Electrodialysis using multi-stage electrodialytic cell

Claim 1

In a process for desalination of sea water or brackish water by multi-stage electrodialysis by passing dilution streams by means of one pump unit in series through a multi-stage sheet flow type electrodialysis apparatus comprising two or more electrodialytic units assembled in series, each unit consisting of at least one stack arranged between a pair of electrodes, each stack having from 50 to 500 pairs, each pair consisting of an anion exchange and a cation exchange membrane, each membrane having an area of from 30 to 250 dm 2 , respectively arranged alternately, and gaskets interspaced between the membranes to define alternately concentration and dilution compartments, the improvement which comprises using gaskets of a structure having the following dimensional parameters: (a) A/T=0.6 to 0.85; (b) B/A and B'/A=0.006 to 0.03, respectively; and (c) C/A and C'/A=0.008 to 0.05, respectively, wherein A represents the electrodialysis area of each gasket, T the total area of each gasket, B and B' the total areas of holes in each gasket for supply conduits for diluting solution and for exhaust conduits for diluting solution, respectively, and C and C' the total areas of passageways for supplying and exhausting diluting solution, respectively.