Electrodialisis PDF
Electrodialisis PDF
Electrodialisis PDF
technical paper
associated with high levels of nitrates in drinking mineral deposits such as potassium nitrate
water is methemoglobenemia, also known as asphyxia (saltpeter). Decomposing plant materials contribute
or “blue-baby syndrome,” which can affect infants as well via nitrogen-fixing bacteria. The overall
under six months of age. In methemoglobenemia,
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contribution of natural sources is small in relation to
enteric bacteria convert the elevated levels of nitrate the contribution from human activities.
to nitrite. The nitrite then competes with oxygen for
active sites on hemoglobin resulting in oxygen allowable limits of contaminants
deprivation. Infants are predisposed to this effect due
to a number of physiological factors including “higher Standards for maximum levels of nitrates in drinking
fluid intake per body weight, a higher percentage of water have been established by the Federal
fetal hemoglobin and higher stomach pH, permitting Government in 1975 with passage of the Safe
survival of reducing-type” bacteria. 2 Drinking Water Act (SDWA). As of the May 1990
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TP1072EN.docx Mar-10
SDWA regulations, some major allowable inorganic prevent passage. See Figures 1 and 2, which
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contaminant level
Prior to the SDWA, there was no requirement or a
practical, affordable method to remove nitrates from
drinking water. Since that time a number of
3
what is EDR?
Electrodialysis (ED) is a process which uses ion
exchange resin in sheet form assembled into a stack
of components. ED is widely used for total dissolved
solids (TDS) removal in a number of different types of
plants and applications, including many public and
municipal drinking water supplies. Figure 3: EDR Process Flow Diagram
EDR uses a reversible DC field applied across a stack In the course of removing charged ions in solution,
of components to remove dissolved ions: the EDR also removes nitrate and nitrite ions. In this
components consist of ion-selective membranes next section, operating data are presented for
which transport either positive or negative ions, flow- several EDR plants used for nitrate removal.
directing spacers, and electrodes at each end of the
stack. Water flows in a thin sheet between nitrate removal using the EDR process
membranes. Under the influence of the applied DC
electric field, ions migrate toward the electrode Operating data illustrate the practicality of the EDR
opposite in charge, passing through membranes demineralization process for removing nitrates and
which also have fixed oppositely-charged groups nitrites as well as TDS. The examples represent a
bonded to a polymer surface. Membranes with the variety of EDR plants and include three public
same charge as the ionic species repel the ions and drinking water installations and one industrial
Page 2 TP1072EN.docx
application. Descriptions of the four plants follow. All Table 1: EDR Plant Data - Bermuda/Delaware
of the feed waters contain high levels of nitrate, and
the industrial feedwater contains exceptionally high Plant Specifications
levels of nitrite. Bermuda Delaware
Bermuda: 3 desalting stages, 600,000 gpd (2,271
Model Two Aquamite XX Aquamite XX
m /day) total production
3
Aquamite X
In Bermuda, there are two Aquamite* XX units capable
of producing a total of 600,000 gpd (2271 m /day) of
3
Production 300,000 gpd 300,000 gpd
demineralized drinking-quality water from a brackish (1,136 m /day)
3
(1,136 m /day)
3
well. The plants were installed to reduce hardness in 600,000 gpd 300,000 gpd
(2,271 m /day)
3
(1,136 m /day)
3
in the agriculturally-contaminated drinking water Percent Removal 81% TDS 88% TDS
supply. This three-stage EDR plant yields 88%
86.7% NO 92.6% NO
demineralization and reduces the nitrate 3 3
TP1072EN.docx Page 3
Table 2: EDR Plant Data - Industrial/Italian
concentration to below the MCL as established by
both the SDWA and the World Health Organization.
Plant Specifications All nitrate product levels for the public water supply
Industrial Italian applications are within the Safe Drinking Water Act
MCL requirement. Average percent removal of
Model Two Aquamite X Aquamite XX nitrate from the three-stage plants is 86.6% with an
average percent TDS removal of 78.3%. Percent
Production 100,000 gpd 300,000 gpd
(379 m /day)3
(1,136 m /day)
3 removal from the two-stage plant is 69.2% for
nitrate and 53% for TDS. Nitrite removal in the
Recovery 80% 90% industrial application is 67.2% with a 68% TDS
removal.
Product Purity 534 ppm TDS
ppm TDS In addition, graphs of three of the four plants show
128 ppm NO
analytical data for feed and product salinity and
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37 ppm NO 3
67.2% NO3
Water Quality
Industrial Italian
Sodium 24 14 73 49
Magnesium 34 8 34 13
Potassium - - 4 1.7
Chloride 35 11 120 44
TP1072EN.docx Page 5