Barium is an alkaline earth metal with an atomic number of 56. It is a soft, silver metal that is highly reactive. Barium tarnishes in air and reacts with water.
Applications
Barium is used in various industries to manufacture spark-plug electrodes and fluorescent lamps, drilling mud in the oil and gas industry, paint, glass, and rubber. Due to its attraction to oxygen, it can remove oxygen from vacuum tubes and be used as a drying agent.
Challenges
During industrial operations, excess barium is known to be released into the water and soil during disposal and eventually finds its way into drinking water sources. Trace amounts of water-soluble barium could cause various health risks, both short-term and long-term, including difficulty breathing, increased blood pressure, and stomach irritation.
Solutions
Resin technology is implemented within two types of applications.
Removal from Potable and Groundwater
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) set the maximum contaminant level goal (MCLG) of barium in drinking water at two ppm (mg/L). In comparison, the World Health Organization (WHO) has set the MCLG at 1.3 ppm.
Traditional strong acid cation (SAC) resins readily remove barium from water to meet EPA and WHO standards; however, Purolite™ Shallow Shell™ SSTC6000E resin can remove barium at a higher capacity.
For more information, visit Shallow Shell Technology Products.
Removal in Chlor-alkali Industrial Processes
The Chlor-alkali industrial process produces chlorine and sodium hydroxide, commodity chemicals. For this process to work efficiently, hard cations such as barium, strontium, calcium, and magnesium must be removed from the brine solution.
Purolite S940 and
Purolite S9320 are characterized by their high capacity for efficient brine treatment. They effectively remove impurities and ensure the production of high-quality, purified brine.
Purolite™ Puromet™ MTS9510PF complements this process with its highly selective aminophosphonic chelating functionality, ideal for removing trace metals such as iron, copper, and zinc from brine streams.
Learn how Purolite Resins support efficient brine purification in chlor-alkali processes using the
Purolite Resin System Modeling Software (PRSM).
