By James Summerfield, Dow Liquid Separations

Many utility and industrial power generating systems rely on a steam condensate
loop, including facilities using once-through steam generators (OTSG), critical and
supercritical steam generators, nuclear-fueled boiling water reactors (BWR) and
pressurized water reactors (PWR). Recovering and recycling the return condensate
stream is an obvious way to significantly reduce operating costs. However, the
stream must be carefully purified to remove contaminants that could lead to system
element leaks and corrosion.

This purification process, known as condensate polishing, is a unique application of

ion exchange resins that deal with impurities that arise within the steam system itself,
as opposed to those stemming from the raw water analysis. Several factors must be
considered when selecting a condensate polishing system and choosing the correct
resins for the specific operating conditions.

The Need for Condensate Polishing

In a typical power plant steam condensate loop, steam is passed through a series of
turbines, expending most of its energy. The steam is condensed by a heat
exchanger system, then returned to the boiler where it is converted back into steam.

Contrasting colors of DOWEX MONOSPHERE resins provide

visual confirmation that backwash separation is complete. Photo
courtesy of Dow.
Click here to enlarge image

Within these systems, condensate purity is a concern, particularly in high-pressure

utility units where condensate represents the bulk of boiler feedwater, which makes it
the primary source for contaminants. Impurities enter the stream through vacuum-
induced leaks, corrosion of metal surfaces within the system, and careless repair
work. These system malfunctions also allow cooling water in the condenser system
to leak into the condensate stream, a far more serious contamination threat.
Purification or “polishing” of the return condensate is essential to guarantee a high-
quality feedwater to the downstream boiler.

How Deep-Bed polishing Works

Condensate polishing system designs incorporate two approaches: Using deep beds
of bead-type ion exchange resins, and using powdered ion exchange resin
presented as a precoat media on a filter element. Although powdered resin precoat
systems offer good filtration, they are limited in their demineralization capability,
since the resins’ volume is limited by the available precoat depth on the septum filter.
In contrast, deep beds of ion exchange resins easily remove dissolved ionic
contaminants, even under high flow rate conditions.

Deep-bed systems remove suspended corrosion products with in-depth filtration,

meaning the suspended particulates penetrate deep into the bed of ion exchange
beads rather than accumulate on the top surface. This gives deep beds a high
filtration capacity. To fully realize this capacity, however, it is critical to maintain high
flow rates and select proper bead size. It is also essential to balance pressure drop
and filtration characteristics with those of the surface area available for mass transfer
and ion exchange kinetics.

When Condensate Polishing Becomes Necessary

Boiler pressure plays a large role in determining the need for a condensate polishing
system. In systems with low steam pressures (below 600 psig), condensate polishing
isn’t usually needed. In these systems, boiler feedwater can be treated to prevent
hard scale formation and boiler corrosion. Adding chemicals (phosphate for
example), gross particulate filtration and decarbonation are usually sufficient to
remove contaminates from the condensate stream.

Condensate polishing becomes more necessary for medium-pressure (600-2,400

psig) and high-pressure (above 2,450 psig) systems. Although medium-pressure
systems can control feedwater demineralization with boiler blowdown,
demineralization with an anion bed can also be used. Condensate “scavenging,” or
cation exchange is also often used to remove corrosion products from condensate
returning from the turbine. High-pressure systems are often “zero-solids” systems
that require condensate polishing to satisfy the water quality requirements of the
major contaminant ions. Full-flow condensate polishing is critical to remove soluble
and insoluble corrosion products, and removing contaminant ions caused by
condenser inleakage.

Which System to Choose?

Ion exchange resins can be used in a variety of ways to treat condensate. Each
application has specific advantages depending on system setup and contaminant
removal needs.

Cation Exchange (condensate scavenging) – Condensate scavenging is used mainly

with industrial low- and medium-pressure boilers to remove corrosion products from
the condensate. The system consists of a deep bed of macroporous strong acid
cation exchange resin that operates in the sodium or amine form. Insoluble
particulate corrosion products are filtered in-depth on the resin bed, and some
hardness ions are interchanged with the cation on the resin. The choice of cation
resin ionic form depends on the chemistry of the circulating water system.
Cation/anion Mixed Bed – The most common ion exchange system used in
condensate polishing is a mixed bed of strong acid cation exchange resin and strong
base anion exchange resin. It produces very high-quality demineralized water,
because ion leakage from one resin is quickly removed from the water by the other.
Deep-bed, in-depth filtration is accomplished by maintaining the flow rate high
enough to keep surface filter cakes from forming – typically about 120 meters/hour.
A bed depth of about one meter allows the pressure drop across the bed to be
maintained at economically acceptable levels. In most cases, the mixed-bed system
consists of several vessels operating in parallel whereby used resins are transferred
to a separate system for cleanup and regeneration. Sometimes, disposable resins
are used.

