FTIR spectroscopy in the characterization of the mixture of nuclear grade cation and anion exchange resins

Abstract

The practice of using the mixed bed resin (mixture of cation and anion exchange resin) in removing the ionic impurities is widely adopted in various plants including the nuclear reactors. The determination of the mixing ratio by the conventional method exhibits several disadvantages (while the ratio is far from unity, poor color difference between the components and low sample volume etc.). A FTIR based spectroscopic method has been proposed here for the rapid analysis (semi-quantitative) of the mixing ratio and applied on the mixture of nuclear grade cation and anion resin to overcome the difficulties faced by the conventional procedure. The possibility of quantification has also been proposed by extending the present methodology.