Leverkusen - Leverkusen – Specialty chemicals group LANXESS will be showcasing its high-performance ion exchange resins at the 6th EverythingAboutWater international trade fair, which is taking place in New Delhi, India, from January 28 to 30. The focus will be on holistic solutions for the fields of food, catalysis, chemical processes and industrial water treatment. For these sectors, the Ion Exchange Resins business unit, one of the leading manufacturers of ion exchangers, offers its premium products from the Lewatit range, which play a key role, for example, in the treatment of drinking water, the production of ultra-pure water and in applications in the power plant sector.

Products which help to reduce contamination in water supply and wastewater disposal are becoming increasingly indispensable all over the world. “Demand for our ion exchange resins will grow, which is why we need to be well prepared in future so that we can satisfy rising demand in the long term while maintaining high quality standards,” says Dr. Michael Zobel, head of the Ion Exchange Resins business unit. LANXESS is currently constructing a plant for the manufacturing of ion exchange resins and rubber chemicals in the new Jhagadia Chemical Park near the city of Baroda in Gujarat state, India, at a cost of around EUR 50 million. Production is scheduled to start in 2010 with 230 new employees. The new ion exchange resins plant will manufacture products for industrial water treatment and the generation of ultra-pure water for the semiconductor and pharmaceutical industries. The portfolio will comprise a selection of the ion exchanger grades in the Ion Exchange Resins business unit’s current product range such as anions, cations and mixed beds.

In terms of investment volume this is the biggest project undertaken by LANXESS’s Ion Exchange Resins business unit since the end of the 1990s. “We intend to generate profitable growth and strengthen our good position in the global market”, adds Zobel.

At the congress taking place in parallel to the EAW fair, Dr. Stefan Neumann, Manager Technical Marketing Water and Chemicals Purification in the Ion Exchange Resins business unit, will give a lecture on possible applications for ion exchange resins in water treatment. In his presentation “Co-flow or Counter-flow: A Comparison between different Ion Exchange processes” the PhD chemist will give insight into the various ion exchange processes that are used worldwide and describe their characteristics and action. In addition, he will explain the most important pros and cons, putting the audience in a position to be able to select the most suitable solution among the varieties offered to meet their individual needs and the local conditions.

In a second presentation, “Overview of Applications of Ion Exchange and Adsorber Resins in Wastewater Treatment”, Neumann will explore the most important applications for ion exchange and adsorber resins in wastewater treatment. He will describe the use of these premium products in the areas of direct filtration, polishing, water and process steam treatment and in the development of new, environmentally compatible processes. Fields of application include mining, semiconductor manufacture and surface finishing and the photographic, glass, ceramics and leather industries. The chemist will explain how among the numerous physical, chemical and biological methods available for water treatment ion exchange and adsorber resins offer particularly interesting and efficient technical solutions.

Removing traces of toxic substances – especially arsenic – is becoming increasingly important in the production of drinking water. LANXESS’s new premium product Lewatit FO36 is able to selectively remove the toxic metalloid from drinking water. In a third presentation entitled “Removal of Arsenic from Potable Water by Means of a New Hybrid Adsorber” Neumann will report on experiments with the new adsorber Lewatit FO36. Issues of interest hereby are parameters like equilibrium and operating capacity, effects of water constituents on arsenic uptake as well as regenerability.

Detailed information on the premium products in the Lewatit range for water treatment can be found on the website www.lewatit.com.

The Ion Exchange Resins business unit belongs to the Performance Chemicals segment, which achieved total sales in fiscal 2007 of EUR 1.970 million.