Mass Transfer Mechanisms in the Fixed‐Bed Ion‐exchange Process for Dilute Colloidal Silica Manufacture

The ion exchange behavior of the H⁺ form C‐100 Purolite resin for the production of colloidal silica from dilute sodium silicate solutions has been investigated. The exchange isotherm has been found to be almost irreversible. The effective resin diffusion coefficient has been found to be 2.84 × 10^–10 m² s^–1 using a shrinking core model for the batch uptake experiments. Fixed bed experiments for different column heights and feed flow rates were performed. Numerical solution of the governing equations showed that the process is initially controlled by film diffusion and consequently by resin diffusion. Axial dispersion had to be taken into account. A simple power law correlation has been determined that relates the fluid Peclet number to the Reynolds number. It is presumed that some sort of resin ‘deactivation’ due to intraparticle microgel formation is responsible for the sluggish end part of the breakthrough curves.