Mathematical simulation and calculation of the process of water demineralization in industrial filter Part 1. Hydrodynamics of regeneration and washing of industrial filter

Abstract

The purpose of this work was to study technological features of the operation of industrial ion - exchanging
column, which were investigated by the example of the cationic first stage filter of the Novocherkassk
Power Plant central desalting unit.
The methodology of operation was that the filter has been specially prepared for the experiments,
namely, special branch pipes were embedded for solution at different points of the filter: at the inlet into the
resin bed, at the middle and the outlet point. The choice of monitoring points was done in line with the objectives
of the experiment. The composition of initial water to be processed or the water taken for washing, as
well as the initial concentration of components in the solutions for regeneration, was measured at the input
into the filter. Comparison of component concentrations at the inlet point and the middle of the bed was required
in the hydrodynamic studies of regeneration and washing.
The experimental procedure consisted of passing the solution of sulfuric acid, prepared with the partially
demineralized water through the filter and subsequent washing of the filter from the acid with partially
desalinated water. Break-through curves of sulfuric acid were obtained at the inlet, middle and outlet points
defined above. Calculation of the dynamic curves of concentration histories for filling the filter with sulfuric
acid and its subsequent washing was carried out by the use of the computation program "Createscheme", description
and algorithm of which is given in the theoretical part of this article. As a result, comparison of the calculated and experimental data shows that the hydrodynamics of
studied processes is described with the diffusion model and with the coefficients found earlier in bench-scale
tests.