Specialty chemicals company LANXESS is presenting high-performance ion exchange resins from its successful Lewatit range together with a complete line of services at Aquatech 2011, taking place in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, from November 1 to 4. Another focus of the event is on Lewabrane-brand membrane elements, produced at the new manufacturing facility in Bitterfeld, Germany. The first reverse osmosis membrane elements from LANXESS, they are scheduled for launch on the market in early 2012.

Lewatit is one of the leading brands in the field of ion exchange resins. Reflecting the relevant customer applications, the range of exchange resins, adsorbers and functional polymers is divided into three main segments: water, foodstuffs and catalysis/biotechnology/chemical processes. LANXESS offers new and established products from the Lewatit range for all these sectors. In combination with Lewabrane membrane elements, they meet the highest demands in the industry.

Ion exchange resins or membranes can be used to desalinate water for chemical processes or power generation. The decision to combine the two methods depends on the respective conditions. While membrane technology is very cost-efficient for water with a high salt content, only ion exchangers can purify water with low salt concentrations to the point where purely trace amounts remain. With both methods connected in series, water of the highest purity can be produced even from very poor-quality water. "Correctly designing treatment plants for this purpose and receiving comprehensive consulting are of critical importance," says Alexander Scheffler from the Ion Exchange Resins business unit's Marketing department. "Our service includes assistance with plant design, with regard not only to applications development, but also the economic and ecological aspects. Our customers benefit from our over 70 years of experience in the field."

One key application of Lewatit and Lewabrane is in the production of circulation water that does not cause encrustation or corrosion in power plants. These premium products extend the service life of valuable installations, such as turbines, steam generators and pipelines, ensuring their cost-effective operation throughout. Applications include complete desalination in the treatment of freshwater and the treatment of radioactive wastewater in the primary circuit of nuclear power plants, as well as cooling water or condensation treatment in the secondary circuit.

Membrane technology is used on a large scale for the production of drinking water. Lewatit ion exchange resins are an effective addition as a downstream step in this case, to eliminate any toxic impurities to a very low level. Examples in this connection include the selective removal of arsenic with Lewatit FO 36 or the removal of nickel from drinking water with Lewatit MonoPlus TP 207.

Ultra-pure water is mainly used in the electronics industry for the manufacture of semiconductors and microchips, and in the pharmaceuticals industry. Water quality requirements for residual conductivity and total organic carbon (TOC) emissions are so high that a combination of membranes and specially purified ion exchange resins is necessary. With Lewatit UltraPure, LANXESS has developed high-performance resins for the tough demands of polishing circuits.

To help customers put the new membrane elements from LANXESS to optimal use, calculation software will be available as of early 2012 to support customer-specific engineering. With this addition to the current version of the Lewatit-CalculatION design software for Lewatit ion exchangers, water treatment specialists can seamlessly switch from designing the reverse osmosis systems to the ion exchange resins.

Detailed information about the company’s ion exchange resin product range is available on the Internet at www.lewatit.com.

The Ion Exchange Resins business unit belongs to LANXESS’ Performance Chemicals segment, which achieved total sales in fiscal 2010 of EUR 1.97 billion.