DOWEX Ion Exchange Resins WATER CONDITIONING MANUAL

Designing an Ion Exchange system
11 DESIGNING AN ION EXCHANGE SYSTEM
An entire ion exchange water treatment system consists of a pretreatment section, the ion exchange
section, and an ion exchange polishing section, which is usually a mixed bed. This section gives general
information on designing the ion exchange and polishing sections using DOWEX ion exchange resins.
Ion exchange system performance is typically characterized by three parameters: volume treated per
cycle (or throughput), water quality, and chemical consumption (efficiency). The goal of the designer of an
ion exchange system is to ensure that the correct water quality and quantity is delivered with optimized
regenerant consumption and capital cost. The optimum design depends on the relative importance of
these parameters. Each is described in this section. Dow offers the CADIX (Computer Aided Design of
Ion eXchange) computer program to aid designers.
11.1 Product Water Requirements
The required water quality will help define the regeneration system, plant configuration, and resin choice.
For high-quality water, a counter-current regeneration system should be used, which should provide a
water quality of 40%) and low
DOWEX Ion Exchange Resins 64 Water Conditioning Manual