Preparation of polyphosphoric acid and recovery of valuable fluorine resources though a microwave intensification flash evaporation process

Abstract

Traditional evaporators for the concentration of wet process phosphoric acid (WPA) suffer from concentration, corrosion, and low fluorine yield (less than 40 wt.%). Based on the excellent heating and permittivity properties of phosphoric acid in microwave fields, a microwave intensification flash evaporation (MFE) system is proposed to concentrate highly corrosive WPA for preparing polyphosphoric acid (PPA) and efficiently recovering valuable fluoride resources. A polytetrafluoroethylene tank in a microwave resonant cavity coupled with a vacuum pump is used to facilitate boiling and evaporation. This study reports the evolution of the PPA preparation process by flash evaporation, defluorination, and the boiling phenomenon. In addition, the influencing mechanism of pressure and temperature on PPA preparation and fluorine recovery are investigated. The experimental results indicate the successful preparation of PPA with a P2O5 content higher than 75 wt.% and the cost is considerably much lower than the traditional method. Meanwhile, the recovery yield of fluorine exceeds 90 wt.%, alleviating the depletion of strategic natural resources and potential risk of environmental pollution. This study provides a basis for the efficient preparation of PPA and recovery of fluorine resource from WPA. It is also potentially significant to industries such as metallurgy and sewage treatment.