Removal of boron from the bittern solution of lake qarun water by electrically assisted ion exchange

Abstract

In this study, we investigated the use of ion exchange processes using a chelating resin, Diaion CRB02 for the removal of boron from the bittern solution left after the extraction of sodium sulfate and sodium chloride from the water of Lake Qarun, located in Egypt. The effects of parameters such as the initial boron concentration and the pH value on the breakthrough volume were studied using boric acid as the synthetic simulant of the bittern solution. The breakthrough capacity was shown to be directly proportional to the height of the resin bed and inversely proportional to the initial boron concentration and the feed flow rate. In addition, the optimum pH for boron removal was found to be 10. An electrically assisted process, which had been found to be effective for a strongly acidic cation exchange resin, was also applied to the ion exchange by taking the electric current as a parameter. However, no remarkable effect was observed, which may result from the difference in the function group between an ion exchange resin using electrostatic attractive force and a chelating resin using complex formation.