Demonstration of New, Highly Perchlorate-Selective Ion Exchange Resin Coupled with Resin-Optimized, Single-Vessel Engineering Design
Abstract
Three demonstrations of the utilization of a novel vessel design and operating practice combined with a highly-perchlorate-selective ion exchange resin were undertaken at three municipalities, the West Valley Water District (WVWD), the City of Colton, and the City of Rialto, in Southern California. The vessel design combined a lead vessel operated in up-flow mode followed by a polishing vessel operated in down-flow mode. The design provided the capability to remove contaminated resin from the bottom of the lead vessel with replacement of the exhausted resin by uncontaminated resin remaining at the top of the lead vessel and addition of fresh media at the top of the lead vessel. The objective of the three demonstrations was to offer lower perchlorate removal costs to water utilities and government sites. Demonstration units at each of the three provided treated water containing <6 parts per billion (ppb) perchlorate concentration during operation. Three operational cycles were completed only at the WVWD. Flow balancing issues limited the City of Colton demonstration to two cycles, while several different operational setbacks allowed only one cycle at Rialto. All three units exhibited resin compaction which prevented efficient removal of the ion exchange media from the lead vessel, but resin compaction did not cause overall operational failure of any of the systems. Another difficulty involved the accumulation of a significant mass of material at the bottom of the lead vessel over a six-month operating period. This resulted from low concentrations of suspended solids in the feed water. A significant proportion of the plastic nozzles originally installed in the units broke and deformed during the demonstration and were replaced with more robust stainless steel nozzles at the conclusion of the project. While operational and equipment difficulties compromised effective contaminant removal to some degree, they did not obviate the economic benefit of the technology.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Mar 01, 2013
- Accession Number
- ADA600288
Entities
Organizations
- Environmental Security Technology Certification Program