DEFLUORIDATION OF WATER USING TAMARIND (TAMARINDUS INDICA) FRUIT COVER: KINETICS AND EQUILIBRIUM STUDIES

in the present study defluoridation of water was conducted using tamarind fruit cover (tnfc) as a natural adsorbent in virgin and acid treated forms. defluoridation of water was studied under batch equilibrium and column flow experimental conditions. the adsorbents were characterized by ftir, sem, pycnomatic atc techniques. the effect of experimental variables such as initial concentration of fluoride, effect of ph, contact time, co-ions and amount of adsorbent dosage was evaluated. the study was also extended to real field water samples. the equilibrium data were used to study the kinetics of defluoridation process and also to predict the isotherms applicable to the adsorption process. the maximum monolayer adsorption capacity of virgin tnfc and treated tnfc sorbents as obtained from the langmuir adsorption isotherm was found to be 4.14 mg/g and 6.11 mg/g of fluoride. the column flow adsorption data were utilized to obtain break through curves.