They keep going and going and going

Predicting The Operating Capacity Of Strongly Basic Anion Resins From

Static Laboratory Tests. By Michael Gottlieb, Published in Water Conditioning & Purification
Magazine, May 1997

Whether you use deionization as a water purification Calculating capacity: an educated guess
method in a bottling plant, a car wash or chemical Prior to 1986, there was no way to calculate the
formulation for electroplating, pharmaceutical or capacity. Instead, rough estimates were made by using
photographic operations, the recommended life of your static test ratios compared with new resins of the same
anion resins has often been based on a "magic" number type. These estimates were made on the basis of either
for a singular application rather than varied performance the salt splitting test capacity (strong base capacity) or
under alternative applications. the total capacity (salt splitting plus weak base
capacities). Relative operating capacity guesses were
The truth is that the "standard" static capacity or years made by taking the ratio of the tests for these values
of service for the resin under one application may not compared with the values for new resins of the same
hold true for another, and your resins can be utilized types.
effectively much longer under some than others. Your
resin's life, therefore, should be based more on The estimated operating capacities could be vastly
performance and quality production cost. different depending on which ratios were used as can be
seen in Tables 1 and 2. These tables give a general
About resins estimate of the total and strong base groups for the most
To predict that, you must have an understanding of common types of strongly basic resins at different ages
resins. There are three types of anion resins: Type 1, of service. At best, these methods were occasionally
Type 2 and weak base. Each has different correct and almost always inaccurate at the
characteristics. The proper choice of resin is dictated by comparatively low regeneration levels used outside of
the water analysis, resin configuration (i.e. two bed, the portable exchange deionization (PEDI) industry (4-
mixed bed, etc.) and the desired results. to-6 pounds per cubic foot).

Different types of resin have different methods by which Table 1

Typical Remaining Strong Base Capacity in Used
they degrade in use1. Weak base are the most stable
Strong Base Resins
while Type 1's simply lose capacity. Type 2's tend to
1 2 3 4
convert from strong base to weak base with age. Resin New
Year Years Years Years
Since strong base capacity is critical to the more Styrene
sophisticated operations like mixed beds, any changes in 100 83 76 75 73
Type 1
strong base/weak base ratios can cause long-term Styrene
capacity problems. 100 57-64 41-56 39-55 37-52
Type 2

Predicting resin operating capacity could mean the

difference between a happy or unhappy customer. Table 2
Determining the capacity will help you provide an Typical Remaining Total Capacity in Used Strong
efficient, high-performance system one that will keep Base Resins
your customers satisfied. But this calculation can often 1 2 3 4
Resin New
be difficult and confusing. Year Years Years Years
Styrene
100 83 76 75 73
The concept of calculating the operating capacity of Type 1
anion resins with both weakly and strongly basic ion
exchange sites was first put forth in 1986. Since that Replacement: recommendations and reality
time, the technology has been developed into a Typically, resin replacements were suggested based on
comprehensive mathematical model that has been placed years in service six years for Type 1s and four years for
into a proprietary software program. Type 2s. Or, replacement was recommended when the
static capacity losses reached 25-to-35 percent of the
original capacity.
Almost all anion laboratory tests include both the total capacity cannot contribute to the operating capacity. On
strong base and weak base capacities. However,
sometimes they are listed as total capacity and salt Table 3
splitting capacity, in which case the weak base capacity Equivalent of New Resin Operating Capacity From Only
is the difference between the two. The salt splitting The Strong Base Capacity v. Percentage Remaining Strong
Base Capacity
capacity, or strong base capacity, is typically near 100
75% 50%
percent in all new strongly basic resins. Once the resin is New
Remaining Remaining
placed in service, its functional groups degrade as a Resin Resin
Strong Base Strong Base
100%
result of thermal and oxidative reactions. Capacity Capacity

