Techno-economic analysis for the electrocoagulation of fluoride-contaminated drinking water

Electrocoagulation (EC) technique was adopted for the treatment of fluoride-containing drinking water in a 3 L capacity batch reactor. Experimental investigation was carried out to observe the effect of different operating parameters, such as initial fluoride concentration, current density, inter-electrode distance, on the removal of fluoride from the fluoride-rich drinking water. Aluminum flat sheet was used as the electrode material. It was observed that with an increase in current density, percentage removal of fluoride increased. It was seen that at electrode distance of 0.005 m, removal of fluoride attained its maximum compared to the other performances obtained at different inter-electrode distances. Life time of the aluminum electrodes was estimated from the electrode corrosion observed during the experiment. Total operating cost was estimated as a combination of energy cost and electrode cost. The total operating cost was evaluated as 0.38 US$ m(-3) to remove fluoride from the solution with an initial fluoride concentration 10 mgL(-1). Characterizations of the electrochemically generated by-products were carried out by powder X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infra-red Raman spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy image and corresponding elemental analysis.