Removal of Fluoride From Spent Pot Liner Leachate Using Ion Exchange
Removal of Fluoride From Spent Pot Liner Leachate Using Ion Exchange
Removal of Fluoride From Spent Pot Liner Leachate Using Ion Exchange
ABSTRACT: Spent pot liner (SPL), a hazardous solid waste produced presented in Table 1, which shows that natura] SPL leachates
at cell houses of aluminum smelters, is a potential source of fluoride contained a considerable concentration of fluoride (158 to 575
pollution. Leachates collected from SPL disposal sites were found to mg/L) compared to the permissible limit of 2.0 mg/L. Therefore,
contain fluoride at considerable concentration levels (up to 575 mgIL). environmental compliance with respect to fluoride emissions from
This paper reports a study of selective fluoride removal following
SPL disposal sites is of concern.
laboratory-prepared, ion-exchange treatment. Spent pot liner leachates
were pretreated with lime to bring the fluoride level down to
Fluoride Removal Techniques
approximately 10 mgIL for economic and effective working of the ion
exchanger. The detailed ion-exchange treatment study for removal of Fluoride removal can be achieved with the application of any
fluoride was carried out on synthetic SPL leachates and the optimum one of the following prevailing methods:
treatment thus developed was applied on natural SPL leachates.
I. Alum treatment,
Bench-scale studies were carried out at various flow rates and pHs
2. Chemical precipitation/coagulation using lime and alum, and
and in the presence of other ions commonly available in the SPL
leachates. The prepared exchanger reduced the level of fluoride from 3. Ion exchange/sorption,
approximately 10 mglL to less than I mgIL. Results indicate that the Among these, ion-exchange treatment seems to be economical
extraction was 100% up to 6-mUmin flow rate through the ion
(when fluoride concentrations are below 10 mg/L) and effective
exchanger and it works efficiently in the pH range of 7 to 10. There is
and the same has been practiced in this study.
no effect of the other ions present in leachates on removal of fluoride.
The exchanger has good capacity to exchange and can be recharged by
lon-Exchange Treatment
eluting fluoride sorbed on the exchanger using two molar hydrochloric
acid. Water Environ. Res., 71,36 (1999). Ion exchange is a well-known technique for purification of
wastewater. Ion exchange may be accomplished with ion-ex-
KEYWORDS: leachate treatment, spent pot liners, fluoride removal. ion change resins or synthetic polymeric materials (Bhakuni and Sas-
exchange.
try, 1964; Kunin and McGarvey, 1948; Majumdar, unpublished;
Majumdar and Ray, 1986; and Runaska et a1., 1951). Using ion
exchangers, a selective fluoride removal process can be developed.
Introduction However, the ion-exchange process can only be effective if the
Spent pot liner (SPL) is a hazardous solid waste produced at cell fluoride concentration is less than] 0 mg/L (Kumar, unpublished).
houses of aluminum smelters and is a potential source of fluoride Considerable research has been published concerning the removal
pollution. It contains a high level of fluoride, ranging from 7.6 to of fluoride from wastewater (Apparao and Karthikeyan, 1986;
21.2% (Kumar, unpublished). Fluoride and fluoro complexes are APHA et al., 1992; Arulanantham et a1., 1992; Bahl, 1975; Barbier
highly water soluble and leach out easily from SPL disposal sites. and Mazounie, 1984; Bhakuni and Sastry, ]963; Bulusu, 1984;
Therefore, they have adverse effects on groundwater and fresh Bulusu and Nawlakhe [Eds.], 1992; Bulusu et al., ] 979; Kumar et
water receiving streams if discharged without treatment. Leachates al., 1992; Maclntrite and Hammond, 1938; Meenakshi et aI., 1991;
may have serious health effects on humans, plants, and animals. Rabosky and Miller, 198]; Rubel and Woosley, 1979; Savinelli
Fluoride is beneficial as long as its concentration is 0.8 to 1.0 mg/L and Black, 1958; Schoeman and Botha, 1985; Seethapatirao, 1964;
for calcification of dental enamel, especially for children younger Srinivasan, 1959; and Thergaonkar and Nawlakhe, 1971). How-
than 8 years of age (Khoshoo, 1983) but causes dental fluorosis if ever, little research work has been done on the removal of fluoride
it is present in excess of 1.5 mg/L and skeletal fluorosis when it is from SPL leachates using ion exchangers. The reversed-phase
beyond 3.0 mg/L (Nawlakhe and Bulusu, 1989, and Nawlakhe et extraction chromatographic technique is selective for the extrac-
a1., 1965). Many workers have proven that prolonged intake of tion of ions. In liquid-solid chromatography, a solid substance
fluoride through drinking water and vegetables is responsible for serves as the stationary phase and extraction depends on the
fluorosis (Daver, 1945; Gopalakrishnan et aI., 1991; ICMR, 1975; equilibrium established at the interface between the grains of the
and Kariana, 1987). The maximum allowable concentration of stationary and mobile liquid phases. In reversed-phase chromatog-
fluoride in industrial wastewater discharged to inland surface water raphy, liquid ion exchangers are being impregnated on a solid-
in India is 2 mg/L (MEF, 1986). support-like silica gel (such as charcoal) and the exchanger phase
(liquid) is changed to the solid phase by the impregnation process.
