What is the right high-purity DI resin for your needs? It all depends on your industry and application! If you do not have a background in deionization processes, answering that question can feel like a harrowing experience. You need guidance and the right system in your office, lab or plant. Here is how to assess the suitable high-purity DI resin for your production needs.
Types of resin
Resin is the essential element in deionization. There are two types of resin: cation and anion.
Cation resin is a negatively-charged resin bead with a 2- to 3-micron diameter. When water passes through these resin beads, other positively charged ions stick to the cation resin and dislodged lightly-charged hydrogen ions. This process is called “ion exchange” or “deionization.” Positively-charged ions may include magnesium or iron. Once that completes, there are no positively-charged ions in the water except for hydrogen.
Anion resin contains positively-charged exchange sites to remove the negatively-charged ions. The negatively-charged ions include chloride and sulfates. Once finished, the result is “hydrogen hydrogen,” or pure water.
The deionization processes
Deionization depends on the right combination of cation and anion resins. The three different types of deionization include:
- Weak base deionization: This type creates the lowest quality deionized water using a combination of strong acid cation and weak base anion. The weak base anion allows CO2 and silica to flow through, creating low pH water. Weak base deionization works for applications that are useful but not critical. For example, a car wash may deploy weak base deionization to create spot-free rinses. It also works well for window washing.
- Strong base deionization: You choose this process if you require mid-quality deionized water. It uses a strong acid cation and a strong base anion. It removes all silica and CO2 from the water. This process is adequate for manufacturing that does not require the highest quality purified water. It is common with metalworking because it is less acidic and does not ruin materials.
- Mixed bed deionization: You need mixed bed deionization if you require the purest deionized water from a resistance standpoint. It uses a strong acid cation with a strong base anion. It is commonly used for sensitive applications like laboratories, research facilities, biotech manufacturing, medical use, pharmaceuticals and electronics.
While these are general descriptions, we may adjust deionization techniques based on source water quality and your specific purpose. For example, you may need to upgrade from weak base deionization if your source water is high in silica. Silica causes problems in some applications, and if your business falls under this category, we may have to install a different deionization process.
Ultra Pure Water Technologies offers industrial and commercial water purification for a variety of businesses and service providers, including hospitals, labs, chemical operations and other medical facilities. We can design and install a system that produces the right high-purity DI resin for your application. Get in touch with us today to learn more about what we can do to meet your deionization requirements.
Categorised in: Deionization
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