RECOVERY OF ELEMENTAL PHOSPHORUS FROM PHOSPHORUS SLUDGE

Abstract: Disclosed is a method of recovering elemental phosphorus from a sludge that contains water, dirt, and elemental phosphorus. In the first step, the sludge is melted. A mixture is formed of the melted sludge and about 0.5 to about 3 wt% of an oxidizing agent, based on the weight of said elemental phosphorus in the sludge, and about 75 to about 400 wt% water, based on the weight of the sludge. The mixture is stirred until a continuous elemental phosphorus phase forms. The purified phosphorus phase is separated from the mixture.

Description: RECOVERY OF ELEMENTAL PHOSPHORUS FROM PHOSPHORUS SLUDGE THIS INVENTION relates to a method of recovering elemental phosphorus from phosphorus sludge. In particular, it relates to such a method where the sludge is melted, an oxidizing agent and water are added, and the sludge is stirred to coalesce phosphorus globules into a pure phosphorus continuous phase which separates from the dirt in the sludge. Elemental phosphorus can be made by heating phosphate rock, carbon, and sand in an electric furnace. Phosphorus vapours given off in the furnace contain solid impurities, such as slag, phosphate rock, sand, and coke, which cause the formation of sludge when the phosphorus vapours are condensed to the liquid form. Gradually, phosphorus sludge accumulates on top of this liquid phosphorus layer. Phosphorus sludge is often stored in outdoor ponds. Periodically, it is necessary to reduce the amount of stored sludge either by recovering phosphorus or by converting the sludge into useful products. Such treatment may require the separation of phosphoms from the impurities. In U.S. Patents Nos. 3,436, 184 and 3,515,515 there is described a process for reducing the phosphoms content of phosphoms sludge by adding chromic acid to the sludge. That process removes only a portion of the phosphoms in the sludge. According to one aspect of this invention there is provided a method of recovering elemental phosphoms from a sludge that contains water, dirt, and elemental phosphoms as a discontinuous phase comprising, in a batch process, (A) melting said sludge; (B) forming a mixture of said sludge and about 0.5 to about 3 wt% of an oxidizing agent, based on the weight of said elemental phosphorus in said sludge, and about 75 to about 400 wt% water, based on the weight of said sludge; (C) stiπing said mixture until a continuous elemental phosphoms phase forms; and (D) separating said continuous elemental phosphoms phase from said mixture. Preferably said oxidizing agent is selected from the group consisting of chromic acid, hydrogen peroxide, nitric acid, ozone and oxygen. Conveniently said oxidizing agent is chromic acid. Advantageously said separated continuous elemental phosphorus phase is filtered or centrifuged after step (D). Conveniently said continuous elemental phosphoms phase is separated by settling. Preferably said sludge contains about 5 to about 80 wt% elemental phosphoms. Advantageously said dirt is a mixture of carbon fines, slag, sand and phosphate rock. Conveniently said sludge is produced when phosphate rock, carbon and sand are heated in an electric furnace. Preferably said stirring in step (C) is for about 15 minutes to about 30 minutes at a rate of about 150 to about 300 rpm. According to another aspect of this invention there is provided a method of recovering elemental phosphoms from a sludge that contains water, dirt, and about 5 to about 80 wt% elemental phosphoms as a discontinuous phase, comprising, in a batch process, (A) melting said sludge at a temperature of about 55 to about 75° C ; (B) forming a mixture of said sludge and, in an amount about 1 to about 4 times the amount of sludge, an aqueous solution containing about 0.5 to about 3 wt% chromic acid; (C) stirring said mixture until said elemental phosphoms forms a continuous phase; and (D) separating said elemental phosphoms continuous phase from said mixture. Preferably said separated elemental phosphoms continuous phase is filtered or centrifuged after step (D). Conveniently said elemental phosphorus continuous phase is separated by settling. Advantageously said sludge contains about 5 to about 80 wt% elemental phosphoms. Preferably said dirt is a mixture of carbon fines, slag, sand and phosphate rock. Conveniently said sludge is produced when phosphate rock, carbon and sand are heated in an electric furnace. Preferably said stirring in step (C) is for about 15 minutes to about 30 minutes at a rate of about 150 to about 300 rpm. Advantageously said separated elemental phosphoms continuous phase is filtered. When an aqueous solution of an oxidizing agent is added to a heated phosphoms sludge followed by stiiring, a continuous phosphoms phase forms which separates from the dirt in the sludge. Thus, unlike the prior process, in the preferred process of this invention close to the entire amount of elemental phosphoms in the sludge can be recovered. The process of this invention is applicable to any phosphoms sludge that contains about 0.5 to about 90 wt% elemental phosphoms (usually present as P 4 ), about 2 to about 80 wt% water, and about 2 to about 60 wt% "dirt" which is typically a mixture of various solids such as carbon fines, slag (calcium-aluminium silicates), sand, and phosphate rock. The process of this invention is particularly applicable to phosphoms sludges that contain about 5 to about 80 wt% elemental phosphoms. Phosphorus sludge has been described in the literature as being a phosphoms-in-water emulsion. While not wishing to be bound by any theories, the applicant believes that the phosphoms in a phosphoms sludge is a discontinuous phase consisting of phosphoms globules. The globules may also contain water and fine dirt. They do not coalesce because their surfaces may be partially oxidized and may carry electrical charges as well as dirt and water. In this invention, when an oxidizing agent is added followed by vigorous stiiring, the oxidizer cleans the surfaces of the phosphorus globules, allowing them to coalesce. During purification the phosphoms separates from dirt and water. The process must be performed as a batch process because over-stirring causes the cleaned phosphorus to form an emulsion of fine phosphoms particles suspended in an aqueous solution. It is difficult to separate the phosphoms from this emulsion. In the first step of the process of this