Abstract
Water is one of the most important raw materials used in industry. Its uses are multifarious, including the processing of other materials, steam and power generation, cooling condensers and water-jacketed machinery, and for drinking purposes.
It is often spoken of as “pure”, but in fact seldom is. Indeed, all natural water supplies contain impurities which often have a profound and far-reaching effect on the products being made and on the manufacturing costs.
This fact has become more and more realized as industry has progressed. The introduction of new processes for materials and more efficient power generation has in turn made essential the removal of even extremely small amounts of impurities from water that a few years ago would have been tolerated. For example, the increase in boiler pressures alone over the last twenty-five years has called for complete revision of the quality standard of boiler feed water.
Fortunately those responsible for research into, and practising the art of, water purification have kept a step ahead of these new requirements and most waters can now be treated in one way or another so as to render them suitable for practically any purpose.
Revolutionary discoveries have been made and applied in the field of water treatment. This paper describes the major advances, among them new crystallization and precipitation processes developed for lime-soda softening and particularly the entirely new chemical field discovered in hydrogen ion exchange materials and acid adsorption materials. The combined use of these two new discoveries has resulted in the development of equipment for the production of the equivalent of distilled water without heat or evaporation.
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