Demineralization plants

Demineralization plants

We are specialized in the construction of demineralization plants, using different technologies.

  • Ion exchange resin plants
  • Reverse osmosis plants
  • Continuous Electrodeposition (CEDI) (CEDI)
  • Mixed bed resins (ultrapure water)
  • Decarbonation
  • Steam generating plants

Our demineralization plants are easy / fast installation and maintenance and are able to dramatically improve the water quality, reducing or eliminating salinity completely.

Thanks to our tailor-made design we can realize the demineralization plant suitable for your industrial process, ensuring a water quality that does not affect the process in which it is placed.

We are able to design demineralization facilities for various industries such as pharmaceutical, chemical and petrochemicals where use of such waters is important.
For this purpose we use the most performed resins and membranes that guarantee excellent results.

Ion exchange resins plants/Reverse osmosis plants

  • Demineralized and ultra-pure water
  • Boiler supply / steam production
  • Cycle-closed process water recovery
  • High quality washing
  • Conductivity less than 0.1 μS / cm
  • Mixed bed resins
  • CEDI Continuous electrodeionization
  • Product and solution preparation

Demineralization is a chemical-physical process of treatment, typically of water (demineralized water), intended for the elimination, in whole or in part, of the salts dissolved in it.

Simpec uses two major demineralization systems: ion exchange resin plants and reverse osmosis plants.
The obtained water is demineralized, deionized or osmotized. The ions present in the water ensure the conduction of electric current, their elimination decreases conductivity or increases the water resistivity.

Ion exchange resin plants

Ion exchange resin plants are basically constituted by a cationic resin treatment section and an anionic resin processing section.
These resins are provided with active functional groups, anchored to the matrix, capable of exchanging their mobile ions with the same charge ions contained in the solution they come into contact with. Cationic resins eliminate cations and the anionic resins eliminate the anions.
Through the use of mixed bed resins (mixtures of cationic and anionic resins), Simpec provides ultrapure demineralized water systems with conductivity less than 0.1 μS / cm.

Reverse osmosis plants

Reverse osmosis plants take advantage of the physical permeability principle of a membrane to obtain water demineralization.
This process is not merely a physical obstacle (determined by the size of the pores of the membrane) to the passage of the molecules, but exploits the different chemical affinity of the species with the membrane, enabling the passage of hydrophilic (or water-like) molecules chemically similar to water. From the point of view of the plant, the method uses the principle of tangential filtration, as well as other membrane separating techniques such as microfiltration, ultrafiltration, nanofiltration and MBR Membrane Bioreactor (see membrane technologies). For ultrapure water production using reverse osmosis plants, Simpec uses double-step reverse osmosis systems combined with continuous electrodeionization units (CEDIs). The continuous electrodeposition CEDI systems combine the use of ion exchange resins with their continuous regeneration by the electric current.

Main differences between ion exchange resin plants and reverse osmosis plants:

Ion exchange resin plants

PRO:
– Best quality of water produced (compared to a single osmosis plant)

– Less water consumption (the inlet water is totally demineralized, without waste) There is only water consumption for the regeneration phases, however smaller than the osmosis waste / concentrate)
– Less power consumption

CONS:
– Consumption of acid and soda reagents for regeneration and related problematic of sulphates or chlorides.
– Increased installation time
– Need for dual cationic / anionic line for continuity of operation

Reverse osmosis plants

PRO:
– There is no production of eluates of regeneration (they are eluated only during the osmotic membrane wash cycle which is intermittent)

– Simple and fast installation
– No acid and soda are used for regeneration (anti-scaling products can be used to be dosed at the inlet; this depends on the quality of the inlet water)

CONS:
– Water production with lower quality than resins (if you consider a single-pass system)

– More energy consumption
– More water consumption (continuous concentrate waste during the production phase, approximately 30% of the input)