Deionizers
Pure Aqua is a leading provider of deionization solutions. Our water deionizers are rugged, pre-engineered, pre-assembled, standardized units that minimize expensive installation and start-up costs. We have designed our Deionization systems to maximize the efficiency and repeatability of the unit during the service and regeneration modes
The Process of Deionization or Ion-exchange
In the context of water purification, ion-exchange
is a rapid and reversible process in which impurity
ions present in the water are replaced by ions
released by an ion-exchange resin. The impurity
ions are taken up by the resin, which must be
periodically regenerated to restore it to the
original ionic form. (An ion is an atom or group
of atoms with an electric charge. Positively-charged
ions are called cations and are usually metals;
negatively-charged ions are called anions and
are usually non-metals).
The following ions are widely found in raw waters:
| Cations |
Anions |
| Calcium (Ca2+) |
Chloride (Cl-) |
| Magnesium (Mg2+) |
Bicarbonate (HCO3-) |
| Sodium (Na+) |
Nitrate (NO3-) |
| Potassium (K+) |
Carbonate (CO32-) |
| Iron (Fe2+) |
Sulfate (SO42-) |
Ion Exchange Resins
There are two basic types of resin - cation-exchange
and anion-exchange resins. Cation exchange resins
will release Hydrogen (H
+) ions or
other positively charged ions in exchange for
impurity cations present in the water. Anion exchange
resins will release hydroxyl (OH
-)
ions or other negatively charged ions in exchange
for impurity anions present in the water.
The application of ion-exchange to water treatment
and purification
There are three ways in which ion-exchange technology can be used in water treatment and purification: first, cation-exchange resins alone can be employed to soften water by base exchange; secondly, anion-exchange resins alone can be used for organic scavenging or nitrate removal; and thirdly, combinations of cation-exchange and anion-exchange resins can be used to remove virtually all the ionic impurities present in the feedwater, a process known as deionization. Water deionizers purification process results in water of exceptionally high quality.
Deionization
For many laboratory and industrial applications,
high-purity water which is essentially free from
ionic contaminants is required. Water of this
quality can be produced by deionization.The two
most common types of deionization are:
- Two-bed deionization
- Mixed-bed deionization
Two-bed deionization
The two-bed deionizer consists of two vessels
- one containing a cation-exchange resin in the
hydrogen (H
+) form and the other containing
an anion resin in the hydroxyl (OH
-)
form. Water flows through the cation column, whereupon
all the cations are exchanged for hydrogen ions.To
keep the water electrically balanced, for every
monovalent cation, e.g. Na
+, one hydrogen
ion is exchanged and for every divalent cation,
e.g. Ca
2+, or Mg
2+, two
hydrogen ions are exchanged. The same principle
applies when considering anion-exchange. The decationised
water then flows through the anion column. This
time, all the negatively charged ions are exchanged
for hydroxide ions which then combine with the
hydrogen ions to form water (H2O).
Mixed-bed deionization
In mixed-bed deionizers the cation-exchange and
anion-exchange resins are intimately mixed and
contained in a single pressure vessel. The thorough
mixture of cation-exchangers and anion-exchangers
in a single column makes a mixed-bed deionizer
equivalent to a lengthy series of two-bed plants.
As a result, the water quality obtained from a
mixed-bed deionizer is appreciably higher than
that produced by a two-bed plant.
Although more efficient in purifying the incoming
feedwater, mixed-bed plants are more sensitive
to impurities in the water supply and involve
a more complicated regeneration process. Mixed-bed
deionizers are normally used to ‘polish’ the water
to higher levels of purity after it has been initially
treated by either a two-bed deionizer or a reverse
osmosis unit.
Electrodeionization EDI Electrodeionization Systems remove ions from aqueous streams, typically in conjunction with reverse osmosis (RO) and other purification devices. Our high-quality deionization modules continually produce ultrapure water up to 18.2MW/cm. EDI may be run continuously or intermittently