THERMAX LTD | WATER & WASTE SOLUTIONS

5.3 MIXED BED – MB

There must be sufficient water level in SDG for Mixed Bed operations.
Mixed Bed Polisher Principles:

In very high-pressure boiler operations, even trace contaminants are extremely

detrimental. Demineralized water requirements are more stringent than can be produced
by the two-bed unit or RO permeate. To cope with these specifications, many operations
follow the RO Process with a mixed-bed polisher.

The mixed bed polisher consists of a special vessel into which are loaded both strong
base anion and strong acid cation resins. The cation resin, being denser, is always on
the bottom of the vessel after backwashing.

Ö The regenerant piping is designed so that caustic enters the top of the vessel,
flows down through and regenerates the strong base anion resin, and exits the
side of the vessel near the interface between the anion and cation resins.
Ö Similarly, the hydrochloric acid enters from the bottom of the vessel travels
upwards through cation resin, regenerates it, and flows out of the middle collector
of the vessel to the drainage. Prior to the addition of the caustic, the vessel is filled
with water and kept under pressure (blocking flow) to insure that no caustic
channels down to the cation resin before it leaves the waste line at the resin
interface.
Ö After regeneration, air is scored to the bottom of the vessel by opening the vent.
This is called air mix and serves to mix the resins in a random fashion. As the
anion and cation resins mix, the result is a vessel filled with small two-bed
demineralizer. Each cation resin bead and its companion anion resin bead function
as a two bed unit. The combinations on the top that receive the water first are
successful in removing a great percentage of the contaminants entering the unit.
Each pair below removes, in succession, a high percentage of the contaminants in
the water passing the adjacent pair of resin beads. Extremely high-quality effluent
water is possible with this arrangement. The water generally contains silica and
sodium in the parts per billion ranges.

M/S KBK CHEM-ENGINEERING (P) LTD; / OC NO: 225064 119

 THERMAX LTD | WATER & WASTE SOLUTIONS

INTERNAL ARRANGEMENT
FOR MIXED BED UNITS
(500 DIA. TO 1000 DIA.)

AIR
RELEASE

SERVICE INLET INVERTED

BELL MOUTH

INVERTED SHELL
ALKALI BEND
INLET TOP OF ANION
RESIN
INSPECTION WINDOW
SHORT STRAINERS
MIDDLE
COLLECTOR TOP OF CATION
RESIN
ACID OUTLET
ALK. OUTLET INSPECTION WINDOW

RESIN OUTLET.
STRAINERS
2 NOS. GASKETS.

COLLECTING PLATE.

WATER OUTLET.
ACID INLET

Fig: MB – Internals

M/S KBK CHEM-ENGINEERING (P) LTD; / OC NO: 225064 120

 THERMAX LTD | WATER & WASTE SOLUTIONS

Mixed Bed: Operations

START UP REFILL / RINSE / SERVICE OF- MB

1. REFILL

‚ Open Air Release Valve V-12 fully.

‚ Open Inlet Valve V-1 fully.
‚ Ensure SBA in service.
‚ When full bore water starts flowing through air release, change over operation to
Rinse.

2. RINSE

‚ Open Inlet Valve V-1 fully.

‚ Open Rinse Outlet valve V-6 partially and maintain a flow (M3/hour) = service flow.
‚ Put into service on line conductivity once conductivity reduced below 0.5 micro
siemens (note initially conductivity of MB water in rinse will be more during shut
down/ regeneration).

3. SERVICE

‚ Open Inlet Valve V-1 fully.

‚ Open Outlet Valve V-2 partially and maintain a flow (M3/hour) = SERVICE FLOW.
‚ Put up pH and Silica Analyzer into service once flow is stabilized.
‚ Check on line conductivity / pH / Silica and ensure valves are within set limit.
‚ Ensure DM water Storage Tank inlet valve is open.

NOTE: for better performance of Mixed Bed it should be run continuously keeping in
mind following

1. It should not be run more than stipulated service cycle time of RATED hours or
stipulated conductivity.
2. Silica crosses high limits after rechecking laboratory results.
3. Before taking out of service in between before exhaustion to avoid resin bed
disturbance put into rinse and then to off.
4. If only one stream is in service, Mixed Bed to be continued with next stream of SAC /
SBA after first stream exhaustion.

4. AIR RELEASE

During service /before regeneration / during rinse step, ensure completely air is released.
Open air release V-12. Ensure full water flows through air release. Then close valve V-12.

M/S KBK CHEM-ENGINEERING (P) LTD; / OC NO: 225064 121

 THERMAX LTD | WATER & WASTE SOLUTIONS

(Regeneration steps: CATION & ANION simultaneous regeneration)

STEP - 01 / Middle Collector Wash

‚ Open fully V-4.
‚ Open V-13 partially & allow water to wash ‘Middle Collector’. The flow =
Backwash Flow.

