Review on Beneficiation Techniques and Reagents Used for Phosphate Ores

Abstract

Phosphate ore is an important raw material for manufacturing fertilizers and phosphorous chemical products. While most of the phosphate resources cannot be directly treated as feed stock due to the low grade of P2O5 and high content of impurities. In order to obtain a qualified phosphate concentrate, the beneficiation of the low-grade phosphate ore is, hence, of great necessity. Many beneficiation techniques can be employed to upgrade the P2O5 grade of phosphate ores based on their characteristics in chemical composition and texture. The flotation process is most widely applied to balance the P2O5 recovery ratio and cost. In this review, the dominant techniques for the beneficiation of phosphate ores are introduced. Moreover, the factors that affect the flotation of phosphate ore, including the properties of mineralogy, flotation reagents (depressants and collectors) and flotation medium, were systematically analyzed.

Insight into the Influence of Surface Roughness on the Wettability of Apatite and Dolomite

“…Therefore, the control of surface wettability is of great significance. Although there have been many studies on the flotation separation technology and development of flotation reagents of apatite and dolomite [2,[34][35][36][37], few studies on the influence of roughness on the wettability of mineral surface have been carried out. For the flotation system of apatite and dolomite, it could be a new insight to enhance the surface wettability from the perspective of roughness.This study aimed to investigate the influence of roughness on the wettability of apatite and dolomite surfaces before and after the modification of a flotation reagent (collector and pH regulator).…”

Recovery and separation of phosphorus as dicalcium phosphate dihydrate for fertilizer and livestock feed additive production from a low-grade phosphate ore

“…9 Considering that phosphate rock is a non-renewable resource, high-grade phosphorus deposits which are primarily located in Morocco, China, USA, Jordan, and Tunisia are depleting and the depletion is predicted to become critical around 2033. 10,11 Considering the increasing depletion of high P 2 O 5 grade resources, industrialists are highly interested on alternative phosphorus resources including low phosphorus grade ores, 12 industrial waste products, 13 and municipal waste. 14 The low P 2 O 5 grade and high impurity concentration in these resources can cause operational challenges in the wet phosphoric acid process as follows: 12,15 (a) feeds with less than 30 wt% P 2 O 5 and high concentrations of calcium (CaO to P 2 O 5 ratio > 1.6) increase transportation costs and lead to excessive sulfuric acid consumption, (b) excessive magnesium in the ore (MgO > 1 wt%) can lead to lter blockage and problematic viscosities within the process, (c) aluminum and iron (Al 2 O 3 + Fe 2 O 3 > 3 wt%) can affect plant capacity, P 2 O 5 recovery, ltration rates, and introduce post-precipitation issues, (d) carbonates and organics (>5-6 wt%) can affect ore otation, ltration rates, product color, and create foaming issues, (e) other minor impurities such as chlorine, uorine, strontium, and heavy metals can cause various problems including corrosion, product safety, and crystallization issues.…”

“…These include froth otation of silicates and carbonates, attrition scrubbing and desliming of clays, electrostatic separation of silica, magnetic separation of ferriferous minerals, gravity separation of coarse phosphate minerals, calcination of calcareous minerals, and dilute organic acid leaching of carbonate minerals. 12 These processes, although promising, are complex and expensive, and they are far from being adequate in achieving high-grade P 2 O 5 products. Moreover, some of these processes are only applicable to phosphate ores with specic characteristics, e.g., presence of ferriferous or carbonate minerals.…”

Raman Spectroscopy Study of Phosphorites Combined with PCA-HCA and OPLS-DA Models

“…Phosphorite is a nonmetallic mineral, which is an important raw material for many kinds of phosphorus products [1][2][3][4][5]. The main types of phosphorite are magmatic apatite, sedimentary metamorphic apatite, and sedimentary rock-type apatite.…”