Desionització

Desionització, also known as demineralization, is a process used to remove dissolved mineral ions from water. This is typically achieved by passing the water through ion-exchange resins. These resins are specially manufactured polymers that contain charged sites. Cationic resins attract and bind positively charged ions (cations) like sodium, calcium, and magnesium, while anionic resins attract and bind negatively charged ions (anions) like chloride, sulfate, and nitrate.

In a typical deionization system, water first flows through a cation-exchange column, where cations are exchanged for hydrogen ions (H+). Subsequently, the water passes through an anion-exchange column, where anions are exchanged for hydroxide ions (OH-). The hydrogen and hydroxide ions then combine to form water, effectively removing the dissolved salts. The spent resins can be regenerated by flushing them with a concentrated acid and base solution, which reverses the ion-exchange process and replenishes the resin's capacity.

The resulting deionized water has very low conductivity and is essentially free of dissolved minerals. This makes it suitable for various industrial and laboratory applications where pure water is essential, such as in power generation, semiconductor manufacturing, pharmaceutical production, and laboratory analysis. While deionization is effective at removing ions, it does not remove dissolved organic molecules or microorganisms.