Study on Microbial Biofilm Formation on The Surface of An Ion Exchange Resin Used in The Electric Power Plants

Abstract

Water is essential for electric energy production by the thermal electric power plants and going through multiple stages of water treatment, thus any deviation in the efficiency of treatment water affects the running of these plants and electric production. Demineralization process used anion exchange resin for removal anions from the raw water in the treatment process. Anion exchange resins may get fouled in different ways, resulting in loss of resin efficiency to deliver pure water. Many problems occurred on anion resin as short cycle length, loading, get low exchange capacity and needed to regeneration continuously, which leading to consume chemicals and time so it has economic effect in losing of electricity.

In Damietta electric power plant; many problems arose in the anion exchange resin unit of it. Although the anion exchange resin get regenerated it had suffering from low capacity. After the analysis and the discussion of these problems in the Central Chemical Labs of the Ministry of Electricity, fouling occurred in anion exchange resin by different ways. The aim of the study to give the reasons and the effects of this phenomenon (fouling) on anion exchange resin. For this purpose, seasonally physicochemical and bacteriology parameters were analyzed to the inlet River Nile water and filtered water (after treatment), also, seasonally physicochemical parameters were analyzed to outlet water of ion exchange unit and a sample anion exchange resin were analyzed from two plants, Shoubra El- Khiema and Damietta electric power plant.