Bone char as a green sorbent for removing health threatening fluoride from drinking water

Susan S A Alkurdi; Raed A Al-Juboori; Jochen Bundschuh; Ihsan Hamawand

doi:10.1016/j.envint.2019.03.065

Bone char as a green sorbent for removing health threatening fluoride from drinking water

Environ Int. 2019 Jun:127:704-719. doi: 10.1016/j.envint.2019.03.065. Epub 2019 Apr 15.

Authors

Susan S A Alkurdi¹, Raed A Al-Juboori², Jochen Bundschuh³, Ihsan Hamawand⁴

Affiliations

¹ School of Civil Engineering and Surveying, Faculty of Health, Engineering and Sciences, University of Southern Queensland, West Street, Toowoomba, 4350, Queensland, Australia; Northern Technical University, Engineering Technical College, Kirkuk, Iraq.
² School of Civil Engineering and Surveying, Faculty of Health, Engineering and Sciences, University of Southern Queensland, West Street, Toowoomba, 4350, Queensland, Australia; School of Science, Engineering and Information Technology, Federation University Australia, University Drive, Mt Helen, VIC 3350.
³ School of Civil Engineering and Surveying, Faculty of Health, Engineering and Sciences, University of Southern Queensland, West Street, Toowoomba, 4350, Queensland, Australia; UNESCO Chair on Groundwater Arsenic within the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, University of Southern Queensland, West Street, Toowoomba, 4350, Queensland, Australia. Electronic address: Jochen.Bundschuh@usq.edu.au.
⁴ Research and Engineering Services, Toowoomba, QLD, 4350, Australia.

PMID: 30999128
DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2019.03.065

Abstract

Millions of people around the world suffer from or prone to health problems caused by high concentration of fluoride in drinking water sources. One of the environmentally friendly and cost-effective ways for removing fluoride is the use of bone char. In this review, the structural properties and binding affinity of fluoride ions from different water sources was critically discussed. The effect of experimental conditions on enhancing the adsorption capacity of fluoride ions using bone char samples was addressed. It appears that surface properties, and conditions of the bone char production such as temperature and residence time play an important role in designing the optimal fluoride removal process. The optimum temperature for fluoride removal seems to be in the range of 500-700 °C and a residence time of 2 h. Applying various equilibrium adsorption isotherms for understanding fluoride adsorption mechanism was presented. The effect of bone char modification with different elements were discussed and recommendations for a further increase in the removal efficiency was proposed. Cost of bone char production and large-scale treatment systems were also discussed based on information available from scientific and commercial sources. Challenges with existing domestic defluoridation designs were highlighted and suggestions for new conceptual designs were provided.

Keywords: Conceptual designs; Cost; Fluoride removal by bone char; Mechanism of fluoride removal; Sorption capacity; Surface modification.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Review

MeSH terms

Animals
Bone and Bones / chemistry*
Bone and Bones / metabolism
Drinking Water / chemistry*
Fluorides / chemistry*
Fluorides / metabolism
Humans
Hydrogen-Ion Concentration
Surface Properties

Substances

Drinking Water
Fluorides