Kinetical Study of the Decomposition of Djebel ONK Phosphates by Nitric Acid

The development of industrial processes designed to produce efficient fertilizers is nowadays of great importance, particularly in the field of farming. One way of producing phosphate fertilizers is by reacting phosphate rocks with nitric acid. In the present work, the kinetics of this reaction has been studied using phosphate mineral from the Djebel Onk mine (Algeria) and measurements of the conversion of P2O5 have been carried out by gravimetry. The effects of various operating parameters, such as the reaction time, the reaction temperature, the nitric acid concentration and the size of the particle have been studied. The experimental conditions have been optimized and global kinetic data such as the reaction rate constant and the activation energy have been determined.