Demineralizer Regeneration Frequency Determination

Routinely, I am asked how long will one of our cation-anion two bed demineralizers operate before it has to regenerate. To determine this, we need to know the flow rate and the inlet water quality.  The flow is generally known, but the water quality generally is not early in a water treatment project.  The easiest way is to use conductivity as a rough approximation of water quality for budget purposes only.  Before a system is purchased, a complete water analysis is required to verify with one of the ion exchange resin sizing programs to purchase the correctly sized demineralizer.

Here are a series of graphs I sent to the prospect to help get a budget determined.  The graphs include run times for a DT36072, DT54072 and a DT60072 dual bed demineralizers from Res-Kem. 

For Additional Information:
Ten Questions to Properly Size a Water Treatment System Including a Deionizer/Demineralizer
Equipment Bulletin for a Res-Kem DT36072 Cation-Anion Demineralizer
Equipment Bulletin for a Res-Kem DT54072 Cation-Anion Demineralizer
Equipment Bulletin for a Res-Kem DT60072 Cation-Anion Demineralizer
Need Technical Help sizing a unit?

Temporary Exchange Softeners for Unplanned Equipment Repairs

Temporary, skid mounted softeners can get you back up and running when unplanned repairs are required to your in-house zeolite softeners.   Depending on the extent of the problems, repairs can take several weeks or longer.  Tanks are simply hooked up to your water source via cam-lock connections and 2" industrial Goodall hose.  As the tanks exhaust, Res-Kem will bring new tanks with regenerated resin.  No backwash is required, no salt is required and no hard piping is required.  

Skid-mounted Exchange Water Softener form Res-Kem

In order for water tube or firetube boilers to operate efficiently they need low hardness quality feedwater. If you've recently had a boiler opening and discovered scaled boilertubes due to non-functioning boiler pretreatment zeolite softeners and ineffective boiler internal chemical treatment. Res-Kem can provide ASME code 100 psig temporary skid mounted softeners good for flow ranges- 15-120 gpm. These tanks can be provided within a 150 miles radius of our locations in near Philadelphia, PA, New Britain, CT, Avon, MA and Colonial Heights, VA.

The tanks are delivered via a Res-Kem truck with a liftgate for dock deliveries or ground deliveries.  We transport the tanks short distances within your plant to the point of use via a motorized pallet jack.

 

Failing Water Softener.  Look familiar?

Growing DI Exchange Business Means Additional DI Tanks Needed

As the number of customers continues to increase for our deionized water exchange service, Res-Kem General Water continues to heavily invest in new DI (deionization) tanks and mixed bed ion exchange resin.  We just received our first of three shipments of our all stainless steel DI12 and DI30 tanks.  Res-Kem continues to have the largest fleet of stainless steel deionization exchange tanks on the East Coast.  

All Stainless Steel Service DI Tanks Received at Res-Kem for Growing DI Exchange Business

These exchange tanks and resin are used to produce high purity to ultrapure water for many industries including power, cogeneration, beverages, electronics, semiconductors, universities, corporate research campuses, pharmaceuticals, and manufacturers of most any type where high purity water is used in the product or touches the product.

Locations Served:
Res-Kem will use these primarily for customers in our southern region which includes New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, DC, Virginia and North Carolina out of our Aston, PA and Colonial Heights, VA locations.

Also, we have a large fleet of DI tanks serving our northern region New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Maine out of our New Britain, CT and Avon, MA locations.

For More Information:On Res-Kem General Water's DI Exchange Service
Technical and/or sales questions

DI System Shipping to Washington Chemical Plant

Shipping today is a two bed (cation ion exchange tank followed by an anion ion exchange tank) demineralizer for a chemical plant in Washington State. This unit is a DI60072 and will be used in parallel with several other older systems currently installed at the same plant to increase treated water capacity.

150 gpm Demineralizer Showing NEMA 4X Control Panel with Panel View 300 HMI

The system will use the existing bulk acid and caustic for regeneration of the cation resin and anion resin respectively.

