METHOD OF PHOSPHORIC ACID PRODUCTION BY SORPTION CONVERSION OF APATITE CONCETRATE IN PRESENCE OF SULPHOCATIONITE IN SODIUM OR POTASSIUM FORMS

Abstract

The aim of the work is the continuation of the development of a new efficient hydrochemical technology for the processing of apatite concentrate, which makes it possible to produce phosphoric acid with a reduced content of impurities as a product, to use all the valuable components of apatite concentrate. The dependence of the efficiency of decomposition of apatite concentrate with a phosphate acid solution at a temperature of 20 and 50 °C in the presence of sulfate cationite КУ-2-8чС in Na+- and K+ - forms was studied. The influence of the decomposition conditions (expense and form of sorbent, the ratio of liquid: solid, the interaction temperature) on the degree of decomposition of the concentrate, the completeness of absorption by the sorbent of the metallic cations of the concentrate, the content of impurities in the resulting phosphate-acid solution, and the composition of undissolved residues are studied. The possibility of achieving a high degree of decomposition of the concentrate (up to 99.5 %) is established. High sorption efficiency of calcium and strontium (up to 90.2 and 93.4 % respectively) is shown. The sorption of REE of the cerium group was better than the REE of the middle and yttrium groups. Increasing the temperature from 20 to 50 °C reduced REE sorption by 14-170%. Aluminum, thorium and uranium were the most difficult to sorb. It has been found that effective purification of phosphoric acid from the impurity of fluorine is achieved directly in the process of decomposition. The efficiency of purification from fluorine when using a sorbent in the K+ - form is greater than when using a sorbent in the Na+- form. It is shown that the obtained acid can be purified from sodium or potassium by the electrodialysis method in a two-chamber electrodialyzer equipped with a cation exchange membrane. It is found that before electrodialysis, preliminary purification of the phosphate solution from calcium, which is obtained during the decomposition of apatite concentrate, is necessary. To this purpose, an additional purification of the phosphoric acid solution by sulphocathionite sorption has been investigated. The lower sorption from the phosphoric acid solution of Al, Ti, Fe, Th, and U is explained by the formation of stable anionic complexes or undissociated molecules by these elements. The developed technology for the production of phosphoric acid from the apatite concentrate does not require the use of sulfuric acid, has a number of other advantages. The content of impurities in the resulting phosphoric acid is much less than in the extraction phosphoric acid produced by the sulfuric acid processing of apatite concentrate.