Styrene Type
Most PEDI dealers run their DI floats with average resin 100 75 53
1
ages well over the six-year maximum recommended
change-out frequency. It's common to hear that, despite Styrene Type
100 80 58
a significant loss of strong base capacity, the resin 2
continues to perform well. It is also common to hear just
the opposite. the other hand, weak base capacity is usually very
effective in two-bed or separate-tank service.
The performance one can expect from a resin of a given This is especially true with highly saline waters or
mix of strong and weakly basic capacity depends not where alkalinity fractions are low. For example, a
only on the condition of the resin, but also on the type of drinking water bottling operation in the Southwest may
service and water analyses. This explains why two tanks have feed water salinity that varies from 600-700 ppm to
can have identical resins from the same batch of 1,200+ ppm varied by season. The water may be so high
regenerated float resin yet one will perform better than in chlorides or sulfates at times that it actually tastes
the other. salty. This is a wonderful application for weak base
resins and is routinely used for that application to
Weak base sites: a different process produce delicious drinking water. In a separate bed ion
Weak base sites do not exchange ions like strong base exchange demineralizer where cation and anion resins
sites. They work only by absorbing acid molecules are separate it has the additional benefit of less potential
meaning that, in order to work, the salts must be for giving off an amine odor fishy smell.
converted to their corresponding acids.
It is also true in cases where carbon dioxide and silica
Not all acids are strong enough to react with the weak removal are not required. In car washes where silica is
base sites. Chlorides and sulfates become hydrochloric low, for example, weak base applications are commonly
and sulfuric acids in the cation exchanger and can be used for the final rinse although care has to be taken to
removed very efficiently by the weak base site. avoid overuse situations where pH drops can create
Bicarbonate and carbonate alkalinity break down to corrosion, rust spots and staining. In a lot of chemical
carbon dioxide as they pass through the cation resin. solution preparation that require purified water and low
This, in turn, becomes carbonic acid which, like silica, is silica, the effluent of a demineralizer using weak base
too weak to react with the weak base sites and is not resins is acceptable and, due to the greater operating
removed by them. Therefore carbonate alkalinity or efficiency, it is often the resin of choice in these
carbon dioxide in raw water will appear as an equivalent applications. Specifically, these include electroplating,
concentration of carbon dioxide after the cation resin pharmaceutical eyewash solutions and photographic
vessel. Only the strong base sites in the anion vessel can rinse water.
remove the carbon dioxide and silica.
In all of these cases, the weak base sites not only
The weak base capacity cannot function effectively in contribute to the operating capacity, they can be
mixed beds. Since there are no acids, the sites at the top regenerated at near 100 percent efficiency. At low
of the resin bed don't work and the sites at the bottom of regenerant dosages, their effect can be significant.
the bed are slow and do not work as effectively as the
strong base sites. This means only a relatively small Losing strong base capacity
portion of these sites are available for service in mixed The loss of strong base capacity affects operating
beds, such as in working mixed beds. capacity in two ways: The reduced amount of strong
In polishing applications where silica and carbon base sites reduces the total capacity available for
dioxide comprise the main ionic load, the weak base exchange. However, these sites are more fully
regenerated because the effective dose level goes up in percent utilization factor for weak base capacity. Other
directly opposite proportion to the fraction of reduction. measurements can be calculated in this manner.
The amount of regenerant consumed by the weak base For example, a new Type 2 resin typically has about 1.4
sites, while sometimes significant, usually can be meq/mL strong base capacity. This comprises 100
ignored for most PEDI applications. percent of the total capacity. Two years later, the static
laboratory test results show that this resin has 0.4
Industry standards meq/mL weak base capacity and 0.85 meq/mL strong
Typically, the regeneration level for strongly basic base capacity. Its performance in a two tank
resins in the PEDI industry is eight pounds of NaOH per demineralizer, compared with use in a polishing mixed
cubic foot of resin. At this level, the resin operating bed, can be estimated as follows:
capacity doesn't increase much when dosages are
increased. Any fractional loss in total capacity virtually We calculate the total weak based capacity and the
will be the same as the fractional loss of operating relative strong based capacities. The static or total weak
capacity. Table 3 shows the relative operating capacity base capacity is equal to 21.8 X 0.4 = 8.7 Kgrs./ cu. ft.
of the remaining strong base capacity compared to a new The strong base ratio is 0.85/1.4 = .61 (61 percent) of
resin of the same type. the original strong base capacity.