150 gpm Demineralizer Compact Design of Piping

System Design:

Normal Service Flow Rate:	150 gpm
Maximum Service Flow Rate:	230 gpm
Vessel Size:	60" x 72" Diameter x Straight side
Volume of Cation (SAC) Resin	66 cu ft
Volume of Anion (Type 1) Resin	77 cuft
Cation Vessel Internals:	Header Lateral Design PVC Schedule 80
Anion Vessel Internals:	Header Lateral Design 316L SS Schedule 10
Automatic Valves:	Butterfly valves 316L SS disc with Air to Open Spring to Close Actuators
Controls:	Allen Bradley Micrologix PLC Panelview 300 HMI NEMA 4X FRP panel
Instrumentation:	Signet Flow meter Totalizer Thornton Conductivity Meter

Additional Information:
For our complete demineralizer/deionizer product line.
For help sizing a DI system, please contact us.

Water Treatment Service Center Opened in Virginia

Res-Kem now has a service center in Colonial Heights, Virginia! Located just south of Richmond, we can now send out service DI bottles within a 150 minute driving radius. We service an area east to the Virginia Beach, north to Washington, DC, west to Lynchburg, and south to Greenville, North Carolina.

Also, we can perform break/fix, installation and repair services with the parts stored in the service center's warehouse. We can remove/repair/refill all sizes of media filter, ion exchange systems, and softeners.

Res-Kem General Water regenerates and delivers large and small deionized (DI) water tank systems. The flow rate through individual banks of deionized water tanks ranges from 1 gpm to 150 gpm. The DI tanks range in size from 0.25 cubic feet to 30 cubic feet.

Automatic DI Bank Switching and Data Acquisition Controller

Res-Kem has developed an integrated DI Bank Switching and Data Acquisition Automation Controller. The system monitors the inlet and outlet resistivity and the flow rate. At one of several alarm points, the system will send a text message to any number of email addresses and mobile devices. As part of a service agreement with Res-Kem/General Water, the system will warn Res-Kem/General Water personnel to prepare for a replacement of the soon to be exhausted bank of DI bottles.

Depending upon the system programming the bank will attempt to rinse to quality in several stages. If it does not succeed, the bank will switch to a standby bank and notify Res-Kem that the bank is exhausted fully and needs to be changed out.

The reason why Res-Kem developed this product is many people were having problems getting replacement parts and proprietary circuit boards for the excellent product called the Aquaswitch II a registered trademark of Myron L. Also, with reduced staffing at most of our customers, people do not have the time to monitor a stack light or resistivity monitor. As a result, the quality can be poorer than required potentially damaging down stream processes and products.

Deionizer/Demineralizer System with Packaged Design Introduced

Res-Kem recently introduced packaged DI Water Systems for Commercial and Light Industrial applications. The OHM-TECH Series two-bed deionizers for commercial and light industrial applications are designed for semi-automatic production of water with a conductivity of less than 10 micro-ohms and feature:

• Flow rates from 1 - 40 gpm
• Ion exchange Capacities from 9,000 - 90,000 grains.
• Strong acid cation and type 1 strong base anion resins.
• Microprocessor based control system with conductivity monitor and flow sensor for regeneration initiation.
• Corrosion resistant fiberglass electrical enclosures which reduces maintenance costs.
• Resin vessels are polyethylene-lined fiberglass.
• ASME code vessels.
• Factory assembly and skid mounting for quick installation and minimum startup cost.
• Schedule 80 PVC piping package using a multi-function hydraulically operated composite valve.
• Metering valves for accurate and safe control of regeneration water and chemical introduction.
• Internal distributors are corrosion resistant, designed for optimum efficiency.

These following facilities are examples of ideal applications for Res-Kem's demineralizer and deionizer (DI) equipment:

• Food and Beverage Processing Plants
• Power plants
• Chemical plants
• Pharmaceutical Plants
• High pressure boiler feedwater
• Manufacturing Plants
• Laboratories
• Autoclaves
• Steam Generators
• Electronic Products
• Medical Device Production
• Alloy Metal Fabrication
• Aerospace
• Humidification Systems
• Metal Treating
• Plating
• Printed Circuit Boards

Resin Traps-Insurance for Industrial Water Systems

Recently, Res-Kem published a white paper entitled "Inexpensive Insurance for Water Treatment Systems-Resin Traps" by Ron Madden. In this white paper, three examples demonstrate how resin traps act as inexpensive insurance for costly problems that can develop when ion exchange resin reaches downstream process areas, process equipment, or the product. Depending upon the plant or process, the payback can be nearly instantaneous!


