IEX 2008: Cambridge Conference
This distinguished quadrennial conference is essential for all SCI members working or researching in ion exchange, particularly those with a professional interest in water purification
 This year’s international conference on
ion exchange, IEX2008, will be held at Fitzwilliam College
Cambridge on 6-11 July 2008. The conference is breaking new
ground by including a two-day industrial technical
training course in industrial water treatment on 7 and
8 July, preceding the main conference on 9 to 11 July.
This intensive training course covers basic theory and
practice in demineralisation and condensate purification;
plant design and operation; and trouble shooting in the
cation-anion and mixed-bed plants used in the power
and process industries. The course is aimed at meeting
the need for external training courses created by major
structural changes in the industry, which have resulted
in a gradual loss of in-house skills and training.
The three-day conference that follows the training
course has two parallel sessions, one of which is devoted
mainly to water treatment, thus complimenting
and extending the course training. The papers presented
will be mainly by authors from industry, and
will cover:
- High-purity water for condensate polishing. This is an
area in which boiler water purity specifications challenge
ion exchange resin chemistry and engineering
- Ion exchange applications in the active and non-active
circuits of the increasingly important nuclear industry
- Case studies in general industrial water treatment
- Environmental applications covering metals removal
from waste waters
The conference programme also includes presentations
by prestigious authors from industry and academia on
other topics of great importance in a changing world:
- The need for safe drinking water supplies is increasingly
important, as water resources for drinking and
agriculture become scarcer. Water treatment aimed
at meeting the WHO standards by selectively removing
naturally-occurring toxic material, for example
arsenic, uranium and boron, is uniquely achieved by
ion exchange. Process and resin developments, which
enable safe drinking water supplies to be extended
will be described in papers in both the applications
and resin development sections of the conference
- Purification of fuels and related chemicals is another
field in which ion exchange is already finding
a unique application and which is covered by presentations
at the conference.
The applications sessions are accompanied by parallel
sessions covering fundamentals and studies in the
development of new resin materials and the application
of inorganic ion exchangers in all the major potential
applications. Over 55 oral papers will be presented, and
to date over 25 poster papers have been accepted.
All papers will be printed in the conference proceedings,
a complementary copy of which will be given to
all delegates.
The IEX conference began in 1954, and has since
become the major international conference for the ion
exchange community. Every four years, these unique
IEX meetings provide an opportunity for the ion exchange
manufacturing and service companies, end
users and researchers to present papers on all aspects
of the theory and practice of ion exchange and adsorbents,
and to discuss current practice and future applications.
For all attendees, it is an excellent opportunity
for networking in a community of common interests.
One of SCI’s most important roles is the promotion
of science and technology. A number of bursaries
have been made available by the SCI for presenters with
limited funding from universities and other organisations
that carry out high-quality work in ion exchange.
In addition, Wiley Publishing is offering a prize of vouchers
for the best student oral or poster presentations.
IEX conferences are an excellent opportunity to
recognise distinguished contributors in the field of ion
exchange, and SCI will again present the SCI Ion
Exchange Award. At the last IEX conference, held in
2004 at Churchill College, Cambridge, Ion Exchange
medals were awarded to Professor Wolfgang Höll,
Michael Sadler and Professor Arup Sengupta.
The IEX conferences traditionally take place in
Cambridge (UK) and IEX 2008 will be held at Fitzwilliam
College, which is one of the more modern colleges. The
College was built in the 1960s in the grounds of a splendid
regency house (now part of the College) set in beautiful
gardens. The venue provides an excellent combination
of working, social and modern accommodation
facilities for this cutting-edge working conference.
Full details of the conference, technical training
programmes and registration are available on the SCI
website at www.soci.org/iex2008. Please note that the
early-bird fee closes on 6 May, so book now to take
advantage of the discounted rate.
SCI Separation Science and Technology Group
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