Regeneration and modeling of fixed-bed adsorption of fluoride on bone char

This article presents studies of the adsorption process in a continuous system of fluoride solutions at a concentration of 30 mg/L using a bone char packed in fixed-bed columns, as well as regeneration studies in the same system using HNO3, HCl and NaOH at 0.01, 0.1 and 1 M. The Thomas Model, Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs), Numerical Integration and Mass Transfer Zone were used for the modeling of asyemmetrical breakthrough curves obtained from the fluoride adsorption on bone char. The maximum adsorption capacity of the breakthrough curves was estimated, and various design parameters of the columns were obtained for the different operating conditions. Results showed that an improvement in the modeling capabilities of the Thomas model can be obtained using ANNs. Moreover, ANNs are useful for determining reasonable and accurate design parameters of packed-bed adsorption columns. This modeling approach can be useful for the process system engineering of dynamic adsorption systems involved in the field of water treatment and purification. It is important to highlight that the obtained results indicate that, when using HCl or HNO3 at a concentration of 0.1 M, a large number of adsorption-desorption cycles are obtained and, therefore, the highest values of adsorption capacity, which leads to a reduction in operation costs.