Change of acidity of the environment in the process of decomposition of apatitis sulfuric acid

An experimental study of the decomposition process of Kovdorsky apatite with certain particle sizes, in a 1 dm3 batch reactor with stirring of the reaction mixture, initial phosphoric acid concentration 17% by weight, in the system: Apatite-H3PO4 – H2SO4-H2O. Sulfuric acid was introduced in stoichiometric amount at the beginning of the process. The process was carried out at a ratio L:S 2.5:1, at a temperature of 78– 82 °C. The process was monitored by the method of joint determination of sulfuric and phosphoric acids by titrimetric analysis of the composition of the reaction mixture in the presence of methyl orange, and then phenolphthalein. Determined the concentration of phosphoric acid, the concentration of excess or deficiency of sulfuric acid and the concentration of monocalcium phosphate gel were determined. The acidity of the reaction mixture was recorded according to the indications of a Ph-meter (pH-105 MA with a combined glass electrode – ESK-10603). In the system: Apatite-H3PO4-H2SO4-H2O, when analyzing the obtained experimental values of these parameters, it was shown that during the process the pH of the reaction mixture rises to pH 6.3 for about 30 minutes, and then decreases to pH 4.5–5. Comparison of the dependence of pH values on the concentration of sulfuric acid in an aqueous solution of phosphoric acid and the pH values of the reaction mixture with the corresponding concentrations of sulfuric and phosphoric acids shows that the pH value of the reaction mixture is determined by the presence in the mixture between weft product - monocalcium phosphate gel. The process of decomposition of apatite in the system Apatite-H3PO4-H2SO4-H2O proceeds in several stages. At the beginning, a rapid decomposition of phosphate raw materials with phosphoric acid and a corresponding change in the pH of the reaction mixture, associated with the accumulation of monocalcium phosphate in solution, takes place. Then there is a slow decomposition of monocalcium phosphate with sulfuric acid and a corresponding decrease in pH to 4.5–5. The pH value at the end of the process is determined by the physicochemical properties of phosphoric acid present in the reaction mixture. At all stages of the process there is a constant increase in the concentration of phosphoric acid associated with the decomposition of monocalcium phosphate gel.