Lead Cation Resin Followed by Mixed Bed of Strong Cation/Anion Resins – This
system, a variant on the mixed-bed system, addresses a common problem when
using all volatile treatment (AVT). In AVT, ammonia or other volatile amines are used
to adjust water pH and control corrosion. When AVT is used in a steam-condensate
cycle, the amine carries overhead and transports with the steam. When the amine-
laden steam condenses, it creates a condensate stream with amine levels ranging
from 0.2 to 1.0 ppm. This amine is readily exchanged onto the cation resin during
condensate polishing. Eventually, the cation resin becomes exhausted to the amine
form, and the amine breaks through into the condensate polisher effluent stream.

A solution is to remove amines by treating the condensate with a hydrogen form

cation resin before it reaches the mixed bed. This initial cation bed treatment also
removes corrosion products. This removes both the amine load and the solids
contamination off the mixed bed, meaning mixed bed run lengths can be extended to
months. Regeneration of the initial lead cation can be performed more frequently
than regeneration of the mixed bed, reducing the difficulties of mixed bed
regeneration

Cation-Anion-Cation Stacked Bed – This process uses a single tank with

compartments that contain separate layers of cation, anion and cation resins. The
resins are never mixed. Each goes to its own external regeneration vessel. This
system setup ensures that leakage from the lead cation is polished in the trailing
cation resin. The final water quality depends both on the trailing cation resin
regenerant rinse-down and on the leachable characteristics of both cation resins.

Factors Affecting Resin Performance

Once a condensate polishing system design is selected, the correct resins for the job
must be chosen. The performance of an ion exchange resin in a particular system is
strongly dependent on the inherent characteristics of the resin itself, the design
parameters of the system in which it will operate, and the manner in which the
operation is controlled.

Some of the characteristics that can impact selection include:

Particle size uniformity – Particle size uniformity affects a number of resin

characteristics including the kinetics of reaction, the separability of one resin from
another, and the pressure drop across the resin bed. Resins with a uniform particle
size distribution have advantages over traditional Gaussian-distribution resins.
Uniform particle distribution produces small-bead resins, eliminating larger beads.
This results in faster kinetics and therefore greater ability to remove ionic impurities
to extremely low levels. In addition, large, low-density anion beads can fluidize
during backwash at the same level as smaller, denser cation beads, making
separation difficult or impossible. Uniform size distribution eliminates this problem
and optimizes separability.

Filtration and capacity – Uniform particle size also helps with resin filtration and
capacity. The number of “pinch points” between beads in a given volume of resin is
related to the resin’s filtration ability. Smaller, more uniformly distributed resins
provide more pinch points and, therefore, greater filtration.

Ionic capacity is separated into total capacity and operating capacity. Total capacity
is inherent in the resin type (although it can vary with changes in resin cross-linkage
and water retention capacity), while operating capacity, although a function of total
capacity, also depends on the regenerability of the resin. Since resin regenerability is
related to particle size uniformity, using a uniformly distributed resin also increases
operating capacity.

Bead integrity – Resin beads must be strong enough to remain unbroken during the
conditions of operation over an entire cycle. Anion resin fines caused by broken
beads are lost from the system during backwash and cation resin fines contaminate
the anion layer during backwash separation. Particularly strong resins are required
for deep-bed condensate polishing when operating conditions are severe. High flow
rates and pressure drop are typical, resin is transported hydraulically from the
service vessel to the regeneration system, and osmotic forces are encountered
during regeneration. Operators must select resins that withstand these conditions.

Rinse and regeneration efficiency – Resins’ rinse and regeneration efficiency can
directly impact ionic leakage. Better regeneration results in more complete removal
of ionic contaminants from the anion and cation resins. This leads to longer run time
and lower total ionic leakage. Here again, uniform particle size resins significantly
improve efficiency.

Rinsedown of a resin is also improved by uniform particle size resins, since it is

dependent on the rate of diffusion of the regenerant chemical from the bead interior
to the surface of the bead, and is thus adversely affected by larger beads in the resin
particle size distribution. And although it might seem superfluous, color can have an
impact on resin performance in condensate polishing applications. The cation and
anion resins should have sharply contrasting colors to make it easy for the operator
to verify backwash separation.

Using the right resins results in no contaminants being left. Although condensate
polishing can be a highly effective method to purify and recycle the condensate
stream, several different system designs and resin choices must be considered for
the power generating system to reap the benefits. Most resin manufacturers provide
specifications to help in the selection of a resin that will meet the requirements of a
specific polishing system. Those requirements in conjunction with the system options
summarized here will help when selecting the right resin and condensate polishing
system combination.

Author:
James Summerfield was with Dow’s biocides division working on industrial
preservation and water treatment for six years and has spent five years in Dow’s
liquid separations group as a technical specialist in ion exchange. He has presented
numerous technical papers at industry water conferences and been published in
several industry trade publications. He holds a bachelor of science degree in
business-chemistry and an MBA from Saginaw Valley State University.