CSA Continuous Countercurrent Ion Exchange (CCIX) Technology

Abstract

The CSA-CCIX concept started at ORNL in 1951. It has been adapted to a wide variety of applications worldwide, in water and waste water treatment, fertilizers, hydrometallurgy, and general chemical processing. Unique features and how it works are described. Two extreme applications are described in detail. One is for the extraction of trace amounts of uranium from a copper leach, at 37.85m³/min (10,000 gpm) where very high throughput rates are emphasized. The other is for Acid Retardation, where a strong acid waste is purified and recovered. The feed processing rate here is much lower than the resin rate.