[david82]

Hi guys, just have a quick question, if you'd be so kind to tell me...
What are the materials from which anion exchange column tanks are made of? 
I heard that some company in Great Britain is supposed to be a leader in this field?
Any advice/link/answer will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks and take care.

Kind regards,

David 

[enahs]

Typically ion exchange resins.

http://www.remco.com/ix.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ion_exchange_resin
http://www.isr.umd.edu/CELS/research/watersim/guidance/educational%20module/ion_exchange1.htm

[david82]

Thanks for the answer and the links.
Can you tell me what the column tank is made of typically? Some sort of plastic maybe?
What I specifically need to know is, what material is best for the tank and the tubes/pipes when drinking water is involved?

[Donaldson Tan]

David82: are you a chemical engineer?

[david82]

No, Sir I am not. I am asking these things for a friend, just trying to help someone out. That's why my questions probably sound amateurish.

[Donaldson Tan]

Are you thinking of Puritech's Ionex system?

The Ionex System is a continuous counter-current ion exchange system that use a single rotating multi-port distribution valve. The valve distributes different flow streams to several resin cells and determines whether the resin is in an an adsorption, regeneration or rinsing cycle.

[david82]

Sadly those terms are too technical for me... Let me tell you the whole story. My friend is studying chemical engineering (4th year) and they have an assignment to theoretically construct a column which purifies water. Her current task in this assignment is to find out, through searching on the internet or literature, of which material should this column tank (and the pipes) be, in order to use it with drinking water. She understands how the process of anion exchange works, but the question is, should this tank be made of a special type of stainless steel, PVC.... And also what material to use in the pipes/hoses. Then they (the group) will calculate, how much water to put in, what the pressure should be, etc. So I've tried to help by looking on the net, found many firms that make and sell these columns, but have not found specific data about what they are made of.
I hope I explained my problem well enough, sorry if was not specific enough before.

[Donaldson Tan]

Ask your friend to come to the forum instead. There is no point for you to act as a proxy unless you want to learn chemical engineering.

In fact, the typical consideration are the same:
1. susceptibility to corrosion by the process materials
2. is the specific chemical process limited by mass transfer?
3. if so, what material / setup would maximise mass transfer?