Specialty chemicals company LANXESS is showcasing ion exchange resins from its proven Lewatit line and Lewabrane-brand membranes at the 20th annual ICCI International Energy & Environment Conference and Fair. This foremost energy and environment trade fair in Turkey, with ancillary conference, has been held annually since 1994 and this year expects to attract around 16,000 professional visitors. Alexander Scheffler, director of Membrane Business in LANXESS’ Liquid Purification Technologies business unit, says: “The Turkish market is becoming one of the most important European markets for our reverse osmosis membranes. The country already is a leader in using our membranes for brackish water, and will become even more significant after we introduce our seawater desalination membranes.” LANXESS is exhibiting at the trade fair in partnership with Ökotek Çevre Teknolojisi ve Kimya Sanayi Limited Şti., Istanbul, a leading company in the field of environmental and process technologies, which markets Lewatit and Lewabrane in Turkey.

Lewatit is a leading brand in the field of ion exchange resins. LANXESS markets some 200 different product grades for numerous industries and applications. A combination with the company's membrane separation elements is possible, depending on the parameters of a given application. While membrane technology is very cost-efficient for water with a high salt content, only ion exchange resins (IEX) can purify water with low salt concentrations to the point where only trace amounts remain. With both methods connected in series, water of the highest purity can be produced even from very poor-quality water. “Our service includes assistance with plant design, encompassing both applications development and the economic and ecological aspects,” explains Scheffler.

The Lewabrane membrane separation elements made at the German Bitterfeld site for reverse osmosis (RO) are specially developed by LANXESS for industrial water treatment and the treatment of drinking water. The range currently includes products for the desalination of brackish and low-salinity waters. Main areas of application include the production of boiler feed water, wastewater treatment, groundwater remediation and full demineralization for microchip fabrication. The LANXESS range will be expanded this year to include additional product grades for seawater desalination. “The seawater membranes we developed are already undergoing extensive practice testing in Egypt,” Scheffler says. “We therefore are confident that we will be able to stick to our schedule for the product launch at Singapore International Water Week, to be held in June 2014.”

All Lewabrane membrane elements comply with NSF/ANSI Standard 61 for the health-related implications of drinking water system components. The U.S. National Sanitation Foundation (NSF International) has certified that all membrane elements currently sold by LANXESS are safe for use in the treatment of drinking water, a market segment with strong growth potential.

Unique planning software for integrated system design

LewaPlus software from LANXESS supports the simulation and design of both RO and IEX processes for water desalination. It is the only planning tool currently available that makes it possible to design very complex water treatment systems and draw direct comparisons between calculations for RO and IEX processes. The latest version 1.5 offers a number of new features, such as the configuration of seawater desalination plants. Detailed information on LANXESS membrane elements can be found at www.lewabrane.com. The LewaPlus design software can also be downloaded from this website free of charge.

The LPT business unit belongs to LANXESS’ Performance Chemicals segment, which achieved total sales in fiscal 2013 of EUR 2.13 billion.