WATER DEMINERALIZATION

Ashwani Kumar
NMIT,Bengaluru
 Demineralization is the removal of essentially all
inorganic salts. In ion exchange demineralization
hydrogen Cation exchange converts dissolved
salts to their corresponding acids, and basic
anion exchange removes these acids.
 Purpose
 Removal of ionic substances
 Reduction of conductivity

 Control of pH
Demineraliser Resins

 Cationic resins exchange positively charged functional

groups, for undesirable positive ions.
 With their functional groups in the hydrogen form, R – H,
“R” represents the exchange resin and “H” represents the
attached hydrogen ion.

 Anionic resins exchange negatively charged functional

groups for any undesirable negative ion.
 The hydroxyl ion, OH- (R—OH) is commonly used as the
functional group in an anion resin.
Principle Of Demineralization
 The demineralizer system consists of one or
more ion exchange resin columns, including a
strong Cation unit and a strong anion unit. The
Cation resins exchange hydrogen for raw water
cations as shown below:
 The anion resins exchange hydroxyl for raw water anions.

 In the example, the acids resulting from the Cation exchange

process react with the anion exchange resin. As a result we
form water and the anions are embedded into the resin.
 Other weak acids are also removed because the resin is
strongly basic.
Ion Exchange Reaction
NaCl   Na   Cl 
H 2O

When NaCl is dissolved in water it dissociates to

form sodium ions and chloride ions.
The ions released by the demineralizing resin combine
to form water :
H   OH   H 2O
This is a reversible reaction as indicated by the arrow.
The net reaction is as follows :
R - H   R OH   Na   Cl   R - Na   R Cl   H   OH 
The net result is that theions in the resin are exchanged
by the ions in solution. As a result weform fresh water.
REGENERATION
 Cation exchange resins are regenerated by
treatment with hydrochloric or sulfuric acid,
then washing with water.
 Anion exchange resins are regenerated by
treatment with sodium hydroxide (NaOH), then
washing with water.
Fig Showing:
Demineralizer