Demineralizer Troubleshooting Eliminates Brine Squeeze and Increases System Efficiency

In 2015 Purolite began calling on a Texas petrochemical refining plant to provide information about our products and to see if we could be of service to them. On one occasion, the plant engineer agreed to meet with Purolite and the refinery’s water treatment supplier to discuss the benefits of Shallow Shell Technology™ (SST®) resins. Although they were not a Purolite customer and were not in need of new resin, these high-performance resins were interesting as they improve the performance of demineralization systems, require less regenerant chemicals, require less rinse time, and reduce leakage.

A year later, the plant was experiencing short runs with their resin and a decision needed to be made on keeping or replacing the existing resin. Keeping the existing resin had several drawbacks, including the need to bring in mobile trailers to sustain the volume of treated water during the cleanout. Additionally, their internal audit determined the water contained high concentrations of organics and the anion resins were exhausting and fouling quickly.

The plant’s water doctor representative recalled the Purolite representative’s persistence and invited him in for a look at the system. After discussing the system, Purolite recommended a PuroPASS™ Performance Analysis System Survey be done to help the customer determine the best course of action for their plant. The team agreed and Purolite conducted a 2-day audit.

The evaluation included:

• System inspection
• Troubleshooting of operating issues
• Regeneration sequence audit
• Cost performance model preparation
• Customized action plan
• Outline of potential operating cost savings
• Full system analysis
• Presentation of findings

After evaluating the collected data, it was determined that high-performance resins were not needed for the entire system, and Purolite proposed a curated selection of resins that were installed into two of three trains the next year. As a result, the plant saw significant increase in throughput—doubling the amount of treated water produced—and longer runtimes with no need for brine squeezes. This saved the plant a lot in overall operational costs.

Due to the efficiencies and savings that were achieved, the plant opted to install resin in a third train in the third year. Additionally, the work Purolite did for the plant opened an opportunity for the companies to work together at their locations in Europe and they have now fully converted to Purolite resins.

Why Purolite?

• Reliable system evaluations
• Effective products
• Superior service