Res-Kem Re-Certified by the WBENC

At the request of many customers, Res-Kem has a yearly audit to insure that we continue to meet the requirements of The Women's Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC). The WBENC is the largest, independent, third-party certifier of businesses owned and operated by women in the United States. We are proud to inform our customers that Res-Kem has been re-certified for 2007 as a WBENC-Certified woman-owned business and a leader in residential, commercial, municipal and industrial water treatment systems.

Most importantly, customers do business with Res-Kem because we are great at what we do, providing the highest quality water treatment equipment, filter media, ion exchange resins, replacement parts, equipment service and Service DI, not merely because we are woman-owned. With that said, there are many corporations of various sizes that have internal targets designed to increase opportunities for women-owned businesses to work with them. We can help you meet these targets.

Dow Introduces Two New Dowex Marathon Ion Exchange Resins

In some industry news, The Dow Chemical Company told us two new products were added to Demineralization price list. These ion exchange resins are Dowex Marathon 650C (H) and Dowex Marathon 550A (OH). These resins are used for polishing mixed beds that do not require nuclear-grade specifications, and where good color differential and excellent separation are required.

Dowex and Marathon are trademarks of The Dow Chemical Corporation

Can you analyze ion exchange resin and what do you require?

Answer:
The short answer is YES. We analyze ion exchange resin and the procedure is simple!

Background Information:
The redesigned Res-Kem web site is a great resource for water treatment products and services. We have made every attempt to make the site easy to navigate. Since there is so much information on www.reskem.com, periodically I will highlight products and services that may need additional exposure.

One of the services I would like to highlight is our resin analysis service. Your resin sample is analyzed for its:
- Chemical properties - the capacity of the resin to remove ions
- Physical properties - the percentage of whole, cracked, and broken resin beads
- Mix - the percentage of cation resin and anion resin
- Regeneration Efficiency (if applicable)
- Organic Fouling (if applicable)

Procedure:
You will need to take a representative sample of the resin in your vessels. This is very simple process if your equipment has been properly designed. Simply remove the manway or top mount valve from the tank. Drive a semi-rigid tube or pipe into the bed and educt or vacuum with a small clean shop type vacuum. A one-quart sample is ideal for resin analysis.

Prior to shipping your resin sample, contact Res-Kem at 800-323-1983 or 610-358-0717 so we are prepared to handle your resin sample.

We will need a purchase order and copy of the Resin Analysis Submittal Form faxed to us at 610-358-4642 OR e-mailed to sales@reskem.com. The samples must have a copy of that fax or email document attached on the outside of the box. A minimum 3 oz. sample is required of INDIVIDUAL RESINS and 8 oz. for MIXED RESINS, but a quart is preferred.

The cost of the services is detailed in this price list.

My backwash flow rate is too high for my well and well pump

A common design issue for sand filters, multi-media filters, greensand filters, arsenic removal units, etc. is the large difference between the backwash flow rate and the flow rate during normal operation. Depending upon the media used, the backwash flow rate can be 2X to 10X the service rate. Due to restrictions in the piping coming to the unit or the well feeding the plant, the unit cannot get an adequate backwash flow rate. Most water supplies are not designed to handle such a wide swing in flow rate and the drain line will have to be appropriately up-sized. In particular, a plant well water source can not be cost effectively sized for such a large flow difference.

To address this predicament, Res-Kem has been selling triplex sand filters, multi-media filters, greensand filters, arsenic removal units, etc. to reduce the backwash flow rate. The tradeoff is the cost of the extra valves and tanks with a backwash flow rate that is reduced by 50% for a continuous system and 67% for a non-continuous system.

Depending upon the size of the units, all of them can be skid mounted. This makes for a very simple field installation with a single electrical connection. Also, the skid will have a single feed, product, and drain connection.

An optional feature of a triplex skid is that a separate line for an alternate backwash source can be added. This allows for the use of a "clean" water source to backwash the units. If water storage is not available, two units can be used to backwash the third.

Why should I treat my boiler condensate?

A question that we receive frequently from visits to customers and potential customers is "Why should I treat my boiler condensate?"
Our Answer:
The reason why to treat your boiler condensate is condensate systems always leak. Heat exchangers are where most of the leakage problems start. Tube sheet and tube leaks, of shell and tube heat exchangers, are the typical cause. This is where untreated cooling water can contaminate the process water leading to corrosion. Every system must have a method to handle this leakage.

When a condensate system is not properly controlled or simply ignored, corrosion takes place. Iron, copper, and other harmful contaminants are washed back into the boiler systems. This wastes energy because these contaminants reduce heat transfer. Depending upon the type of contaminant, a layer of 1/32" can waste between 2% and 7% of the fuel used in the boiler. Wasted Fuel Graph

A simple solution is to blow down the boiler to improve water quality, but this wastes heat, requires more makeup water, and increases boiler water chemical usage.

