Effect of Extremely High Specific Flow Rates on the Ion- Exchange Resin Sorption Characteristics

Behavior of the strongly basic, macroporous ion-exchange resin Amberlite IRA 958Cl is circumstantially explained in the book chapter. Effects of different specific flow rate (SFR) and determination of its optimum value, as well as effects of the empty-bed contact time (EBCT) values on the removal of NOM, arsenic, sulfate, electrical conductivity, bicarbonate and chlorine from groundwater using strongly basic ion exchange resin (SBIX) is examined in this chapter. Determination of the resin's sorption characteristics is also part of the investigation. A new approach of pseudo equilibrium adsorption capacity is presented. Investigations of determination of optimum value of water flow rate and resin's sorption characteristics were conducted with native groundwater and native groundwater with addition of oxidizing agent. Sodium hypochorite was added to the raw water with the aim of oxidizing NOM and As(III) to As(V). The intention was to find out whether the resin might be used beyond the range of operating conditions recommended by the manufacturer. Results will provide a better understanding of treatment of groundwater with similar physicochemical composition which is important when designing a water treatment plants for settlements in areas with such groundwater. Also, prolonging the resin working cycle can ultimately lead to water treatment plants cost reduction. Namely, when the results for the optimum SFR are obtained for a pilot plant system for concrete groundwater of distinct physico-chemical characteristics, it is simple to design a unique ion-exchange water treatment system of any capacity. The obtained results make a sound basis for designing an appropriate plant for the removal of NOM from groundwater of the region of the town of Zrenjanin. The tested resin can also be used in the process of pretreatment of the same water, since it allows the removal of about 50 % of the naturally occurring arsenic. © 2015 The Author(s). Licensee InTech. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.