Veolia Water Technologies & Solutions

Electrodialysis (ED)

For value-added demineralization of process streams

Electrodialysis is an electrochemical separation process that uses DC power to move ions through selective ion exchange membranes in order to remove salt from a feed stream into a concentrate stream, leaving a product behind with increased value.

This technology is used in markets and applications such as whey demineralization in dairy plants, sugar demineralization, glycerine and amine desalting, and juice deacidification.

Benefits

ED Benefits

  • Enhances product value, reduces processing costs, and derives value from waste streams.
  • Removes only ionized species, leaving valuable constituents behind.
  • Reduces chemical consumption and salt effluent compared to IX.
  • Eliminates wasted energy, time and product because processes can be tuned to meet any product set point.
  • Operates simply and reliably using a skid-mounted and automated design that operates in continuous or batch mode.
  • Expands easily, as needed, due to Veolia’s modular system designs.

Applications

ED Applications

  • Dairy: whey and permeate demineralization
  • Brine concentration
  • Removal of heat stable amine salts, demineralization of glycol solutions
  • Wine stabilization
  • Glycerine desalting
  • Demineralization of dextrose and other corn-derived sugars

How It Works

 

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Electrodialysis is an advanced membrane technology that utilizes this ion movement to desalinate water. In Electrodialysis, the ions move through selective ion exchange membranes which only allow either cations or anions to pass through them. By alternating these membranes with spacers between them, it creates two separate streams: a desalinated stream and a concentrated salt stream.