Phophorus and potassium recovery from cotton shell and sugarcane bagasse ashes

Abstract

The use of cotton shell and sugarcane bagasse to produce fuel in SODECOTON and SOSUCAM Cameroonian industries respectively has contributed to the production of a huge amount of ash, which can be used as raw material to produce fertilizer. The goal of this study is to assess the interaction effects of the physico-chemical parameters on the recovery performance of phosphorus and potassium. The results show that, taking individually, sulfuric acid concentration (X1), time (X2) and temperature (X3) decreases the amount of recovered phosphorus from cotton shell ash (PCSA) while X1 and X3 increase the amount of recovered phosphorus from sugarcane bagasse ash (PSBA) and X2 decrease PSBA. Acetic acid concentration (Y1), Stirring speed (Y2) decrease the amount of potassium recovered from cotton shell ash (KCSA) meanwhile Stirring time (Y3) positively influences KCSA and Y1, Y2, Y3 increase the amount of potassium recovered from sugarcane bagasse ash (KSBA). The results also revealed that the interactions X1X2, X1X3, X2X3 increase PCSA. The interactions X1X2, X1X3, X2X3 decrease PSBA. The interaction Y1Y2 negatively influences KCSA while the interactions Y1Y3 and Y2Y3 positively influence KCSA. The interaction Y1Y2 increases KSBA while the interaction Y1 Y3 and Y3Y2 decrease KSBA. The use of experimental design permits to understand the effect of physico-chemical parameters.