Research for leachables of nuclear grade cation exchange resin

Author(s): Liang-Cheng Chen, Dah-Yu Kao, Tung-Jen Wen, Ping-Ji Huang
Institute of Nuclear Energy Research, Atomic Energy Council, Taiwan
International Journal of Smart Grid and Clean Energy, vol. 4, no. 2, April 2015: pp. 112-118
ISSN: 2315-4462 (Print)
ISSN: 2373-3594 (Online)
Digital Object Identifier: 10.12720/sgce.4.2.112-118

Abstract: In power plants, the organic compounds which are leached from cation exchange resin (CER) flowed into the reactor would decompose the component of SO42- and Cl-, which affect the water quality. Furthermore, the concentration of total organic carbon (TOC) leaching is depends on the properties of resin. Prior to use, TOC and sulfate concentrations leached from CERs must be reduced in order to meet established standards generally; however, this entails an extended purification process and heavy use of water resources if quality problems are identified in the CERs. This study therefore investigated the leachates of commercial resins in order to establish a reference for the quality of deep bed CERs. In this report, gel permeation chromatography (GPC) and ion-pair chromatography (IPC) were used to identify molecular peaks in the CER leachables in order to elucidate the molecular distributions. We also sought to determine TOC and post-UV treatment sulfate concentrations using long-term soaking tests, in which the solutions of soaked resins were drained off for analysis on a daily basis. We also employed hydrogen peroxide to accelerate the aging process associated with decomposition in soaking tests in order to determine the stability of the resins. The series of analyses would assist us in understanding the properties of resin and the results can assist in power plants to improve water quality.

Keywords: Cation exchange resins, total organic carbon, leachables
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