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ISAMSE 2021 IOP Publishing
Journal of Physics: Conference Series 2021 (2021) 012087 doi:10.1088/1742-6596/2021/1/012087

Experimental study on the removal of the chloride ion in sea

water via ultra-high lime with aluminum process

Shun-Shun Wang, Yong-Cong He and Xiao-Hui Wang*

College of Ocean Science and Engineering, Shanghai Maritime University, Shanghai,
201306, China
*
Corresponding author’s e-mail: w_xiaoh@163.com and xiaohwang@shmtu.edu.cn

Abstract. In order to study the feasibility of mixing concrete with dechlorinated sea water, ultra-
high lime with aluminum process was used in the laboratory to conduct dechlorination tests on
sea water with different chloride ion concentrations. Experiments show that the ultra-high lime
with aluminum process can effectively decrease the chloride ion concentration in sea water.

1. Introduction
In the construction of seaside reinforced concrete structures, due to the lack of fresh water resources and
the limitation of construction condition, the sea water was often be directly used to mix the reinforced
concrete infrastructures and this situation cannot be effectively controlled. Due to the high chloride ion
concentration in sea water and the chloride-induced corrosion of the reinforcing bars in concrete, it is
necessary to explore effective method to decrease the chlorine ion concentration in sea water. In this
paper, the ultra-high lime with aluminum process [1-7] was used to decrease chloride ion concentrations
in sea water. First, simulated seawater was prepared, then reagents were added for reaction, and filtration
was carried out after full reaction. Finally, the concentration of the residual chloride ions in the filtered
solution was measured and analyzed.

2. Experimental programme

2.1 Experimental materials

Dry calcium hydroxide (Ca(OH)2) (95.0% Analytical Reagent, AR) and dry sodium aluminate (NaAlO2)
(98.0% AR) were used in chlorine removal process. NaCl (99.5% AR), MgSO4 (98.0% AR) and CaCl2
(96.0% AR) were used to prepare the simulate seawater.

2.2 Experimental method

The simulated sea water solution with different initial chloride ion concentrations, i.e. 4000mg/L,
8000mg/L and 10000mg/L, was prepared firstly. Then, Ca(OH)2 and NaAlO2 were added in turn. The
optimum ratio of the Ca(OH)2 dose to NaAlO2 dose to achieve maximum chloride removal was found
to be approximately 2.5[1] for the recycled cooling water with low chloride ion concentrations. For sea
water solution with very high chloride ion concentrations, different molar ratios of Ca(OH)2 dose to
NaAlO2 dose were selected to study the practicability of this method. Then, by changing the amount of
calcium hydroxide (Ca(OH)2), the reasonable ratio of Ca(OH)2 to NaAlO2, which is suitable for the
seawater with high initial chloride ion concentration (4000mg/L, 8000mg/L), was explored to get the

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ISAMSE 2021 IOP Publishing
Journal of Physics: Conference Series 2021 (2021) 012087 doi:10.1088/1742-6596/2021/1/012087

better efficiency of chloride ion removal. Then, different reaction times 0.5h, 0.75h, 1h, 1.5h were
considered to determine the optimum reaction time of chloride ion removal.
During the reaction time, the solution was stirred evenly at equal intervals (10min). After the
complete of the reaction, the solution was filtrated to remove the precipitate calcium chloroaluminate
precipitation (Ca4Al2Cl2(OH)12). Finally, the chloride ion concentration of the filtered solution was
measured.

3. Experimental results and analysis

3.1 Practicability of ultra-high lime with aluminum process in removal of the chloride ion in sea water
For the simulated sea water solutions with initial chloride ion concentration of 4000 mg/L and10000
mg/L, molar ratios 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 of Ca(OH)2 dose to NaAlO2 dose were selected to study the
practicability of ultra-high lime with aluminum process in removal of the chloride ion in sea water.
3000 100 4000mg/L 10000mg/L
4000mg/L 10000mg/L
90
2500
Chloride concentration(mg/L)

