BACKGROUND: Equilibrium studies were carried out with the aim of finding the basic design parameters for ion exchange plants using a glycerol phase obtained from biodiesel production. The uptake of sodium and potassium ions on a strongly acidic ion exchanger, Amberlite IR-120, in the proton form from glycerol/water mixtures has been studied. The effect on the selectivity towards sodium of the percentage of water in glycerine/water mixtures on the macroporous resin Amberlite 252 has been analyzed. Finally, chloride removal by a strongly basic anionic-exchange resin Amberlite IRA-420 at three different temperatures has been studied. RESULTS: The strongly acidic ion exchanger Amberlite IR-120 exhibits higher selectivity for potassium versus sodium ions. The ideal mass action law model was able to lit the experimental equilibrium data. The equilibrium data obtained at different percentages of water in the glycerine/water mixture indicate that as the water content increased the resin selectivity for sodium uptake is reduced. The selectivity of the anion exchange resin Amberlite IRA-420 for chloride ions decreases with temperature. The ideal mass action law was accurate enough to fit the equilibrium data of the three systems and allowed the equilibrium thermodynamic properties to be obtained. CONCLUSIONS: These results confirm that macroporous resin Amberlite 252 could be a good choice to remove sodium ions from glycerol/water solutions with a high salt concentration and also that a strongly basic anionic-exchange resin could be used for chloride removal. (C) 2009 Society of Chemical Industry