Skip to main content

Precipitation of iron from wet process phosphoric acid using oxalic acid and potassium hexyl xanthate (PHX)

Chemical Papers volume 73, pages 1871–1877 (2019)Cite this article

Abstract

Egyptian wet process phosphoric acid (WPPA) produced from El-Sebaiya phosphate area by Abu Zaabal Company contains about 2.6% iron. The high concentration of iron is the main reason for many problems and inhibits using the acid in various industrial and fertilizers applications. In this study, two types of additives were studied to decrease the iron content from WPPA using oxalic acid and potassium hexyl xanthate (PHX). Different factors were studied, including, the redox potential, amount of used oxalic acid and PHX, phosphoric acid concentration, stirring time and temperature. The obtained data revealed that 80.0 and 59.3% of the iron can be removed successfully without any loss of P2O5 content using oxalic acid and PHX, respectively. The XRF analysis of the used oxalic acid before and after the treatment of WPPA has confirmed the formation of ferrous oxalate after the treatment of WPPA using the oxalic acid.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.

Access options

Buy single article

Instant access to the full article PDF.

USD 39.95

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9
Fig. 10

References

  • Amin MI (2010) Removal of metallic and non-metallic impurities from wet process phosphoric acid using different separation techniques. PhD Thesis, Chemistry Department, Faculty of Science, Mansoura University

  • Eid AE, Hanna AA, Youssef NS, El-Zahany EA (1999) Study on solvent extraction of phosphoric acid from phosphate ores-HCl digestion liquor using pure and mixed solvent. Asian J Chem 11:213–224

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • El-Asmy AA, Serag HM, Mahdy MA, Amin MI (2008) Purification of phosphoric acid by minimizing iron, copper, cadmium and fluoride. Sep Purif Technol 61:287–292

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • El-Shall H, Abdel-Aal EA (2001) Decreasing iron content in wet process phosphoric acid. Final report, Department of Materials Science and Technology, Florida University

  • Hanna AA (1999) Reducing iron content in crude phosphoric acid by potassium ferrocyanide. Indian J Chem Technol 1999:6–276

    Google Scholar 

  • Hanna AA, Youssef NS, Ali AF (1995) Purification of wet process phosphoric acid by solvent extraction. Egypt J Chem 38:311–317

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Haraldsen HFT (1991) Method for removal of heavy metals especially cadmium from phosphoric acid containing solutions. United State Patent No. 4, 986, 970, http://www.chemweb.com

  • Ismail AK (1998) Iron removal from phosphoric acid by precipitation process. Central Metallurgicl R&D Institute, Cairo

    Google Scholar 

  • Jacobs (2015) New process for removing iron from phosphoric acid. Final report, Florida Institute of phosphate research 1855 West Main Street Bartow, Florida 33830 USA

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully thank Prof. Dr. Kamal Abd El-Baky for his support in achieving this work.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Nuclear Materials Authority, P.O. Box 530, Maadi, Cairo, Egypt

    Mostafa Ibrahim Amin, Hady S. Gado, Walid M. Youssef & Ahmed M. Masoud

Authors
  1. Mostafa Ibrahim Amin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Hady S. Gado
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Walid M. Youssef
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Ahmed M. Masoud
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mostafa Ibrahim Amin.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

On behalf of all authors, the corresponding author states that there is no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Amin, M.I., Gado, H.S., Youssef, W.M. et al. Precipitation of iron from wet process phosphoric acid using oxalic acid and potassium hexyl xanthate (PHX). Chem. Pap. 73, 1871–1877 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11696-019-00735-8

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11696-019-00735-8

Keywords

  • Precipitation
  • Phosphoric acid
  • Iron
  • Oxalic acid
  • Potassium hexyl xanthate