80
Removal rate(%)

2000 70
60
1500 50
40
1000
30
500 20
10
0 0
2 3 4 5 6 2 3 4 5 6
n(Ca):n(Cl) n(Ca):n(Cl)
(a) Chloride concentration of the filtered solution (b) Removal rate
Figure 1. Variation of the chloride ion concentration of the filtered solution and the chloride removal
rate with molar ratios of Ca(OH)2 to NaAlO2 dose

Variation of the chloride ion concentration of the filtered solution and the chloride removal rate with
molar ratios of Ca(OH)2 to NaAlO2 dose is shown in Fig.1. As can be seen from Figure 1, for sea water
solution with initial chloride ion concentration of 4000 mg/L and 10000mg/L, with the increase of molar
ratio of Ca(OH)2 to NaAlO2 dose, the chloride concentration of the filtered solution gradually decreases
and the chloride removal rate gradually increases. When the molar ratio of Ca(OH)2 to NaAlO2 dose
calcium-chlorine ratio is 2, the chloride concentration of the filtered solution with different initial
chloride ion concentrations is the highest and the removal rate is the lowest. With the increase of this
ratio to 6, the lowest the residual concentration of the filtered solution and the highest removal rate are
observed. In addition, for sea water with two chloride concentrations, lower chloride removal efficiency
is shown in 4000 mg/L, this is in line with the conclusions obtained from previous experiments [3].
However, when the initial chloride ion concentration in seawater reaches 10000mg/L, for greater molar
ratio of Ca(OH)2 to NaAlO2 dose, for example, this ratio is greater than 5, calcium hydroxide cannot be
fully dissolved, making the subsequent filtration more difficult to carry out in the laboratory.

3.2 Effect of different Ca(OH)2 to NaAlO2 amounts on removal efficiency of sea water with different
initial chloride ion concentrations
Based on the experimental study of Section 3.1, simulated sea water with initial chloride ion
concentration of 4000 mg/L (A-B-C Group) and 8000 mg/L(D-E-F-G Group) were prepared. For 4000
mg/L (A-B-C Group) and 8000 mg/L(D-E-F-G Group) solutions, the added amount of sodium aluminate
(NaAlO2) was fixed and the amount of calcium hydroxide (Ca(OH)2) was changed to get the better
efficiency of chloride ion removal. Variation of the chloride ion concentration of the filtered solution

2
ISAMSE 2021 IOP Publishing
Journal of Physics: Conference Series 2021 (2021) 012087 doi:10.1088/1742-6596/2021/1/012087

and the chloride removal rate with the amount of Ca(OH)2 are shown in Figure 2 and Figure 3 for initial
chloride ion concentrations 4000 mg/L (A-B-C Group) and 8000 mg/L(D-E-F-G Group), respectively.
A-NaAlO2=4.41g A-NaAlO2=4.41g
3000 100
B-NaAlO2=5.88g B-NaAlO2=5.58
Chloride concentration(mg/L)

90
2500 C-NaAlO2=7.35g C-NaAlO2=7.35g
80
2000

Removal rate(%)
70

1500 60
50
1000
40
500 30

0 20
2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18
Ca(OH)2 (g) Ca(OH)2 (g)
(a) Chloride concentration of the filtered solution (b) Removal rate
Figure 2. Variation of the chloride ion concentration of the filtered solution (initial=4000mg/L) and
the chloride removal rate with the amount of Ca(OH)2

D-NaAlO2=8.82g D-NaAlO2=8.82g
3500 E-NaAlO2=11.76g 100
E-NaAlO2=11.76g
Chloride concentration(mg/L)

F-NaAlO2=14.7g F-NaAlO2=14.3g
3000 90
2500 80
Removal rate(%)

2000
70
1500
60
1000

500 50

0 40
5 9 13 17 21 25 29 33 5 9 13 17 21 25 29 33
Ca(OH)2 (g)
Ca(OH)2 (g)
(a) Chloride concentration of the filtered solution (b) Removal rate
Figure 3. Variation of the chloride ion concentration of the filtered solution (initial=8000mg/L) and
the chloride removal rate with the amount of Ca(OH)2

