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What happens when an ion-exchange column becomes saturated?
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ion-exchange reaction
Figure 1: Chemical structure of cation exchanger. The exchangeable ions are marked +. The whole structure is permeated by solvent molecules, usually water (not shown).
When an ion-exchange column becomes saturated, the exchangeable ions that were previously being adsorbed begin to emerge from the end of the column. At this point, the column is considered completely saturated with those ions.1
To restore the column to its original condition, a process called regeneration is performed, which involves passing a solution of the ions that the exchanger originally contained through the column.1