Table 3 -Equivalent of new resin operating capacity For the mixed bed polisher, the weak base capacity in
from only the strong base capacity vs. percentage such a case remains dormant and is not used in the
remaining strong base capacity calculation regardless of the water analysis of the
untreated water composition. The ratio method indicates
In mixed bed polishing applications where the weak the resin would give about 61 percent as much capacity
base capacity is dormant, the ratio method based on as a new resin, based on the ratio of the strong base
strong base capacity gives a good estimate of the relative capacities.
operating capacities at regeneration levels above six
pounds NaOH per cubic foot. At lower levels, the For the two tank system, the degree of effectiveness of
operating capacities are about 5-to-10 percent higher the weak base sites depends on the inlet water
than the strong base capacity ratios. composition. Therefore, we are looking at a couple of
water analyses:
Calculating capacity
In two-tank (separate-bed) systems, the weak base On water with 20 percent or less alkalinity, the resin
capacity usually contributes a significant portion of the would be able to use its weak base capacity to gain an
total operating capacity, especially in highly saline or additional 70 percent of 8.7 = 6.1 more Kgrs./cu. ft.
low alkalinity waters. In laboratory test reports, the New type 2 resins are typically rated at about 22
weak base capacity is usually recorded in terms of mili- Kgrs./cu. ft. The strong base sites would contribute
equivalents per milliliter (meq/mL). One meq/mL is about .61X22 = 13.4 Kgrs./cu. ft. Adding the two
equal to 21.8 kilograins (Kgrs.) per cubic foot of together gives 19.5 Kgrs., which is almost 90 percent of
potential operating capacity. Most Type 2 resins lose brand new resin.
strong base capacity by conversion to weak base.
Typical values for weak base capacities often run from On a water containing 40 percent-alkalinity, we can
.2 to .7 meq/mL, which is the same as 4.4 to 15.3 estimate about 52.5 percent of the resin's weak base
Kgrs./cu. ft. How much of this will actually be available capacity will be utilized. In this case, the estimated
depends on the particular installation and especially the operating capacity would be about 18 Kgrs./cu. ft., or
water analyses. about 82 percent of new resin.

Accurate calculation of the weak base contribution to Summary

operating capacity requires a computer. However, we The capacity of the demineralizer is often determined by
can make an approximation for waters of less than 20- the anion resin when the resins are new. The anion resin
percent alkalinity that 70 percent of the weak base sites is the only one that degrades its normal life cycle. The
will be utilized. On waters with 100-percent alkalinity or performance of the demineralizer is determined by the
in polishing mixed beds, the weak base capacity remains degradation rate of the anion resin. Interpretation of
dormant and only the strong base capacity is used. At static, laboratory test results is something that has not
50 percent alkalinity, we can interpolate to get a 43.75 been reviewed scientifically. In the past, people
typically would change out the resins when a magic
number was approached when 25 percent of strong base
capacity was lost, when 25 percent of the total capacity 5. DeSilva, F.J., and M.C. Gottlieb, "The Relationship
was lost or when 35 percent of either. All of these Between Resin Operating Capacity and Static
numbers have been used as guideline depending on Analysis Results," Ultrapure Water Conference
which expert you spoke to. The real fact is we should be East, April 1991.
changing the resin when it no longer meets our needs or
when its output or economic cost for producing water is 6. Gottlieb, M.C., and DeSilva, F.J., Economic
no longer acceptable. Considerations in the Replacement of Ion Exchange
Resins," I.S.P.E. EXPO 92, May 7, 1992.
The above examples show how the same resin can give
61-to-90 percent of a new resin capacity. Even more 7. DeSilva, F.J., and M.C. Gottlieb, "A Software
dramatic is the 47 percent difference in operating Model for Optimizing Resin Selection," 28th
capacity of the same resin depending on the water Liberty Bell Corrosion Course, September 1990.
analyses and the application in which it is being used.
By looking at the condition of the resin and performing 8. Crits, G.J., and D.H. Valentine, "The Significance
a few simple estimates like the one above, it's easy to and Limitations of Laboratory Resin Analyses in
keep the performance levels of all the service tanks at Evaluating Ion Exchange Operating Performance,"
levels that guarantee customer satisfaction. International Water Conference, October 1988.

References About the author

Michael Gottlieb is the founder and president of
1. Michaud, C.F., "Ion Exchange Resin Methods of ResinTech Inc., an ion exchange resin supplier and
Degradation," Water Conditioning & Purification, manufacturer. A member of the WC&P Technical
January 1990, p. 44. Review Committee.

2. Gottlieb, M.C., "Economic Considerations in the

Selection of Ion Exchange Resins," 24th Liberty
Bell Corrosion Course, September 1986.

3. Gottlieb, M.C., "Performance Projections for Anion

Resins in Two Bed Demineralizers," International
Water Conference, October 1989.

4. McGarvey, F.X., and M.C. Gottlieb, "Symmetry

Modeling of Ion Exchange Processes with Resin and
Zeolites," Second Chemical Congress of the North
American Continent, August 1980.