ALKALINITY

There exist three species of alkalinity; bicarbonate, carbonate and hydroxide. The concentration of each species will
vary with pH. Total alkalinity is the measurement of all species of alkalinity in the water. The concentration of each
of the three species can be determined by titrating a water sample with acid of a known concentration and using
chemical indicators, phenolphthalein (P indicator),methyl orange (M indicator), or a pH meter to determine
"endpoints". The chemical indicators change color at a certain pH points(the endpoint). The mix of alkaline species
change as pH decreases. Hydroxide alkalinity disappears below pH 10.3, carbonate below 8.3 and bicarbonate below
4.3 (or thereabout). The P indicator turns from pink to clear at or below pH 8.3 The M indicator turns from orange to
yellow below pH 4.3. The amount of acid required to produce a color change is used to calculate the amount of P
and M alkalinity. The P and M results are use to calculate "O" or hydroxide alkalinity. Depending on the ionic
constituents of the water, these relationships can change or be interfered with.
Ion Exchange calculator (2)
This calculator is under construction.

This calculator is based on theoretical calculations and explains how to use selectivity coefficients,
separation factors and how to determine the maximum volume of water that can be treated with a resin
before breakthrough happens. The calculator also shows some calculations that are needed for the sizing of
an ion exchange installation. But again be careful, the calculations are based on theoretical formulas and are
not corrected with results from real ion exchange water treatment plants.

There is an example under the calculation tables to show how the calculations are made by the calculator.

Table 1: Input table for anion concentrations

MW converted
Anions Concentration unit unit
g/mol concentration
NO3- 62.00
NO2- 46.01
Cl- 35.45
SO42- 96.06
HCO3- 61.02
F- 19.00
TOTAL eq/L

Table 2: Input table for cation concentrations

MW converted
Cations Concentration unit unit
g/mol concentration
Na+ 22.99
K+ 39.10
Ca2+ 40.08
Mg2+ 24.31
NH4+ 18.04
Mn2+ 54.94
TOTAL eq/L

Table 3: Table for some sizing parameters for an ion exchange installation
Anion removal Cation removal
Exchange capacity
Density Resin
service flow
time between 2
regenerations (1 cycle)
Ions in water (1 cycle) eq/cycle
required-resin volume
L/cycle
theoretical
calculated mass of resin kg/cycle
Total required surface
m2
area
Diameter Column m

Table 4: Output table for equilibrium composition and percentile distributions for occupied sites on
the resin
Lwat Lwa
(eq/ er/ (eq/ ter/
Anions Cations
L) Lresi L) Lres
n in

NO3- Na+
NO2- K+
Cl- Ca2+
SO42- Mg2+
HCO3- NH4+
F- Mn2+
total total

You can send the values in the calculator to Lenntech to determine the best resin for your application.
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Comment

Example calculation to illustrate the equations used by the calculator:

The following points are treated in the example:

 Determine the separation factor for an ion with respect to the other ions in the water.
 Determine the equilibrium composition of the resin, thus calculating how much of the Exchange
capacity is used by the different ions.
 Determine the maximum amount of water that can be treated per liter of resin before breakthrough
occurs.
 Determine the percentile distribution of the occupied sites in the resin by the different ions.

Lets take water with the following composition:

Table 5: Composition of the water used in this example

Anion Concentration in meq/L

Cl- 1
SO4 2-
2
NO3 -
1.8

We want to eliminate anions from the water so we have to use an anionic resin. The resin has a standard
exchange capacity of 1,4 eq/L and a density of 0,7 kg/L.

In the Literature1 you can find the following values for selectivity coefficients and separation factors (Table
6).

Table 6: Selectivity coefficient and separation factor for a strong base anionic resin

Selectivity Separation
Anion
Factor Factor
Cl- 1.0 1
NO3 -
4 3.2
SO42- 0.15 9.1

Explanation of the selectivity coefficient and separation factor notation:

selectivity coefficient for anion i exchanging with Cl- onto resin

separation factor for anion i exchanging with Cl- onto resin

The resin has different preferences for the ions in the water. So at equilibrium the ions do not occupy the same
amount of resin. The resin prefers much more ions with a high valence. Relation (1) can be written regarding the
selectivity of the resin for the different ions in our water sample:

(1)

The different separation factors for an ion with respect to the other are calculated with formula (2):

(2)

separation factor for counterion i with respect to ion k

separation factor for counterion i with respect to ion j

separation factor for ion j with respect to ion k

Calculation separation factor for Nitrate NO3- with respect to the 2 other ions using formula (2):

example formula used to calculate

So by putting the write parameters in formula (2) the following separation factors can be calculated for nitrate with
respect to the 2 other ions:

The calculated separation factors for SO42- with respect to the 2 other ions are:

With these separation factors calculated above you can determine the equilibrium capacity of the resin for the
different ions.

eq/L

eq/L

eq/L
To control if the result is coherent you can add the equilibrium capacities used by the different ions to see if it is
equal to the total exchange capacity of the resin which is 1,4 eq/L.

eq/L

So you can see that the sum of the equilibrium capacities occupied by the different ions is equal to the total
exchange capacity of the resin.