Characteristics of Spent Pot Liner Leachates The present work reports on selective studies on fluoride removal
Characteristics of natural SPL leachates as collected and ana- from synthetic and natural SPL leachates. Natural SPL leachates
lyzed from SPL disposal sites around smelter areas of India are contain high levels of fluoride (up to 575 mg/L).
General
Parameters 2 3 4 5 6 standardsb
a Note: sample nos. 1 to 4 were stagnant water samples lying in between SPL dumps. Sample nos. 5 and 6 were collected from narrow
flowing streams at the dump site.
b General standards for discharge of effluent in India are per Schedule II and VI Environmental Protection Act, 1986, Rules as per the latest
amendment (MEF, 1986).
The leachate was treated first with lime to bring the fluoride thetic binary and multicomponent systems with the same fluoride
level down to 10 mgIL before ion-exchange treatment. The lime concentration. Concentration of fluoride in the influent and effluent
required for the treatment was approximately 25 kg for I kg of from the column was measured. Study to elute fluoride sorbed on
fluoride. the exchanger was done with a variety of mineral acids and salt
solutions and its optimum concentration in each case was deter-
Preparation of the Ion Exchanger mined. Breakthrough study was also done using simple sodium
Commercially available wood charcoal was ground to between fluoride solution and laboratory-prepared synthetic SPL leachates.
72 and 100 mesh and then rendered hydrophobic by exposing it to
the vapors of dimethyl dichlorosilane in a nitrogen atmosphere. Analysis of Fluoride
The hydrophobic wood charcoal was then impregnated with 4% Fluoride in the samples was analyzed using the SPADNS-
Amberlite LA-2 [Ion Exchange (I) Ltd., Mumbai, Maharashtra, Zirconyl acid method using a Chemito 2500 UV-Vis Spectropho-
India] diluted in benzene in a rotary vacuum evaporator. Coated tometer (Chemito Instruments Pvt. Ltd., Mumbai, Maharashtra,
wood charcoal was slurried with water and poured into a glass India) (APHA et a!., 1992).
column of I cm diameter. Excess organic reagent was washed with Effect of Flow Rate on Fluoride Removal. To study the effect
2 M hydrochloric acid. Charcoal, being porous and able to retain of flow rate in each set of experiments, 10 mglL of fluoride was
a considerable amount of exchanger, was found suitable for the passed (with influent concentration of 1 mglL) through the column
support. with different flow rates. The fluoride concentration in the effluent
with the respective flow rate from each column was determined
General Extraction Studies for Removal of Fluoride by and observations are presented in Table 2.
an Ion Exchanger Under Different Conditions One hundred percent extraction of fluoride was achieved up to
An aqueous solution containing 10 f.Lgof fluoride was passed a flow rate of 6 mLimin (Table 2 and Figure 1). Beyond this
through the prepared exchanger column. Experiments were con- efficiency, fluoride removal decreases by increasing the flow rate.
ducted at various flow rates and pHs. The effect of other ions A flow rate of 4 mLimin was found as optimum to carry out the
present in natural SPL leachates was also studied, preparing syn- experiment.
Table 2-Results of fluoride removal using an ion exchanger at different flow rates.s
a Common parameters include the amount of fluoride passed through the column (10 ..
9) and the amount of ion exchanger used (1 g).
January/February 1999 37
Singh et al.
I 7 <0.1 100
II 8 <0.1 100
Flow Rate In ml/minute III 9 <0.1 100
IV 10 <0.1 100
Figure 1-Effect of flow rate on removal of fluoride using
an ion exchanger.
cyanide ions and 100% extraction was achieved in all cases with
Effect of pH on Fluoride Removal. The extraction behavior of the other ions. This study indicates that this ion exchanger can be
fluoride with Amberlite LA-2 was studied at different pH values, used for removal of trace elements and other toxic substances such
keeping fluoride concentration in the influent constant at a flow as cyanides.
