WaterSolutions Sulfur from Liquid and Vapor Media

Potable Water: Sulfur oxides as sulfuric acid, sulfate and sulfite are anions and readily removed with anion exchange resins. For potable water at neutral pH, a high capacity strong base anion exchange resin like AMBERLITE PWA15 is recommended.

Wastewater: When present as acids, sulfate and sulfite can be removed from waste water with DOWEX WBA or WBA-2 anion exchange resin, an acid absorber. For pH neutral waste water streams, strong base resins like DOWEX 21K XLT or AMBERLITE IRA958 resin will be required. Here, the resin will remove all of the anions along with the sulfate and sulfite. For streams that have a high organic content and are prone to surface fouling, DOWEX MARATHON 11 Resin or AMBERLITE™ IRA458 resin is recommended.

Selective Sulfate Removal from Brine has been described using a metal hydroxide loaded ion exchange resin. (1, 2, 3) This approach is particularly valuable in high salt streams like brines. Product recommendations are DOWEX M-31 and DOWEX MONOSPHERE M-31 catalysts.

Hydrogen Sulfide: The reduced form of sulfur, H2S, acts as a weak acid so it can be captured for water or air with a weak base anion resin.

Mercaptans are organo-sulfur compounds that are typically not charged. These compounds can be captured by an adsorption mechanism with DOWEX™ OPTIPORE™ L493 and DOWEX OPTIPORE V493 polymeric adsorbents.

RO membranes have also been described to remove sulfate from ground water. For more information, please go to sulfate removal from seawater.

References

(1) US Patent 4,415,677 "Removal of sulfate ions from brine using composite of polymeric zirconium hydrous oxide in macroporous matrix" Lee; John M. ; Bauman; William C. Assignee: The Dow Chemical Company (1983).
(2) US Patent 4,415,678 "Removal of sulfate ions from brine using amorphous polymeric zirconium oxide formed within a macroporous polymer matrix" Lee; John M. ; Bauman; William C. Assignee: The Dow Chemical Company (1983).
(3) "Method of purification of salt solution for electrolysis", Oohara, C.; Matsuoka, T.; Kishi, T. and Okuno, T. of Chlorine Engineers Corp., Ltd. European Patent Application EP 0 987 221 A1 (1999).