Continuous ion exchange treatment

Claim 1

A CONTINUOUS PROCESS FOR CONTINUOUSLY DE-IONIZING A RAW FEED SOLUTION WITH GRANULAR ACTION AND ANION EXCHANGE MATERIALS IN MIXTURE, WHERE THE SOLUTION AS WELL AS THE MIXED EXCHANGE MATERIALS PASS IN CONTACT WITH ONE ANOTHER THROUGH A MIXED EXCHANGE TREATMENT ZONE IN SUCH A MANNER THAT THE MIXED MATERIALS BECOME AT LEAST PARTIALLY EXHAUSTED BY CONCURRENT CATION AND ANION EXCHANGE WITH THE SOLUTION, AND FROM WHICH ZONE THE TREATED LIQUID AND THE THUS EXHAUSTED MIXTURE OF EXCHANGE MATERIALS ARE DISCHARGED ALONG DIFFERENT PATHS, THE MIXTURE OF EXCHANGE MATERIALS IS SUBJECTED TO SEPARATION OF THE CATION EXCHANGE MATERIALS FROM THE ANION EXCHANGE MATERIAL WHERE FURTHER THE SEPARATED EXCHANGE MATERIALS ARE INDIVIDUALLY SUBJECTED TO REGENERATION, AND IN WHICH FURTHER THE REGENERATED MATERIALS ARE RE-MIXED AND THE MIXTURE RE-INTRODUCED INTO SAID EXCHANGE TREATMENT ZONE; CHARACTERIZED BY MAINTAINING THE MIXED EXCHANGE MATERIALS IN SUBSIDENCE DESCENDING THROUGH SAID MAIN TREATMENT ZONE AT A CONTROLLED RATE CO-DIRECTIONALLY WITH SAID SOLUTION AND SUBMERGED THEREIN WHILE DISCHARGING THE SOLUTION FROM SAID ZONE AT A LEVEL ABOVE THE DISCHARGE OF SAID MATERIAL, CONTINUOUSLY SUBJECTING EXHAUSTED MATERIAL TO HYDRAULIC SEPARATION IN TEETER BED FASHION FOR ESTABLISHING A ZONE OF CATION EXCHANGE AND A ZONE OF ANION EXCHANGE MATERIAL, CONTINUOUSLY SUBJECTING CATION EXCHANGE MATERIAL DRAWN FROM ITS TEETER ZONE TO CONTINUOUS REGENERATION, AND SIMILARLY SUBJECTING ANION EXCHANGE MATERIAL DRAWN FROM ITS TEETER ZONE TO CONTINUOUS REGENERATION, CONTINUOUSLY SUPPLYING TO THE BED TEETER LIQUID IN THE FORM OF RAW FEED SOLUTION THEREBY SUBJECTING SAID SOLUTION TO INITIAL DE-IONIZATION WHEN RISING THROUGH SAID ZONES OF RESPECTIVE ION EXCHANGE MATERIALS, AND FEEDING THE SPENT TEETER SOLUTION TO SAID MAIN TREATMENT ZONE FOR FURTHER DE-IONIZATION.