R
Regeneration of the Ion-Exchange
Resin
Tongwen Xu
Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for
Energy Materials, School of Chemistry and
Material Science, University of Science and
Technology of China, Hefei, P.R. China
Regeneration of the ion-exchange resin is the
procedure for recovering the ion-exchange capa-
bilities of exhausted ion-exchange resins. Most
ion-exchange resins are used in columns.
Ion-exchange operation is basically discontinu-
ous: a loading phase, called service run, is
followed by regeneration of the exhausted resins
(Calmon 1986). Regeneration ratio is calculated
as the total amount of regenerant (in equivalents)
divided by the total ionic load (also in equiva-
lents) during one cycle. It is also equal to the
number of eq./L regenerant per eq./L of resin
operating capacity. A (theoretical) regenerant
ratio of 1.00 (i.e., 100 %) would correspond to
the stoichiometric quantity. Nevertheless, all
resins need a certain excess of regenerant above
the stoichiometric quantity. The regeneration
ratio is influenced by the technological process,
the type and amount of regenerant, etc. There are
two main methods for the regeneration process
(Dardel and Arden 2008): (1) co-flow
# Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2014
E. Drioli, L. Giorno (eds.), Encyclopedia of Membranes,
DOI 10.1007/978-3-642-40872-4_1422-3
regeneration, where the fluids are flowing from
the top to the bottom of the column both during
the service run and during regeneration (Fig. 1),
and (2) reverse flow regeneration, where the
fluids are flowing alternatively upward and
downward during service and regeneration
(Fig. 2). Traditional regenerants are salts (such
as NaCl, KCl, NH4Cl), acids (HCl, H2SO4,
HNO3, acetic acid, citric acid), and alkali
(NaOH, KOH, NH3, Na2CO3). For instance,
NaCl is normally used to regenerate SAC resins
in the softening process. SAC resins need to be
regenerated with a strong acid for the purpose of
decationization, and SBA resins are always
regenerated with NaOH in the demineralization
process. The disadvantages of the use of tradi-
tional regenerants are the low regeneration effi-
ciency and the discharge of large amount of
wastewater, leading to serious environmental
pollution and resource waste. Improvement
methods include (1) the recovery of the
discharged wastewater; nanofiltration can be uti-
lized for recovery of the wastewater, or the waste
can be used to produce composite flocculant;
(2) the modification of the regenerants; alcohol,
ketone, and surfactant are added, or new
regenerants are developed; and (3) the strength-
ening of the regeneration process. Ultrasonic,
microwave, electrodialysis, or thermal treatment
is applied for the strengthening.
2 Regeneration of the Ion-Exchange Resin

Exhaustion Regeneration

lon leakage
Regenerated resin Exhausted resin

Regeneration of the Ion-Exchange Resin, Fig. 1 Illustration of co-flow regeneration (CFR) (Dardel and Arden
2008)

a Exhaustion Regeneration

Clean zone: almost no leakage

Regenerated resin Exhausted resin

b Exhaustion Regeneration
Clean zone: almost no leakage

Regenerated resin Exhausted resin

Regeneration of the Ion-Exchange Resin, Fig. 2 Illustration of reverse flow regeneration (RFR), including (a)
upflow loading and downflow regeneration and (b) downflow loading and upflow regeneration (Dardel and Arden 2008)
Regeneration of the Ion-Exchange Resin
References
Calmon C (1986) Recent developments in water treatment
by ion exchange. React Polym Ion Exch Sorbents
4(2):131–146
3
Dardel F, Arden TV (2008) Ion exchangers. In: Ullmann’s
encyclopedia of industrial chemistry
François Dardel and Thomas V. Arden (2008) Ion
Exchangers In: Ullmann’s Encyclopedia of Industrial
Chemistry, Wiley-VCH, Weinheim. doi:10.1002/
14356007.a14_393.pub2