Process for purifying phosphoric acids by neutralization with an alkali metal hydroxide and/or carbonate

Abstract

Abstract Phosphoric acids produced by subjecting phosphate ores to wetprocessing with mineral acids are purified by neutralizing them in a four step process by means of an alkali metal hydroxide and/or carbonate. In the first step, the crude phosphoric acids and the alkali metal hydroxide and/or carbonate are mixed together so as to produce a mixture with a pH-value of between 4 and 9, and resulting primary sludge consisting substantially of insoluble aluminum and iron phosphates is isolated from the purified phosphate solution. In the second step the sludge is mixed with a mixture consisting of alkali liquor (i.e. alkali metal hydroxide solution) and a trialkali phosphate solution and with a mixture consisting of water glass and a trialkali phosphate solution so as to produce a mash containing SiO2 and Al2O3 in a molar ratio of larger than 2:1, and dissolved alkali metal oxide and dissolved P2O5 in a molar ratio of between 2.9:1 and 3.3:1. In the third step the second step mash is heated to temperatures of between 80* and 100* C and sludge appearing in the mash is disintegrated. This results in the formation firstly of a solution and secondly of a solid residue which is isolated and discarded. In the fourth step, the third step solution containing between 0.1 and 1.0 weight percent fluorine, is cooled to effect crystallization of a trialkali phosphate/alkali fluoride double salt, which is isolated from its mother liquor, and successively used for purifying a portion of the crude phosphoric acid with the resultant formation firstly of a secondary neutralization sludge, which is discarded, and secondly of a purified alkali phosphate solution, which is combined with alkali phosphate solution purified in the first step.

Inventors

• 👤 K Ehlers
• 👤 H Harnisch

Bibliographic Details