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WASTEWATER DEMINERALIZATION BY CONTINUOUS COUNTER-CURRENT ION EXCHANGE PROCESS
Citation:
Chen, C. AND R. Miele. WASTEWATER DEMINERALIZATION BY CONTINUOUS COUNTER-CURRENT ION EXCHANGE PROCESS. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C., EPA/600/2-77/152.
Description:
A wastewater demineralization study employing a 38 lpm (10 gpm) continuous counter-current ion exchange pilot plant, manufactured by the Chemical Separations Corporation, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, has been conducted at the County Sanitation Districts, Pomona Research Facility, Pomona, California. Under steady state conditions TDS removal of 82% was achieved with a feed TOS of 500-600 mg/l. Monovalent cation leakage resulting from inadayne rinse reduced TDS removal below that obtained with a 2-stage fixed bed process tested at the same site. The continuous counter-current ion exchange pilot plant has demonstrated a promising regeneration efficiency for both cation and anion exchangers. The brine volume produced by the process was approximately 8 percent of the product flow, thus yielding a 92 percent water recovery. The annual resin operation losses were about 5 percent for the cation exchanger and 15 percent for the anion exchanger. These high resin losses, however, account for less than 5 percent of the total process cost. A cost estimate for a 37,850 cu m/day (10 MGD) continuous counter-current ion exchange plant based on Pomona pilot plant operating results has been made. The estimated total process cost of 4.8 cents/1000 gallons was based on the use of carbon treated secondary effluent with an average TDS concentration of 600 mg/l to produce a product water with 82 percent reduction in TDS.