As can be seen from Figures 2 that, for 400ml sea water with initial chloride ion concentration
4000mg/L, for three amounts of NaAlO2 , with the increase of the amount of Ca(OH)2 , the chloride ion
concentration of the filtered solution decreases first and then increases, and the removal rate of chloride
ion increases first and then decreases. The better chloride ion removal efficiency is observed when the
amount of NaAlO2 is 7.35g and Ca(OH)2 is 10g.
Similar trend is also observed for 400ml sea water with initial chloride ion concentration 8000mg/L,
see Figure 3. For three amounts of NaAlO2, better chloride ion removal efficiency is observed when the
amount of NaAlO2 is 14.7g and Ca (OH)2 is 20g.
Thus, in order to get better chloride ion removal efficiency, the suggested molar ratio of Ca(OH)2:
NaAlO2 : Cl- is about 3:2:1.

3.3 Effect of reaction time on removal efficiency of sea water with different initial chloride ion
concentrations
Two sets of 400ml simulated sea water with different initial chloride ion concentrations 4000 mg/L and
8000 mg/L were prepared and the amounts of the Ca(OH)2 and NaAlO2 were added according to the
suggested molar ratio of Ca(OH)2: NaAlO2 : Cl- in Section 3.2. For the same stirring time, different
reaction times 0.5hour, 0.75hour, 1hour and 1.5hour were considered. Variation of the chloride ion

3
ISAMSE 2021 IOP Publishing
Journal of Physics: Conference Series 2021 (2021) 012087 doi:10.1088/1742-6596/2021/1/012087

concentration of the simulated sea water and the chloride removal rate with reaction time is shown in
Figure 4.
As can be seen from Figure 4 (a-b), within the first half an hour reaction time, the chloride ion
concentration of the simulated sea water decreases greatly and removal rate increases quickly. Then,
with the increase of the reaction time, the chloride ion concentration of the simulated sea water changed
slowly. The optimal reaction time is 1 hour for seawater with a low concentration of 4000mg/L, at which
point the removal rate is highest. For seawater with a high concentration of 8000mg/L, the optimal
reaction time is 1.5 hours, at which point the removal rate is better. It can be seen that the optimal
reaction time is not a fixed value and this value is related to the initial chloride ion concentration of the
sea water.
10000
4000mg/L 8000mg/L 100
Chloride concentration(mg/L)

M-4000mg/L N-8000mg/L
8000
80

Removal rate(%)
6000 60

4000 40

2000 20

0 0
0 0.25 0.5 0.75 1 1.25 1.5 0 0.25 0.5 0.75 1 1.25 1.5
Time(h) Time(h)
(a) Chloride concentration of the sea water (b) Removal rate
Figure 4. Variation of the chloride ion concentration of the simulated sea water and the chloride
removal rate with reaction time

4. Conclusion
In this paper, in view of the needs of sea water as mixing water in the reinforced concrete infrastructures
located in the seaside, the ultra-high lime with aluminum process is used to pre-de-chlorine treatment of
sea water and the following conclusions can be drawn:
1) For sea water with high chloride ion concentrations, the removal of the chloride ion via ultra-high
lime with aluminum process is quite good and practicable;
2) For sea water with high chloride ion concentrations in the range of 4000 mg/L ~10000mg/L, to
get better chloride ion removal efficiency, the suggested molar ratio of Ca(OH)2: NaAlO2 : Cl- is about
3:2:1;
3) For sea water with high chloride ion concentrations in the range of 4000 mg/L ~10000mg/L, the
suggested better reaction time is 1 hour for sea water with lower chloride ion concentration; while for
sea water with higher chloride ion concentration, extended reaction time is suggested to improve the
removal rate of chloride ions.

Acknowledgments
The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support for the ‘Service life prediction and life-cycle
cost analysis of stainless steels reinforce concrete elements in marine environment (No. 18200745300)
project provided by the Shanghai ‘Science, Technology and Innovation Action Plan 2018’ under ‘The
Belt and Road Initiative’.

References
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[2] Abdel-Wahab, A., & Batchelor, B. (2002) Chloride removal from recycled cooling water using

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ISAMSE 2021 IOP Publishing
Journal of Physics: Conference Series 2021 (2021) 012087 doi:10.1088/1742-6596/2021/1/012087

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