pressure boilers, electronics, electrical discharge cutting machines and pharmaceutical applications.

Mixed Bed can also be used as a primary deionisation unit when the inlet salt is low. Mixed Beds also find applications in process industry where demineralization of pH sensitive products is to be carried out.

The Poular application is as below -

• Ultra pure water production
• Demineralisation
• Deionisation 
• Condensate polishing (boiler feed water)
• Micro-electronics cleaning
• Pharmaceuticals
• Metal Removal

Dosage

Each application requires a different water quality. In general cation resin for water softening and demineralization may last 5 to 10 years. Anion resins used in demineralization last anywhere from 3 to 5 years and are dependent on operational conditions. Like every other resin, the life of mixed bed resin is dependent on the application in which it is being used. Resin life is difficult to predict; in critical applications it's best to start analyzing and benchmarking the resin at least once per year.

Industrial Usage

Rinse Cycle:

The rinse cycle removes remaining brine from the tank. Normally 10 minutes of Rinse flow equivalent to service flow is sufficient to rinse out excess brine.

Though synthetic softening resins normally last 5 years or so, but certain conditions can cause resin to breakdown earlier. Oxidation by chlorine is probably the most common cause of resin breakdown. When chlorine is used to oxidize iron in the water, the chlorine should be removed before ion exchange.

Secondly Iron will significantly affect the ability of resins to remove hardness ions. Ferrous iron can be oxidized during softening and precipitate out as iron oxide on the resin, and no amount of brine will remove the iron fouling. If iron oxide is formed before ion exchange unit, it can be filtered out by the resin and removed during the backwashing of the unit. Normally if the iron concentration in the source water is high, iron removal is provided ahead of the exchange unit to prevent fouling of the unit.

Turbidity, organic chemicals, and bacterial slimes resins resulting in the loss of some of the resin exchange capacity. The best solution is to remove of the suspended matter with filtration before the softening process.

ADVANTAGES OF ION-EXCHANGE SOFTENING:

Compared with lime-soda ash softening, ion-exchange has certain advantages. It is compact and has a low capital cost. The chemicals used are safer for the operator to handle and operation is much easier. It can be totally automated. Softeners also can be Automatic duplex type to ensure continuous supply of soft water in case of critical application like Boiler Feed etc. Many systems have found ion-exchange to be the most cost effective way to produce quality water for their customers.

Remarks

The presence of certain metal ions in water causes a variety of problems. These ions interfere with the action of soaps. They also lead to build up of limescale, which can foul plumbing, and galvanic corrosion.

Conventional water-softening appliances intended for household use depend on an ion-exchange resin in which “hardness ions” – mainly Ca2+ and Mg2+- are exchanged for sodium ions. Ion exchange devices reduce the hardness by replacing magnesium and calcium (Mg2+ and Ca2+) with sodium or potassium ions (Na+ and K+).”

Ion-exchange softeners are used extensively in small water systems and individual homes apart from Industry. Ion-exchange resin, exchanges one ion from the water being treated for another ion that is in the resin (sodium is one component of softening salt, with chlorine being the other). Ion Exchange resin exchanges sodium for calcium and magnesium. The following chemical reactions show the exchange process, where R represents Resin, the exchange material.

Removal of carbonate hardness:

Ca(HCO3)2 + Na2R ——> CaR + 2NaHCO3

Mg(HCO3)2 + Na2R ——> MgR + 2NaHCO3

Removal of non-carbonate hardness:

CaSO4 + Na2R —– > CaR + Na2SO4

CaCl2 + Na2R ——> CaR + CaCl2

MgSO4 + Na2R ——> MgR + Na2SO4

MgCl2 + Na2R ——> MgR + 2NaC1

Ion exchange resins are organic polymers containing anionic functional groups to which the divalent cations (Ca++) bind more strongly than monovalent cations (Na+).

Ion-exchange does not alter the water’s pH or alkalinity. However, the stability of the water is altered due to the removal of calcium and magnesium and slight increase in dissolved solids. For each ppm of calcium removed and replaced by sodium, total dissolved solids increase by 0.15 ppm. For each ppm of magnesium removed and replaced by sodium, total dissolved solids increase by 0.88 ppm.

When all the available Na+ ions have been replaced with calcium or magnesium ions, the resin must be re-charged by eluting the Ca2+ and Mg2+ ions using a solution of sodium chloride. The waste waters eluted from the ion exchange column containing the unwanted calcium and magnesium salts are typically discharged to the sewage system in case of household units.