Single superphosphate-reactive phosphate rock mixtures. 1. Factors affecting chemical composition

The effect of additon of reactive phosphate rock (RPR - North Carolina) on the degree of acidulation of unreactive phosphate rocks (PRs - Nauru and Christmas Island A) during the manufacture of single superphosphate (SSP) was examined using³²P in isotopic dilution studies. Acidulation of unreactive PR during SSP manufacture continued through denning, granulation and drying. Even after 3 hours drying, between 20 and 30% of the total P remained as free phosphoric acid in the reaction mixture. The addition of North Carolina phosphate rock (NCPR) to ex-den SSP reaction mixture (3:7 NCPR:SSP reaction mixture) preferentially consumed the free phosphoric acid remaining in the reaction mixture. This resulted in reduced acidulation of the unreactive PR in the reaction mixture and partial acidulation (10-23%) of the RPR. Hence the SSP-RPR mixture contains more residual, unreactive PR than is present in SSP. The extent of partial acidulation of the RPR when mixed with SSP was determined by the nature of free acid remaining in the SSP reaction mixture, which in turn is affected by the type of unreactive PR used for SSP manufacture. The free acid in the Christmas Island A reaction mixture contained approximately 8 and 12 times as much Fe and Al respectively as that in the Nauru reaction mixture, and was only half as effective at converting the P in RPR to soluble P. Unless made with extended denning times and carefully chosen PR, SSP-RPR mixtures can contain (a) undesirable amounts of unreactive PR residues, and (b) low quality partially acidulated RPR, both of which have low agronomic value.