Water softening lime treatment

Sodium alumiaate is used ia the treatment of iadustrial and municipal water suppHes and the use of sodium alumiaate is approved ia the clarification of drinking water. The FDA approves the use of sodium alumiaate ia steam generation systems where the steam contacts food. One early use of sodium alumiaate was ia lime softening processes, where it iacreases the precipitation of ions contributing to hardness and improves suspended soHds removal from the treated water (17). Sodium alumiaate reacts with siHca to leave very low residual concentrations of siHca ia hot process water softeners. Sodium alumiaate is often used with other chemicals such as alum, ferric salts, clays, and polyelectrolytes, as a coagulant aid (18,19). 

Lime is the largest toimage chemical used in the treatment of potable and industrial water supplies. In conjunction with alum or iron salts it is used to congulate suspended solids and remove turbidity. It is also used in water softening to remove temporary (bicarbonate) hardness. Typical reactions are ... 

The calcium carbonate recovered can be calcined to give lime for recycle to the treatment process as well as by-product lime for marketing. In addition, removal of the calcium carbonate, the major ingredient in sludge from water softening treatment plants, reduces the disposal problem to a fraction of that previously required. 

Precipitation and dissolution phenomena are extremely important in both natural waters and water treatment processes. Dissolution of minerals is a prime factor in determining the chemical composition of natural waters. Natural water chemical composition can be altered by precipitation of minerals and the subsequent sedimentation of these solids from supersaturated solutions. Water and wastewater treatment processes such as lime-soda softening, iron removal, coagulation with hydrolyzing metal salts, and phosphate precipitation are based on precipitation phenomena. 

Chemistry. Chemical processes are used to treat water and wastewater, to control air pollution, and for site remediation. These chemical treatments include chlorination for disinfection of both water and wastewater, chemical oxidation for iron and manganese removal in water-treatment plants, chemical oxidation for odor control, chemical precipitation for removal of metals or phosphorus from wastewater, water softening by the lime-soda process, and chemical neutralization for pH (acidity) control and for scaling control. 

For surface water, treatment is aimed primarily at removal of turbidity (fine suspended matter) and perhaps softening the water. The typical treatment processes for removal of turbidity involve the addition of chemicals such as alum or ferric chloride. The chemicals are rapidly mixed into the water so that they react with alkalinity in the water, then slowly mixed (flocculation) to form a settleable precipitate. After sedimentation, the water passes through a sand filter and finally is disinfected wdth chlorine. If the water is to be softened as part of the treatment, lime, Ca(OH)2, and soda ash, Na COj, are used in place of alum or ferric chloride, and the water hardness (calcium and magnesium ions) is removed along with its turbidity. 

Several processes are used for softening water. On a large scale, such as in community watersoftening operations, the lime-soda process is used. This process involves the treatment of water with lime, Ca(OH)2, and soda ash, Na2C03. Calcium is precipitated as CaCOj and magnesium as Mg(OH)2. When the calcium is present primarily as bicarbonate hardness, it can be removed by the addition of Ca(OH>2 alone ... 

Makeup. Makeup treatment depends extensively on the source water. Some steam systems use municipal water as a source. These systems may require dechlorination followed by reverse osmosis (qv) and ion exchange. Other systems use weUwater. In hard water areas, these systems include softening before further purification. Surface waters may require removal of suspended soHds by sedimentation (qv), coagulation, flocculation, and filtration. Calcium may be reduced by precipitation softening or lime softening. Organic contaminants can be removed by absorption on activated carbon. Details of makeup water treatment may be found in many handbooks (22—24) as well as in technical Hterature from water treatment chemical suppHers. 

Precipitation softening processes are used to reduce raw water hardness, alkalinity, siHca, and other constituents. This helps prepare water for direct use as cooling tower makeup or as a first-stage treatment followed by ion exchange for boiler makeup or process use. The water is treated with lime or a combination of lime and soda ash (carbonate ion). These chemicals react with the hardness and natural alkalinity in the water to form insoluble compounds. The compounds precipitate and are removed from the water by sedimentation and, usually, filtration. Waters with moderate to high hardness and alkalinity concentrations (150—500 ppm as CaCO ) are often treated in this fashion. 

Hot Process Softening. Hot process softening is usually carried out under pressure at temperatures of 108—116°C. At the operating temperature, hot process softening reactions go essentially to completion. This treatment method involves the same reactions described above, except that raw water COg is vented and does not participate in the lime reaction. The use of lime and soda ash permits hardness reduction down to 0.5 g/gal, or... 

Treated Water Quality. Predicted analyses of a typical raw water treated by various lime and lime—soda softening processes are presented in Table 3. Treatment by lime converts the sodium bicarbonate in the raw water to sodium carbonate as follows ... 

Lime and Lime-Soda Processes. The first softening plant in the early 1900s used the lime softening process with fill and draw units. Later, continuous-treatment units, which greatiy increased the amount of water that could be treated in a faciUty of given size, were developed. More than 1000 municipahties soften water. Most are in the Midwest and in Florida. However, concern for the adverse effect of soft water on cardiovascular disease (CVD) may limit the number of plants that introduce softening. 

Chelants should not be used downstream of hot process or hot lime soda softening MU water treatment. 

In modern high-pressure systems, blowdown water is normally of better quality than the water supply. This is because plant intake water is treated using clarification, filtration, lime/lime soda softening, ion exchange, evaporation, and in a few cases reverse osmosis to produce makeup for the boiler feedwater. The high-quality blowdown water is often reused within the plant for cooling water makeup or it is recycled through the water treatment and used as boiler feedwater. 

Lime is used in drinking water treatment to control pH, soften water, and control turbidity. Lime, in combination with sodium carbonate, is used to precipitate the major bivalent... 

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