Summary:
A simple resin trap, long favored by experienced operators of water treatment
equipment, is an inexpensive form of insurance being used more frequently in water treatment systems. Should an internal lateral break or otherwise fail, resin traps eliminate the possibility of ion exchange resin or other filtration media leaving water treatment equipment where it belongs, and prevent it from traveling downstream where it does not belong. Install a resin trap. Like insurance, do not wait until catastrophe strikes to see the value.

Examples:
The three examples are from:

An automotive plant where the resin trap was installed AFTER a plant shutdown

A poultry plant where the resin trap was installed AFTER a plant shutdown and quarantine of millions of pounds of processed chicken

A refinery installed BEFORE a problem occur ed

General Water Services Website Finished

The General Water Services website, www.generalwaterservices.com, is completely new and vastly improved. Information on deionized water system deliveries can be found there.

About General Water Services:
Located in suburban Philadelphia, General Water Services offers portable service DI water systems. General Water Services regenerates and delivers large and small deionized (DI) water systems. The flow rate through an individual bank of tanks ranges from 1 to 150 gpm and depending upon your flow requirement, single or multiple banks are used.

General Water supplies portable service DI water systems for high purity and ultra high purity water applications for virtually any process industry including, but not limited to, chemical, power, beverage, food, electronics, pharmaceutical, medical, medical device, hospitals, laboratory, glass manufacturing, and assembly industries where deionized water is critical to production available for long-term contractual service and also for short term or emergency needs.

Standard Deionized Water Service Area

For Further Information:
Visit the General Water Services website
General Water Services brochure.
General Water Services product bulletin.

General Water Services Website Being Revamped

The General Water Services website, http://www.generalwater.net/, is currently under construction. The new and vastly improved website will be back up not later than March 1, 2009. If you want to be notified when the site is refreshed, send us an email to us or subscribe to this blog using any of the links on the left side of this page.

About General Water Services:
Located in suburban Philadelphia, General Water Services offers portable service DI water systems. General Water Services regenerates and delivers large and small deionized (DI) water systems. The flow rate through an individual bank of tanks ranges from 1 to 150 gpm.


Depending upon your flow requirement, single or multiple banks are used. We supply portable service DI water systems for high purity and ultra high purity water applications for virtually any process industry including, but not limited to, chemical, power, beverage, food, electronics, pharmaceutical, medical, medical device, hospitals, laboratory, glass manufacturing, and assembly industries where deionized water is critical to production.

DI water systems are available for long-term contractual service and also for short term or emergency needs.

Our standard service area runs north to south from New York City to Washington DC and east to west from coastal New Jersey to Harrisburg, PA. On a case-by-case basis, and depending upon the economics, we provide deionized water systems significantly outside our standard service area.

Unmatched Quality Control Procedures
Meeting high purity water quality immediately after regeneration is the easy part. Having your DI water tanks reach projected capacity at the specified water quality is the bigger challenge. Each batch of mixed bed resin regenerated by General Water Services is laboratory tested for both quality and capacity to guarantee predictable capacity at the specified water quality. Retained samples of each lot of regenerated resin are kept for a period of two years. General Water Services takes the time and bears the expense to test for capacity prior to shipment. It is this consistency that sets General Water Services apart from the competition.

Segregated Resin
General Water Services maintains cation, anion, and mixed bed resins for specific customers. These resins will only be used for your plant and will not be mixed with any other company's ion exchange resins. Depending upon the agreement, the resin can be your property or General Water's ion exchange resins; we can use your tanks or ours. We'll regenerate the resin at our plant, put in the tanks, and return the tanks to you as required. Extra resin is tagged and stored in our warehouse for your future needs.

Complete Resin & Tank Traceability
Each General Water Services DI water exchange tank has its own serial number regardless of tank size. Serial number tracking is used in combination with resin lot traceability to track each DI tank and, its ion exchange resin lot, back to its applicable regeneration and retained sample. This gives you complete ion exchange resin traceability for any and all DI water tanks delivered to your site. This process is carried back even one step further in that all of General Water Services' ion exchange resin lots can also be traced back to the ion exchange resin manufacturer's production documentation.

For Further Information:
General Water Systems brochure.
General Water Systems product bulletin.