POWER STATIONS AROUND THE WORLD ENTRUST THEIR SUCCESSFUL OPERATION TO PUROLITE RESINS

Purolite has been servicing the power industry for over 25 years. We manufacture ion exchange products to meet power industry requirements to keep plants running safely, effectively and efficiently. The industry’s requirement for high-purity water began in early 1900s with the removal of scale and corrosion forming chemicals from makeup water. As power generating units increased in operating pressure and temperature, further purification of makeup and condensate became an essential component in operating efficiency. With the introduction of nuclear power at the end of WWII, treating cooling water and steam generating systems became more complex due to the presence of radioactive isotopes. The national need for power and the ability to extend the life expectancy of generating equipment continue to be of primary importance.

Both fossil and nuclear power plant operations require exceptional water purity for critical systems. They must ensure water and steam circuits meet operating chemical expectations to prevent scale formation and corrosion. Purolite ion exchange resins for the power industry are purified to the highest power industry specification to make sure those impurities contributing to scale formation and corrosion are removed. Our ion exchange resins are highly reliable with exceptional operating capacity and great mechanical durability — helping to extend service life, limit corrective maintenance and reduce downtime.

Fossil Power Plants

Power plant water treatment systems use a variety of Purolite products. These systems include feedwater makeup, condensate polishing, stator cooling and indicator cation resin for cation conductivity columns and analytical testing. Makeup water resin configuration will be determined based on the overall influent water quality which impacts treatment equipment design. Whether the system is co-flow or counter flow will also matter in product selection. Products for makeup commonly consist of strong acid cation and strong base anion resins, however weak acid and weak base resins may reduce operating cost. Counter flow service requires specific resin grades to minimize differential pressures during service. Polishing cation and anion resins that are mixed will be designed to efficiently separate for proper regeneration. When polishing high purity water in mechanically challenging applications such as condensate polishing, the resins will require higher capacity for selectivity and durability to minimize breakage during transfer and regeneration with concentrated chemicals.