Fouling Treatment For Resins

Resin Fouling
Ion exchange resin can become fouled with contaminants that hinder the exchange
process and affects the useful resin life. Some of the common foulants present in
water and their effect on resin performance are discussed below :
Iron/Heavy metal fouling
Iron is deposited on the ion exchange resin beads in the form of hydroxides or
trivalent oxides. Iron deposits on the resin not only blocks the pores but also
catalyses oxidising action of the dissolved oxygen in water.
Iron fouling of cation resin is noticeably less when hydrochloric acid is the
regenerant. In the case of softeners or units which are regenerated with sulphuric
acid occasional wash with dilute hydrochloric acid removes most of the iron deposits
on the resin. Iron fouling of the anion resin can take place due to presence of iron
impurity in regenerant solution.
Excessive quantities of aluminium sulphates used in pretreatment plant in some

cases cause fouling of the cation resin with aluminium in the same manner as iron.
Aged aluminium oxide deposit on resins is difficult ot remove.
The most effective method of preventing fouling by heavy metals is to eliminate

these elements at source, rather than doing cleaning operations on the fouled resin
bed.
Organic Fouling :
Large molecular weight organic acids like fulvic and humic acid, which are formed by
decomposition of vegetable matter in water, can get adsorbed on anion exchange
resins but do not get eluted during regeneration. An organically fouled resin results
in lower operating capacity and high rinse requirements.
Most organic matter is colloidal in nature and therefore can be removed during
pretreatment stage by coagulation and filtration. Use of activated carbon filters is
also known to help in reduction in the content of organic matter in water.
The resin structure also plays an important part in determining the fouling
resistance of the resin. Isoporous resins which have equal porosity so that
entanglement of large molecules with resin is eliminated have been found to be
effective. Macroporous resins have large macropores which allow large molecules to
freely enter and leave the structure.
Use of scavenger resin beds (which are macroporous) reduces the fouling of the
down stream strong base resins to a considerable extent.
Some improvement in performance of organically fouled resins can be obtained by

alkaline brine wash of the resin.
Oil Fouling :
Presence of oil in water can cause physical fouling of the resin surface. Oil fouling
can be prevented by good pretreatment. Oil fouled resin can be cleaned by washing
with caustic soda solution or with suitable surface active agent.
Polyelectrolyte Fouling :
Use of polyelectrolytes in pretreatment of water must be properly controlled.

Excessive quantity of polyelectrolyte (which are high molecular weight organic
substances) can cause irreversible fouling of the cation/anion resins depending on
the type of polyelectrolyte involved.
Precipitation :
If a high concentration of sulphuric acid is used during cation regeneration, calcium

sulphate precipitation can occur. Precipitation of calcium sulphate will cause
problems such as high pressure drop and leakage of hardness ions during service,
and some times break the bead. Calcium sulphate precipitation can be cured by
backwash or by a hydrochloric acid wash.
Cleanup procedure for organically fouled anion resins
Introduction:
It is well known that anion resins are susceptible to fouling by the humic and fulvic acids often found
in surface waters.
These organics species because of the relatively large molecular weights, became trapped within
resin matrix (so a greater or lesser degree depending upon the resin) and specification procedures
have to be employed to recover the original ion exchange properties of the resin.
The symptoms of organic fouling include long rinse requirements poor capacity and in the case of
strong base resin, higher silica leakage.
Fouling treatment for anion resins:
The most common forms of treatment involve the use of caustic brine solution, the procedure is as
follows:
Alkaline brine treatment:
 The resin should be treated at the end of the normal exhaustion cycle.
 Two bed volumes of 10% w/v brine solution containing 1% w/v caustic soda should be
prepared.
 One bed volume should be introduced into the ion exchange units at a low flow rate not
exceeding 2 Bed volumes per hour followed by a second bed volume, this second bed
volume should be retained in the resin unit for as long as possible but at least 2 hours. Some
agitation, if possible should be employed periodically throughout the retention period.
 At the end of the retention period of the last bed volume of brine, resin is thoroughly rinsed
with organic free water until free from residual brine.
 The resin should be regenerated with twice quantity of regenerant dose before being put
back to service.
 Brine is preferably passed at 45⁰C so as to have a better organic elution effect.

HCl treatment to remove Iron/ organic complexes:
 Occasionally the presence of iron is detected as iron hydroxide precipitate on the anion
resin. This can arise from an iron/organic complex being present in the raw feed water.
 In these cases, it is advisable to consider treatment of the anion resin with 7% w/v
hydrochloric acid followed by the alkaline brine treatment.
 The procedure for alkaline brine treatment is given above.
 It is extremely important that all traces of hydrochloric acid are removed from the unit
before introduction of caustic brine.
 It is also important to ensure that the materials of construction of the

vessel housing anion resin is suitably resistant to hydrochloric acid.

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Fouling Treatment For Resins

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Resin Fouling

Iron/Heavy metal fouling

Excessive quantities of aluminium sulphates used in pretreatment plant in some

The most effective method of preventing fouling by heavy metals is to eliminate

Some improvement in performance of organically fouled resins can be obtained by

Use of polyelectrolytes in pretreatment of water must be properly controlled.

If a high concentration of sulphuric acid is used during cation regeneration, calcium

Fouling treatment for anion resins:

Alkaline brine treatment:

 Brine is preferably passed at 45⁰C so as to have a better organic elution effect.

 The procedure for alkaline brine treatment is given above.

 It is also important to ensure that the materials of construction of the

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