Fluoride Removal Performance of a Synthesized Adsorbent

Yogendra Singh Solanki; Madhu Agarwal; Sanjeev Gupta; Pushkar Shukla; Akhilendra B Gupta

Authors

Yogendra Singh Solanki Department of Chemical Engineering, Malaviya National Institute of Technology, Jaipur-302017, India
Madhu Agarwal Department of Chemical Engineering, Malaviya National Institute of Technology, Jaipur-302017, India
Sanjeev Gupta Grasim Industries Limited (Aditya Birla Group), Bharuch, Gujrat, India
Pushkar Shukla Grasim Industries Limited (Aditya Birla Group), Bharuch, Gujrat, India
Akhilendra B Gupta Department of Civil Engineering, Malaviya National Institute of Technology, Jaipur-302017, India

Keywords:

Al-Fe-Ac, De-fluoridation, Adsorption, Fluoride

Abstract

Fluoride contamination of water is a major problem in India. World Health Organization (WHO 2004) recommends an upper limit of 1.5 mg/L fluoride in drinking water. Present study reveals performance evaluation studies of Al-Fe-Ac based adsorbent for the fluoride removal from drinking water. The prepared adsorbent was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM).The material retained amorphous structure and maintained relatively stable fluoride adsorption performance at calcination temperatures around 300 ºC. The optimum pH range for fluoride adsorption was 6.0–7.0 and the adsorbent also showed high defluoridation ability around pH 5.5–7.5, which is preferable for actual application. A high fluoride adsorption capacity of 4.5 mg/g was acquired for fluoride concentration of 50 mg/L, adsorbent dose of 1g/L and pH 7.0. Synthetic samples having fluoride concentration 2 to 10 mg/L were treated at optimized dosage and residual fluoride was reduced to 0.1 to 1.4 ppm with different adsorbent dose. Residual aluminium in treated water was well within WHO norms for drinking water.