STEP – 02 / Back Wash

‚ V-4 is open as earlier.
‚ Open V-3 and allow water to backwash mixed bed. The flow = 6 x Cross
section area of the vessel. (M3/hr)

STEP – 03 / Settle Bed

‚ All valves remain closed. The resin bed (which is separated) gets settled.

STEP – 04 / Power Water / ACID & ALKALI

‚ Open Middle Collector Outlet valve, V10 fully.
‚ Open power water inlet valves V32 (both) on MHL-1 & MAK-1 lines.
‚ Start SBA service operation.
‚ Establish power water 0.19 m3/hr each for both the lines (MHL-1 & MAK-1).
‚ Observe drainage mark for appropriate settings.

STEP – 05 / ACID & ALKALI INJECTION

‚ Power water for CATION resin regeneration is established since earlier step.
‚ Power water for ANION resin regeneration is set since earlier step.
‚ Now open slowly V2 (MAK-1) & V2 (MHL-1) simultaneously & allow injection of
Alkali & Acids simultaneously.
‚ Continue injection for about 15 to 20 minutes until full regenerants gets
consumed.

STEP – 06 / ACID / ALKALI SLOW RINSE

‚ When ACID & ALKALI get finished, increase power water flow & equals it to
regeneration flow rates
‚ Continue slow rinsing for about 25 minutes. This completes regenerant
distribution through resin beds.
‚ Stop inlet flow of rinsing water & allow the resin beds to settle.

STEP – 07 / Drain Down

‚ Open V-12 & V-4 fully.
‚ Now open V-6 partially so as to drain water up to 100 mm above resin level.
Then air scouring shall be started.

STEP – 08 / Blower Start

‚ Valves, V-12, V-4 & V-31 are fully open.
‚ Allow air to flow through drain.

M/S KBK CHEM-ENGINEERING (P) LTD; / OC NO: 225064 126

 THERMAX LTD | WATER & WASTE SOLUTIONS

STEP – 09 / Air Mixing Resins

‚ Valves, V-12, V-4 & V-11 are fully open.
‚ Allow air to flow through resin beds to mix cation & anion resins.

STEP – 10 / REFILL
‚ V-1, V-12 remains fully open.
‚ Open V-6 partially. Start inlet flow from SBA unit to refill the vessel.

STEP – 11 / Fast RINSE (or FINAL RINSE)

‚ Valve V-1 is fully open, Then open V-6 partially (flow = 13.0 m3/hr service flow) for
fast rinse. After 5 minutes check conductivity of the rinse outlet water.

M/S KBK CHEM-ENGINEERING (P) LTD; / OC NO: 225064 127

 THERMAX LTD | WATER & WASTE SOLUTIONS

ƒ REGENERATION SOLUTION PREPARATION: MB

For “Mixed Bed Unit”

Description qty units
HCl recommended on 100% concentration 7.2 kgs
Therefore 30% HCL required 24.00 kgs
Therefore 30% HCL required (volume) 20.89 Liters
To make 10% acid dilution add decationised water 41.78 Liters
Therefore 10% acid volume after dilution 62.66 Liters
Power water @ 1:1 injection ratio 0.063 m3
For 20 minutes injection, the rate of power water would be 0.19 m3/hr
Acid injection flow 0.38 m3/hr
ANION Regeneration with NaOH
NaOH recommended on 100% concentration 9.5 kgs
Therefore 48% NaOH required 19.79 kgs
Therefore 48% NaOH required (volume) 13.28 Liters
To make 10% alkali dilution add decationised water 50.48 Liters
Therefore 10% alkali volume after dilution 63.76 Liters
Power water @ 1:1 injection ratio 0.064 m3
For 20 minutes injection, the rate of power water would be 0.19 m3/hr
Alkali injection flow 0.38 m3/hr

M/S KBK CHEM-ENGINEERING (P) LTD; / OC NO: 225064 128

 THERMAX LTD | WATER & WASTE SOLUTIONS

ƒ MB OPERATIONS & REGENERATION FLOWS

MB OPERATION: FLOWS (Simultaneous Regeneration)

Sr. Operation Flow M3/hr Time (minutes) Refer Drgs.
No.
1 REFILL FULL As required REFILL
BORE
2 RINSE 13 RINSE

3 SERVICE 13 refer designed SERVICE

HOURS
4 AIR REALEASE -- As required AIR REALEASE

5 Middle Collector Wash 2.54 5 Step-1

6 Back Wash 2.54 10 Step-2

7 Settle Bed (Regeneration) - 2 Step-3

8 Power Water ACID/ALK. 0.19 2 Step-4

9 ACID/ ALK. Injection 0.38 20 Step-5

10 ACID/ ALK. Rinse (Slow) 0.38 25 Step-6

Settle Bed (Regeneration) - 2

11 Drain Down -- 5 Step-7

12 Blower Start -- 1 Step-8

13 Air Mix (Resin) -- 10 Step-9

14 Refill 13 3 Step-10

15 Fast Rinse 13 10 Step-11

M/S KBK CHEM-ENGINEERING (P) LTD; / OC NO: 225064 129