Method and apparatus for treating solutions by solid-ion exchangers

Claim 1

An installation as defined in claim 1, in which said one chamber is the central chamber of said concentric chamber arrangement, and has a vertical dimension substantially greater than the vertical dimensions of the other chambers, in which said bed moving means is constructed to displace the bed upwardly in such central chamber, and in which said supplying means includes means for supplying a washing liquid to the liquid inlet associated with the upper end of such central chamber, and means for supplying a regenerant liquid to said first inlet for a denser liquid, the regenerant and washing liquids passing downwardly through said central chamber being discharged through said first liquid outlet at the bottom thereof.

Claim 9

A method of treatment of solutions by solid ion exchangers in a mobile bed, comprising providing a single bed of solid ion exchangers in a plurality of successive bed containing chambers concentrically arranged to be in annular communication at the ends thereof so that the bed has a plurality of connected vertically disposed parts, intermittently moving the bed forwardly under the impulsion of liquid through such chambers so that in each such forward movement, parts thereof are simultaneously moved downwardly and upwardly through the communicating bed containing chambers, then during each of the stationary periods of the ion exchangers in such chambers, supplying liquids to said bed so that they flow counter to the movements of bed parts in such chambers and provide separate treatment zones along the length of the compact mobile bed extending continuously in all of such successive chambers, such liquids being supplied to a plural of said chambers so that there are provided in each thereof two liquids of different densities, the lighter liquid being supplied to the upper portions of such plural chambers and the denser liquid being supplied to and extracted from portions of such plural chambers spaced below the places of supply of the lighter liquid thereto and so that there is formed in at least one of such plural chambers an interface between the lighter and denser liquids therein, the places of the supply and extraction of the denser liquid in said one of such plural chambers containing the interface being so located that one of them is intermediate the upper and bottom ends of such one chamber and the other is associated with the bottom end of such one chamber, and the supply of the denser liquid in another of such plural chambers being between the upper and bottom ends thereof and both the lighter and denser liquids supplied to each other chamber being extracted at the bottom thereof, and including the step of controlling the interface in said one of such plural chambers to compensate for changes in position thereof due to the displacement of the ion exchangers in such one chamber.