Fluoride removal from secondary effluent of the graphite industry using electrodialysis: Optimization with response surface methodology

Response surface methodology was utilized to model and optimize the operational variables for defluoridation using an electrodialysis process as the treatment of secondary effluent of the graphite industry. Experiments were conducted using a Box-Behnken surface statistical design in order to evaluate the effects and the interaction of the influential variables including the operational voltage, initial fluoride concentration and flow rate. The regression models for defluoridation and energy consumption responses were statistically validated using analysis of variance (ANOVA); high coefficient of determination values (R-2 = 0.9772 and R-2 = 0.9814; respectively) were obtained. The quadratic model exhibited high reproducibility and a good fit of the experimental data. The optimum values of the initial fluoride concentration, voltage and flow rate were found to be 13.9 mg/L, 13.4 V, 102.5 L/h, respectively. A fluoride removal efficiency of 99.69% was observed under optimum conditions for the treatment of the secondary effluent of the graphite industry.