invention, the phosphoms sludge is melted. As the phosphorus melts the sludge becomes more fluid. A temperature of about 55 to about 75° C is usually satisfactoiy as lower temperatures may not melt the sludge and higher temperatures are unnecessary. In the second step of the process of this invention, an oxidizing agent is added to the melted sludge. Examples of oxidizing agents that can be used include chromic acid, hydrogen peroxide, nitric acid, ozone, and oxygen. The prefeπed oxidizing agent is chromic acid as it has a fast, contiollable reaction rate. Chromic acid is preferably added as a solution of C1O3 in water as it is easier to handle as a solution. A 1 to 4 wt% chromic acid solution is preferred. The amount of oxidizing agent used should be about 0.5 to about 3 wt% of the amount of elemental phosphorus that is present in the sludge. Less oxidizing agent may not be effective and more is unnecessary. The prefeired amount of oxidizing agent is about 1 to about 3 wt%. It is also necessaiy to add water to the sludge to help float the dirt away from the elemental phosphorus. The water can be added separately or it can be added with the oxidizing agent. The amount of water added should be about 75 to about 400 wt%, based on the weight of the sludge, as the removal of dirt from the sludge is facilitated by water, but too much water is unnecessary and provides no additional benefit. The prefeired amount of water is about 90 to about 150 wt%. In the third step of the process of this invention, the melted sludge and oxidizing agent solution are stirred. This is a critical step as stirring is necessaiy to clean the phosphorus, remove the dirt, and form a continuous elemental phosphorus phase. That is, the sludge is stirred enough to liberate the dirt, producing clean elemental phosphorus, but not so much that a phosphoms-in-water emulsion forms. Stiiring to produce that result typically requires about 15 minutes to about 30 minutes at about 150 to about 300 rpm. Once a continuous phosphorus phase forms, the stiiring should be stopped as additional stiiring may break the elemental phosphoms into droplets and form a phosphoms-in-water emulsion, preventing the recovery of pure elemental phosphorus. After the stiiring is finished, the reaction mass is allowed to settle for at least 30 minutes to allow the phosphorus to settle as a separate phase. The heavy dirt (e.g., pebbles, slag, etc.) settles to the bottom of the reactor. The next layer is the elemental phosphoms, which has a density of about 1.8 g/cc. On top of the elemental phosphorus is the finer dirt, suspended in water. The various components of the sludge can then be separated. The resulting elemental phosphorus is typically about 90 to about 99 wt% pure and, if it is centrifuged or filtered, its purity can rise to 99.9 wt%. Instead of settling, the entire reaction mass can be filtered or centrifuged to recover the phosphoms, but settling is prefeired because it makes it easier to handle the phosphorus phase only. The following examples further illustrated this invention. Analytical data was obtained by separating the phosphorus as a frozen layer from the rest of the reaction mass. Examples 1 to 6 A weighed sample of P 4 sludge (molten or solid) containing 49.4 wt% phosphoms, 23.3 wt% dirt, and 27.3 wt% water (average of 4 deteiminations) was added to 500 g of a chromic acid solution of various concentrations in a 2- litre resin flask equipped with a stainless steel stiπer (2 inches long curved paddle) having a variable speed capability. The flask was placed in a large Pyrex water bath which was heated with an immersion heater to 65 to 75 °C and stiπed at 100 rpm for 15 minutes with a magnetic stiπer. The sludge, when solid, was allowed to melt before stiiring began. After the stiπing was stopped, the reaction contents were allowed to settle for Vi hour. Phosphoms settled at the bottom as a separate layer, heavier dirt settled under the phosphoms layer, lighter dirt on top of the phosphorus layer, and fine dirt stayed suspended in the aqueous layer. The settled phosphoms layer was allowed to freeze and removed from the aqueous dirt suspension or it was removed as a molten layer and filtered or centrifuged. The following table gives the conditions used and the results: The above examples show that chromic acid concentrations of about 3 to 4 wt% are optimal and that using higher concentiations of chiomic acid does not offer any advantage. Examples 7 and 8 Example 4 was repeated at different stiiring rates. The following table gives the results: The above examples show that a better separation of the dirt from the phosphorus product was obtained at the higher stiiring rates. Examples 9 to 14 Examples 4, 7, and 8 were repeated using different stiiring times. The following table gives the results: ^Fluffy homogeneous emulsion. No P 4 layer separated even after 10 months. These examples show that a better separation of the dirt from the phosphoms product was obtained as the stiiring time was increased, until a critical stπring time when the phosphorus did not separate. Examples 15 to 23 Examples 4 and 7 were repeated using different amounts and concentiations of the chromic acid solution. The following table gives the results: The above examples show that a higher stiiring rate results in less dirt in the phosphorus product and that at these higher stiiring rates a chromic acid concentration of 1.5 to 3.0 wt% is more effective than a 3 to 4 wt% concentration of chiomic acid at lower stiiring rates. Examples 24 to 38 The same procedure was used as in the previous examples on various different sludges using 150 g of different cluomic acid solutions. A stirring rate of 280 rpm was used in these examples. The following table gives the results: The above experiments show that sludges having veiy different phosphorus and dirt compositions can be successfully heated with this process. In the present specification "comprise" means "includes or consists of and "comprising" means "including or consisting of. The features disclosed in the foregoing description, or the following Claims, or the accompanying drawings, expressed in their specific forms or in terms of a means for performing the disclosed function, or a method or process for attaining the disclosed result, as appropriate, may, separately, or in any combination of such features, be utilised for realising the invention in diverse forms thereof.

