Phosphoric Acid → Phosphorus oxide (P4O10)

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Reaction Steps

A conventional method for the production of wet process phosphoric acid, finely ground phosphate rock is reacted with dilute phosphoric acid (10% P2O5 to 25% P2O5) and sulphuric acid which may or may not be diluted. The phosphate rock is leached (i.e., digested or reacted with the acid) to yield a crude aqueous phosphoric acid solution in which is suspended a substantial quantity of solid impurities. This solution is filtered to separate out most of the undissolved gypsum and other solid impurities to yield a crude (26% P2O5 to 33% P2O5) aqueous product also known as the No. 1 filtrate. This filtrate still contains suspended, finely divided, impurities that were not removed during the solid liquid separation step plus solids that have crystallized after filtration. The solution also contains dissolved impurities.

Provenance & Evidence