Calculation of the maximum volume of water that can be treated per liter of resin before breakthrough occurs:

Lwater/Lresin

Lwater/Lresin

Lwater/Lresin

As you can see from the calculations of Vmax saturation occurs first for Chloride when 60 L of water has
been treated. So if you don't want to have chloride in your water you have to stop the ion exchange system
or if you have a duplex system you can switch to the other column available and regenerate the column that
is saturated with the absorbed ions. If the presence of chloride ions in water in not an issue you can than
treat 178 L of water per liter of resin before the breakthrough for Nitrates occurs.

Calculation of the percentile repartition of the occupied sites in the resin:

Lets calculate the percentile distribution for the different concentrations of ions in our water sample (table 5)

As you can see the percentile distribution for concentrations is not the same as the percentile distribution for
the occupied sites in the resin at equilibrium. This is due to the fact that the resin is more selective for
certain ions. The results for the calculation above are placed in the comparative table 7.

Anion

20,8 % 4,3 %

41,7 % 72,9 %

37,5 % 22,8 %

For every different application of water conditioning specific ion exchange resins (Rohm & Haas / Bayer /
Purolite) are available. Lenntech can advise you which is most appropriate.

Other calculators

Warning: Lenntech BV cannot be held responsible for errors in the calculation, the program itself or the
explanation. For questions or remarks please contact us.

Read more: http://www.lenntech.com/calculators/exchange/ion-exchange.htm#ixzz0zBeiwsWc

How to Calculate Alkalinity As CaCO3

By an eHow Contributor

Alkalinity is a water characteristic that quantifies the capacity of water to neutralize acids, namely, accepts
hydrogen ions H+. Alkalinity of natural water is mainly due to the presence of two forms of the carbonate
ions denoted as HCO3(-) and CO3(2-) that act as a buffer system. Alkalinity prevents sudden changes in the
acidity level of water and, hence, is important for fish and other aquatic life. It is measured in mg/L of
CaCO3. Naturally occurred alkalinity is in the range from 400 to 500 mg/L. As an example, calculate
alkalinity if 1 L of water contains 035 g of HCO3(-) and 0.12 g of CO3(2-) carbonate ions.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions
Things You'll Need:
 Calculator
 Periodic table of the chemical elements

Calculate the molar mass of HCO3(-),CO3(2-) and CaCO3 as the sum of mass of all atoms in the
molecule. Atomic weights of corresponding elements are given in the periodic table of the chemical
elements (see Resources).
Molar mass (HCO3(-)) = M(H) + M(C) + 3 x M(O) = 12 + 3 x 16 = 61 g/mole.
Molar mass (CO3(2-)) = M(C) + 3 x M(O) = 12+ 3 x 16 = 60 g/mole.
Molar mass (CaCO3) = M(Ca) + M(C) + 3 x M(O) = 40 + 12 + 3 x 16 = 100 g/mole.

Divide the molar mass by the ion charge or oxidation number (for CaCO3) to determine equivalent
(Eq.) weights.
Eq. weight (HCO3(-)) = 61 / 1 (charge) = 61 g/Eq.
Eq. weight (CO3(2-)) = 60 / 2 (charge) = 30 g/Eq.
Eq. weight (CaCO3) = 100 / 2 (oxidation state) = 50 g/Eq.

Divide masses of HCO3(-) and CO3(2-) by their equivalent (Eq.) weights to calculate a number of
equivalents. In our example,
Number of Eq. (HCO3(-)) = 0.35g / 61 g/Eq = 0.0057 Eq.
Number of Eq. (CO3(2-)) = 0.12g / 30 g/Eq = 0.004 Eq.
Equivalents are needed to reflect the following fact. Each ion HCO3(-) reacts with one hydrogen
proton H+, but each CO3(-2) ion can accept two protons or two equivalents.

Add up equivalents of HCO3(-) and CO3(2-) to calculate the alkalinity expressed in equivalents of
CaCO3. In our example,
Number of Eq. (CaCO3) = 0.0057 Eq + 0.004 Eq = 0.0097 Eq/L. Multiply it by 1,000 to get it in
milliequivalents: 0.0097 Eq/L x 1,000 = 9.7 mEq/L.
 Multiply alkalinity in "Eq/L" by the equivalent weight of CaCO3 to calculate it in g/L. In our
example,
Alkalinity as CaCO3 = 0.0097 Eq/L x 50 g/Eq = 0.485 g/L = 485 mg/L.

Read more: How to Calculate Alkalinity As CaCO3 | eHow.com

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