Claims: CLAIMS: 1. A method of recovering elemental phosphoms from a sludge that contains water, dirt, and elemental phosphoms as a discontinuous phase comprising, in a batch process, (A) melting said sludge; (B) forming a mixture of said sludge and about 0.5 to about 3 wt% of an oxidizing agent, based on the weight of said elemental phosphorus in said sludge, and about 75 to about 400 wt% water, based on the weight of said sludge; (C) stiiring said mixture until a continuous elemental phosphoms phase forms; and (D) separating said continuous elemental phosphoms phase from said mixture. 2. A method according to Claim 1 wherein said oxidizing agent is selected from the group consisting of chromic acid, hydrogen peroxide, nitric acid, ozone, and oxygen. 3. A method according to Claim 1 wherein said oxidizing agent is chromic acid. 4. A method according to Claim 1 , 2 or 3 wherein said separated continuous elemental phosphoms phase is filtered or centrifuged after step (D). 5. A method according to any one of the preceding Claims wherein said continuous elemental phosphoms phase is separated by settling. 6. A method according to any one of the preceding Claims wherein said sludge contains about 5 to about 80 wt% elemental phosphoms. 7. A method according to any one of the preceding Claims wherein said dirt is a mixture of carbon fines, slag, sand, and phosphate rock. 8. A method according to any one of the preceding Claims wherein said sludge is produced when phosphate rock, carbon, and sand are heated in an electric furnace. 9. A method according to any one of the preceding Claims wherein said stiπing in step (C) is for about 15 minutes to about 30 minutes at a rate of about 150 to about 300 ipm. 10. A method of recovering elemental phosphorus from a sludge that contains water, dirt, and about 5 to about 80 wt% elemental phosphoms as a discontinuous phase, comprising, in a batch process, (A) melting said sludge at a temperature of about 55 to about 75°C ; (B) forming a mixture of said sludge and, in an amount about 1 to about 4 times the amount of sludge, an aqueous solution containing about 0.5 to about 3 wt% chromic acid; (C) stiiring said mixture until said elemental phosphoms forms a continuous phase; and (D) separating said elemental phosphoms continuous phase from said mixture. 11. A method according to Claim 10 wherein said separated elemental phosphorus continuous phase is filtered or centrifuged after step (D). 12. A method according to Claim 10 or 1 1 wherein said elemental phosphoms continuous phase is separated by settling. 13. A method according to any one of Claims 1 to 12 wherein said sludge contains about 5 to about 80 wt% elemental phosphoms. 14. A method according to any one of Claims 10 to 13 wherein said dirt is a mixture of carbon fines, slag, sand, and phosphate rock. 15. A method according to any one of Claims 10 to 14 wherein said sludge is produced when phosphate rock, carbon, and sand are heated in an electric fmnace. 16. A method according to any one of Claims 10 to 15 wherein said stirring in step (C) is for about 15 minutes to about 30 minutes at a rate of about 150 to about 300 ipm. 17. A method according to any one of Claims 10 to 16 wherein said separated elemental phosphoms continuous phase is filtered.

Inventors: BROOKS JAMES R, POTTS DAVID CORNELIUS, SARAN MOHAN S, BROOKS, JAMES, R., POTTS, DAVID, CORNELIUS, SARAN, MOHAN, S.
Applicants: GLENN SPRINGS HOLDINGS INC, STEPHENS DINAH, GLENN SPRINGS HOLDINGS, INC., STEPHENS, DINAH
Application year: 2000
Main classification: C01B25
IPC codes: C01B25