Effects of operational parameters on defluoridation efficiency using electrocoagulation process

The aim of this study is to examine the effect of operational parameters on fluoride removal using electrocoagulation method. For this purpose, various operational parameters including initial pH, initial fluoride concentration, applied current, reaction time, electrode connection mode, anode material, electrolyte salt, electrolyte concentration, number of electrodes and interelectrode distance were investigated. The highest defluoridation efficiency achieved at initial pH 6. In the case of initial fluoride concentration, maximum removal efficiency (98.5%) obtained at concentration of 25mg/l. The increase of applied current and reaction time improved defluoridation efficiency up to 99%. The difference of fluoride removal efficiencies between monopolar and bipolar series and monopolar parallel were significant, especially at reaction time of 5 min. When aluminum used as anode material, higher removal efficiency (98.5%) achieved compared to that of iron anode (67.7%). The best electrolyte salt was NaCl with the maximum defluoridation efficiency of 98.5% compared to KNO₃ and Na₂SO₄. The increase of NaCl had no effect on defluoridation efficiency. Number of electrodes had little effect on the amounts of Al³⁺ ions released in the solution and as a result defluoridation efficiency. Almost the same fluoride removal efficiency obtained for different interelectrode distances.