Kinetics of the decomposition reaction of phosphorite concentrate

Abstract

Apatite is the raw material, which is mainly used in phosphate fertilizer, and part are used in yellow phosphorus, red phosphorus, and phosphoric acid in the industry. With the decrease of the high grade phosphorite lump, the agglomeration process is necessary for the phosphorite concentrate after beneficiation process. The decomposition behavior and the phase transformation are of vital importance for the agglomeration process of phosphorite. In this study, the thermal kinetic analysis method was used to study the kinetics of the decomposition of phosphorite concentrate. The phosphorite concentrate was heated under various heating rate, and the phases in the sample heated were examined by the X-ray diffraction method. It was found that the main phases in the phosphorite are fluorapatiteCa5(PO4)3F, quartz SiO2,and dolomite CaMg(CO3)2.The endothermic DSC peak corresponding to the mass loss caused by the decomposition of dolomite covers from 600°C to 850°C. The activation energy of the decomposition of dolomite, which increases with the increase in the extent of conversion, is about 71.6~123.6kJ/mol. The mechanism equation for the decomposition of dolomite agrees with the Valensi equation and G-B equation.

Keywords

• phosphorite
• kinetics
• activation energy
• reaction mechanism