Defoamer Antifoaming Agents

Defoamer/Antifoaming Agent for Phosphoric acid plant and Phosphatic Fertilizers
In the process of manufacture of Phosphoric Acid, Diammonium Phosphate (DAP), NP and NPK type of fertilizers there is copious foaming taking place, which needs to be quelled. OAN Industries provides Various types of Antifoaming Agents (Defoamers) are used for tackling this problem in the fertilizer industry as well as other industries like pulp & paper, textile etc. There are a variety of ways to produce phosphoric acid but the most common is the Wet Process. Commonly used in the production of phosphate fertilizers, antifoams are used to control foaming during the digestion of the phosphate rock with sulphuric acid.Wet-process phosphoric acid production generates significant amounts of foam and undesirable gases which limit plant production efficiency. In a typical wet-process phosphoric acid process, phosphate rock is reacted with sulfuric acid in large digesters or reactors. In addition to the calcium phosphate in the ore being converted to phosphoric acid (P2O5) and calcium sulfate (gypsum), there are numerous side reactions due to impurities in the rock. One of the major challenges that phosphoric acid producers face in achieving desired plant production rates and efficiencies is identifying the optimal means of removing such gases that are liberated during these production processes.

Mechanical equipment can be added to plants for this purpose but is capital intensive to install, equally expensive to maintain and provides only a partial solution at best. Process chemical additives such as defoamers have become the universally accepted “best practice” alternative for accelerating the removal of unwanted gases and improving plant performance. The addition of a defoamer during phosphoric acid production can facilitate higher capacity utilization and optimal output of finished product. An ideal phosphoric acid defoamer not only has the ability to kill the surface foam in the digester but also to reduce entrained CO2 gas bubbles in the slurry. Design and choice of an appropriate defoamer requires an understanding of the characteristics of the phosphate rock, the particular type of phosphoric acid production processes and the intended operating parameters.