The cost effective solution is to "polish" your contaminated condensate for reuse. As more condensate is reused, less make up water is required, reducing both chemical consumption and energy requirements.

Res-Kem Sodium Cycle Condensate Polishers are available in a wide range of self-contained packages configured in single, double, and triple unit arrangements to treat condensate return for reuse as boiler feedwater. The standard wetted parts for Res-Kem Condensate Polishers are stainless steel. Single units are rated for flows up to 710 gpm. For larger flow rates, contact Res-Kem to determine whether larger or multiple units would be best choice.

Contact Res-Kem to work up the energy savings available by polishing your dirty condensate. The payback is both swift and dramatic.Res-Kem Condensate Polisher specification sheet

Why do you not recommend using galvanized pipe on your water softeners?

A question often asked is materials of construction for water softeners. Summarized below, Res-Kem's Director of Engineering, Bob Hader answers in a recent "Engineering Notes":

"Corrosion can occur with any type of piping depending on the application, environment and precautions taken to prevent corrosion. We at Res-Kem find that steel piping with iron fittings offers the best balance of corrosion resistance and cost.

First, softened water has not shown to cause any more internal corrosion in steel or galvanized piping than hard water. Corrosion, which does occur with unlined steel tanks, piping & fittings or galvanized tanks pipe & fittings is generally caused by other factors. Some of these are pH, temperature, dissolved gasses (oxygen and carbon dioxide) in the water, contact with air and galvanic action.

The greatest contributor to corrosion we see with water treatment equipment is on the exterior surface of tanks, pipe and fittings. Given most water treatment is in areas where the air is warm (boiler rooms, laundries, non-air conditioned utility rooms) and the water is cold; condensation forms on everything. Uncoated or unprotected steel tanks, steel piping and cast iron valves will rust and corrode. Galvanized piping is not free from this problem. The corrosion will take place at the threads (which are not galvanized)."

Here is the complete Engineering Note.

What is an Empty Bed Contact Time (EBCT)?

We receive many questions on calculating the Empty Bed Contact Time as follows: "How do I calculate the "Empty Bed Contact Time" for sizing my carbon bed?"

Our Answer:
Calculating the Empty Bed Contact Time, EBCT, is fairly easy to do once you know that the EBCT has the units of time, and usually presented in minutes. You need to know the volume of the carbon bed in your vessel and the flow rate. Just watch to be certain your units are consistent.

For the units commonly used in the United States:
V = Carbon Bed Volume (cubic feet)
Q = Flow Rate (gpm)
C = Conversion Factor (7.48 gallons/cubic foot)

EBCT= (V x C )/ Q

The EBCT for some common contaminants are:

Chlorine = 2 minutes
VOC's = 7 minutes
Hydrogen Sulfide = 4 minutes

Am I Using Too Much Water During My DI Regenerations?

We received a question on the amount of regeneration water an operator is using:
"Is it ok to use about 250 cubic meters of water for regenerating double-bed demineralizer system with a 125 gpm system capacity (132 cu.ft. cation volume and 55 cu.ft. anion volume)?"

Our Answer:
"250 cubic meters of water is about 66,000 gallons. Assuming you use around 20 gal/cu ft for backwash, 30 gal/cu ft for slow rinse, and 45 gal/cu ft for fast rinse; you are only using around 17,400 gallons of water total, not including dilution water for acid and caustic. Even if you round it up to 20,000 gallons, that is a long way from 66,000 gallons. You are using over three times the typical amount of water. You should work with your resin supplier to test the capacity of the resin and detect any possible foulants. You may have to clean or replace the resin."

Bacteria in RO System

We received the following question on our web site:
"I am getting some bacteria coming out of my RO that I was not getting before. How can I clean the membranes."

Our Answer:
"You can use a product known as Minncare(R) or Oxonia. Both are sanitizing agents made up of hydrogen peroxide and peracetic acid. Dilute to 50 - 100 ppm, pump through RO, soak for an hour and rinse out. Please check with you membrane supplier and Minntech/Oxonia to insure compatibility with your RO membranes. Both Minncare and Oxonia are on the web."

"Take my CARBON ... PLEASE!"

SPENT CARBON RETURN

Almost since our founding in 1983, Res-Kem's Technical Services Group has removed (rebedded) spent media, ion exchange resin and activated carbon, from industrial water treatment systems. Part of the rebed service usually includes removal of the spent media from the customer's site. Companies who regularly deal with waste know that getting rid of spent ion exchange resin or activated carbon can be a fairly complicated process. We take this hassle away from our customers.

For years, Res-Kem sales people have known our residential and commercial water treatment dealers have the same problem - how to properly dispose of spent activated carbon that accumulates over time. Res-Kem and Calgon Carbon have teamed up to help our water treatment dealers with spent activated carbon return. As a service to our dealers, Res-Kem will accept spent carbon at the Aston, PA facility. Call for pricing. Click here to download the PDF of the fine print.