How to recharge DI resin

[dngspot]

Here are the pics that I promised.

This is the work area that I do my recharge. The orange bucket has ro water in it and the blue is full of cool tap water. The blue bucket is dumped after the lye cools and is used to catch the acid and lye solutions.

First measure up 9 oz of water and 3 fluid oz of lye.

Combine, look no splattering or bubbling.

Put in bucket of cold water.

Mix up 6 oz of acid with 6 oz of water. The tumbler to the left is what I put the acid and water in.

Here is a pic of 5lbs of spent resin.

After the lye solution has cooled ad 2 oz of water.

Then mix the lye solution with the resin.

Stir

 

[dngspot]

This is what it looks like when the resin separates, the stir stick is still in the resin.

Remove the top layer of resin with a turkey baster. If your container is clear it makes the job easier.

As you remove solution the gap between the upper resin and lower resin gets smaller. The gap between the bottom of the second container gets bigger. In the pic I have just started and have not removed much lye solution, but you can see the gaps.

You can tip the jar to get a greater gap when you transfer fluid back to the first container. The turkey baster is in the pic, you have to look closely.

After you have skimmed the top layer of resin you should have this.

The fruit strainer with a coffee filter.

Put the cation (resin that sinks) in the coffee filter, split the resin into two batches.

Run 1/2 gallon through each batch.

Put cation resin in a zip lock bag. Turning the fruit strainer upside down in the bag and letting the coffee filter fall on top of the resin, worked best for me. You just pinch the filter shake as much resin off and put in trash.

 

[dngspot]

The cation before the acid was added.

Adding the acid to the cation resin.

Stirring the cation and acid. The color changes pretty quick. My camera puts allot of red with the flash but the stuff is turning purple.

It is purple.

Set the anion (the resin that floats) and the cation to the side and find something to do for an hour.

After the hour is up take the anion resin and in two batches run 1 gallon of water through each. Put your rinse water in the same container that you rinsed the anion resin in, in the earlier step.

Then put in a new zip lock bag.

Do the same thing to the cation resin. Two batches 1 gallon of water through the resin and filter. Put all rinse water and chemicals in the same bucket. The acid and base will neutralize each other.

Put cation resin in same bag. For separate beds keep the resins in separate bags.

 

[dngspot]

Mix well.

Done.
I did two canisters of resin in this photo shoot but only listed the measurements for a single batch.
Spent resin vs. recharged resin

 

[melev]

That is so neat. It makes me want to try it. Let me ask you this: Does the metal strainer you are using to hold the coffee filter seem to be holding up okay? I've discovered that muriatic acid ruins stainless steel (my kitchen sink needs to be replaced now) and thus is the strainer only good for this project from now on?

 

[A.T.T.R]

i was told by spectra pure to seperate using brine. not sure ifthis was a safty thing or effects the resin in any way.
btw i love your lack of gloves

you know there are companys that you can send your resin to and htyey recharge it for you. ( i think they state 99 or 99.9 percent recharge or somthing like that)

 

[cougaraug]

didn't you already say that? This just Dngspot showing us how he did it, albeit with lack of gloves (a good point which, I believe, has already been covered too)

There are also companies that will build tanks, reactors, streams, and pretty much anything else that anyone uses in this hobby. This, however, is the DO IT YOURSELF forum. The whole point of it is learning how to do it yourself. I think you need to visit the "you can just let someone else do it for you" forum.

 

[funman1]

Very nice with MANY detailed pics!
Awesome job..

 

[redox]

dngspot thanks for the pics. Do you have any way of knowing how much capacity you are getting out of your regened resins. I have noticed it to be less and less each time . Was wondering if you have seen that first hand. I do know the better they are remixed the better they will work. Awsome diy

 

[dngspot]

The strainer is only for this process now. It does not look any different from the time I started though.
I believe that the only loss of resin is in the process. It sticks to everything.
Who needs gloves? It is not hard to keep this stuff off of your hands and if you do get on your hands you should have a bucket of water close. Really it just dries my hand a little.
I have no clue how much I will get from each recharge only time will tell.

 

[MrSpiffy]

Very cool! Thanks for the step-by-step with photos. I'm definitely adding this to my library of information.

I think you need to visit the "you can just let someone else do it for you" forum.

:lol: Well said!

 

[Ewan]

Thanks for taking pics. Nothing like bringing your camera out in to the 'backyard laboratory".

Very nice job.



cougaraug, you said what I was thinking. :lol:

 

[tgunn]

Awesome job! I've got a whole bunch of used resin kicking around (why I kept it, I dunno). Perhaps I will have to give this a try.

Muriatic acid seems easy to come by (saw it at Home Depot). I just need to find the Lye somewhere now.

Tyler

 

[dngspot]

Lowes has the lye.

 

[MrSpiffy]

dngspot mentioned in his original post that you could also find lye at Lowes. Here's what he posted:

"The Lye is found at Lowes in the pluming section. It is used for clearing drains and made by a company called Roebic, and is 100% sodium hydroxide (caustic soda), also known as lye, as mentioned on the back of the bottle."

I wouldn't be surprised if you could find the acid there, too. Did you check there for the acid dngspot?

 

[tgunn]

Up here in Canada we don't have Lowes. I've looked in the plumbing section at Home Depot for Lye before, but haven't had luck locating it. Perhaps I will have to try looking again. For some reason it seems the stock at the Home Depots here is much different than in the States.


Tyler

 

[dngspot]

Spiffy I bought the acid from Lowes also. Our HD does not carry a drain opener that is 100 % sodium hydroxide. I have seen a few posts on other sites that mentioned Zep had a product at HD, but when I checked their products where not 100% sodium hydroxide.

 

[dngspot]

I did not mention that I started the recharge at 5:00PM and let the sloutions sit at 6:00. I came back to the project at 7:00 and strained all of the resins, I was finished at 7:30.

 

[Ewan]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10184562#post10184562 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by tgunn
Up here in Canada we don't have Lowes. I've looked in the plumbing section at Home Depot for Lye before, but haven't had luck locating it. Perhaps I will have to try looking again. For some reason it seems the stock at the Home Depots here is much different than in the States.


Tyler

I have drawings on my desk of Canadian Lowes.

Soon...



-E.

 

[tgunn]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10186165#post10186165 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Ewan
I have drawings on my desk of Canadian Lowes.

Soon...



-E.

Sweeeeet.

Though knowing the way things work Winnipeg won't get one.

Tyler