rate of 4 mUmin. In each case, pH of the column was first brought
to experimental pH using ammonium chloride-ammonium hy- Removal of Fluoride from Natural Spent Pot Liner
droxide (NH4Cl-NH40H) buffer, then a fluoride solution of the Leachate
respective pH was passed through the column. Concentration of Natural SPL leachate was collected from the SPL dump area of
fluoride in effluent from the column was determined. The extrac- Bharat Aluminum Company (BALCO), Korba (Madhya Pradesh,
tion behavior of fluoride was not affected in the pH range of 7 to India), and was used in this study. The leachate (Table 6) contain-
10 as reflected in the results given in Table 3. ing 175.22 mglL of fluoride was treated by conventional lime
Effect of Other Ions. To study the effect of other ions present treatment and a fluoride concentration of 9.6 mg/L was achieved.
in SPL leachates, experiments were conducted in binary and mul- Two hundred millilitres of the pretreated natural SPL leachate of
ticomponent systems. The other ions were selected based on the pH 9.37 was passed through the column made by I g of the
ions present in natural SPL leachates. To study the effect in a prepared exchanger at a flow rate of 4 mUmin. Results revealed
binary system, five sets of binary solutions were prepared, namely, that 100% of the fluoride was removed in the presence of other
fluoride and ferrous ions, fluoride and ferric ions, fluoride and constituents in the SPL leachate.
calcium ions, fluoride and aluminum ions, and fluoride and cya-
nide ions. Each of the binary solutions was passed through I g of Exchange Capacity
the exchanger. Results of analysis for the binary system are given The exchange capacity of the exchanger was determined by
in Table 4. measuring the number of milligram equivalents of hydroxide ion
To study the effect on removal of fluoride in a multicomponent absorbed per gram of the dry exchanger. One gram exchanger was
system, a solution containing fluoride, iron (consisting of a mixture taken in a standard joint bottle containing 20 mL of 0.5 M sodium
of both ferrous and ferric ions), cyanide, calcium, and aluminum hydroxide. The content of the bottle was shaken for 8 hours. The
ions was passed through I g of the prepared ion exchanger. sorption of hydroxide ion was determined by titrating excess
Concentration of the components in the effluents from the column hydroxide with standard oxalic acid and the ion-exchanged capac-
was determined and the results are presented in Table 5. ity was determined as hydroxide using the formula, exchange
The study indicated that extraction of fluoride (50 mg/L) is not capacity = WIA, where W is total amount of hydroxide exchanged
affected by the presence of ferrous, ferric, calcium, aluminum, and per gram of the exchanger and A is radical weight of hydroxide.
Table 4-Results of fluoride removal using an ion exchanger in presence of foreign ions in a binary system.s
Effluent concentrations,
Concentration of Concentration of mg/L
fluoride passed Foreign ions foreign ions passed
Set through the column, present in the through the column, Fluoride Foreign
no. mg/L binary system mg/L Ions Ions
B Common parameters include the amount of fluoride passed through the column (50 mg/L), flow rate through the column (4 mLlmin), and
amount of exchanger (1 g).
Concentration
0.8
of respective
component Concentration
passed of component
Components of through the in the Removal,
the system column, mg/L effluent, mg/L %
0.6
0
u
F-
Iron
10.0 <0.1 100
"-
u
(Fe2+ and Fe3+) 0.3 <0.001 100
CW 0.1 <0.01 100 0.4
Ca2+ 10.0 <0.01 100
A13+ 0.02 <0.01 100
Concentration in the
Concentration in the Concentration in the Iime- ion-exchange-
Parameter natural SPL leachate treated SPL leachate treated leachate
January/February 1999 39
Singh et al.
Table 9-Experimental setup for elution studies. Table 10-Experimental setup for elution studies using
hydrochloric acid.
Set Eluant
no. used Common parameters Strength of
Set hydrochloric
NaCI Amount of fluoride sorbed on no. acid used Common parameters
the column to be eluted
(20 mg) 0.25 M Amount of fluoride sorbed on
II Volume of eluant passed the column to be eluted
through the ion exchanger (20 mg)
(50 mL) II 0.50 M Flow rate through the column
III HCI Molarity of the eluant used (4 mUmin)
(2M) III 1.00 M
IV Flow rate through the column IV 2.00M Volume of eluant passed (50
(4 mUmin) mL)
V
I NaCI 2 M 20 a Nil
II NaN03 2 M 20 a Nil
III Hel 2 M 20 20.0 100
IV HN03 2 M 20 14.8 74
V H2SO4 2 M 20 9.4 47
January/February 1999 41
Singh et al.
Concentration of
Set Eluant Strength of Concentration of fluoride fluoride in the
No. used the eluant sorbed on column, mg effluent, mg Elution, %
Acknowledgments Khoshoo, T.N. (1983) Integrated Approach Into Fluoride Pollution. Paper
Authors. Gurdeep Singh is a professor at Centre of Mining presented at 13th Conf. Int. Soc. Fluoride Res., AHMS, New Delhi,
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