Application Note: Power Industry

Significance of Cation
Conductivity Measurement
The principle of Cation Exchange is same as in any ion
exchange process. The DM plant uses Anion Exchangers
and Cation Exchangers to remove anions and cations from
the water to finally make the water free from salts/
dissolved impurities.

The cation exchange principle is used for a different

purpose in the sampling system. This is used to eliminate
masking effects of known chemicals such as ammonia or
dissolved amines. This is explained in detail as below.

Figure 1 shows the arrangement of a cation exchanger in

the Sampling system. It is called Duplex type, because it
uses 2 cation columns, 1 duty and 1 standby.

Rotameter

CE CT
3-Way ball Valve
Cation Columns
1 2

CE CT

Figure 1
 Doc#CIG/0313/179/V1.R1
The conductivity measurement, as such, is a blind method of cross
checking whether there are dissolved impurities present in the
sample or whether it is ultrapure water. The ultrapure water is
very poorly ionised and hence possesses extremely low
conductivity. The moment even a small amount of salt (say NaCl)
is added, conductivity shoots up drastically. This can happen even
with addition of desired chemicals as mentioned above. The
typical reaction on the cation column will be :

1) Na(+) + Cl(-) => H(+) ions => HCl + Na(+) ions

2) NH4 (+) + OH (-) =>. H(+) ions => H2 O + NH4 (+) ions

In cation columns, resins present are charged with H(+) ions.

These ions replace the +ve ions of any salt or dissolved impurity, as
it dissociates in water.

In case (1), the cations replace Na ions and the outcome is HCl,
i.e. the corresponding acid.

In case (2), the cations replace NH4 ions and the outcome is water
(H2O), i.e. pure water.

The conductivity in case (1) is @ 3 times as that imparted by the salt

(here NaCl), while in case (2), the conductivity imparted by the
chemical (here NH4OH) gets eliminated as the outcome is pure
H2O.

Thus cation conductivity measurement eliminates the masking

effects of known/desired chemicals.

Figure 1 shows a typical layout of cation conductivity

measurement. The conductivity is measured before the sample
enters the cation column. This is called ‘Specific Conductivity’
measurement. The sample then flows through the cation column.
The 3-way ball valve at the entry is used to pass the sample
through the desired cation column (The duty column, say column-
1 in this case). The position of the 3-way ball valve at the bottom is
also selected in the same manner. The column-2 can be selected
when the resin in the first column gets exhausted. Generally it is
advisable to switchover between the columns every 6 months,
although the resins are capable of cation exchange for a longer
period.