Proteck Water Technologies

Raw Water Supply:

• Water is sourced from rivers, lakes, underground sources, or other reservoirs. This raw water typically contains dissolved salts, minerals, and other impurities that need to be removed.

Pre-Treatment:

• Filtration: The raw water is first passed through sand filters or multimedia filters to remove larger suspended solids like dirt, silt, and algae.
• Coagulation & Flocculation: Chemical coagulants (e.g., alum) are added to help particles clump together, forming larger aggregates (flocs) that can be more easily removed.
• Clarification: The water is passed through a settling tank, where the heavier particles settle at the bottom, and clear water is taken from the top.

Ion Exchange:

• The heart of a DM water plant is its ion exchange process, where water passes through resin beds. The resins are typically made of synthetic materials that can exchange cation (positively charged ions like calcium and magnesium) and anion (negatively charged ions like chloride and sulfate) with hydrogen ions (H⁺) and hydroxide ions (OH⁻), respectively.

  • Cation Exchange: The cation resins remove positively charged ions (e.g., calcium, magnesium) and replace them with hydrogen ions (H⁺).
  • Anion Exchange: The anion resins remove negatively charged ions (e.g., chloride, sulfate) and replace them with hydroxide ions (OH⁻).

• This process produces water that is almost pure H₂O, as the majority of the dissolved minerals are exchanged for H⁺ and OH⁻, which combine to form neutral water (H₂O).

Regeneration of Resins:

• The ion exchange resins become saturated with the removed ions over time and need to be regenerated. This is done using regenerant chemicals:
  • Cation resins are regenerated with an acidic solution (typically sulfuric acid) to replace the hydrogen ions.
  • Anion resins are regenerated with a basic solution (usually sodium hydroxide) to replace the hydroxide ions.

Post-Treatment:

• After the ion exchange process, the water may go through additional polishing steps to ensure the final water quality meets the desired standards.
• Degasification: In some cases, gases like CO₂ or dissolved oxygen might need to be removed.
• Dechlorination: If chlorine is present in the raw water, it may be removed using activated carbon filters or chemical treatments.

Water Storage and Distribution:

• The demineralized water is stored in storage tanks or pumps and is made available for industrial or commercial use.
• Often, it is distributed through a network of pipes to specific equipment like boilers, cooling systems, or chemical reactors that require ultra-pure water.

Monitoring and Control:

• The quality of the demineralized water is continuously monitored for parameters such as conductivity, pH, TDS (Total Dissolved Solids), and the presence of any residual minerals.
• Advanced systems use automatic control mechanisms to regulate the flow, regeneration cycles, and chemical dosing for efficient operation.