Antifoaming Agent for Phosphoric Acid Production: Enhancing Efficiency & Yield

Antifoaming agents play a critical role in the production of phosphoric acid, especially in the widely-used wet process. Foaming is a persistent and serious issue in this environment, capable of reducing production efficiency, compromising final product quality, and creating significant operational hazards. The effective use of a high-performance defoamer for phosphoric acid production is therefore essential for stable, safe, and efficient plant operation.

INVINO offers specialized solutions like INVINO-P9502 to effectively control foam in this demanding industrial application, helping you optimize your process from reaction to filtration.

Foam generation in the WPA process presents significant and costly operational hurdles:

• Reduced Reactor Efficiency: Foam occupies valuable reactor space, which reduces the effective volume, lowers reaction efficiency, and can lead to dangerous overflows of highly corrosive acids.
• Pumping & Circulation Issues: Foaming can cause pump cavitation, leading to reduced flow rates, equipment damage, and inconsistent process monitoring and control.
• Filtration Problems: Foam can carry fine solids and impurities onto filter cloths during phosphoric acid filtration. This clogs the filter, reduces washing efficiency, and ultimately increases valuable P₂O₅ losses in the discarded gypsum cake.
• Safety & Environmental Risks: Overflows can create hazardous spills, leading to unsafe working conditions and potential environmental contamination.

A defoamer used in the highly aggressive environment of phosphoric acid production must possess specific characteristics to be effective:

• Strong Acid & Alkali Stability: Must remain effective and stable in the highly acidic conditions of the reactor and during subsequent neutralization steps.
• High Temperature Tolerance: Must withstand the elevated reaction and evaporation temperatures common in WPA plants.
• Excellent Dispersibility: Must disperse quickly and effectively in the dense, abrasive slurry to act where needed without causing blockages.
• Minimal Impact on Process: Should not negatively affect the P₂O₅ yield, gypsum crystal quality, or downstream processes.
• Cost-Effectiveness: Provides efficient foam control at an economic dosage rate, delivering a high return on investment.

• Lab Screening: Before plant-wide use, conduct laboratory tests that simulate your plant’s conditions (acid concentration, temperature, slurry density) to evaluate the defoamer’s compatibility, initial foam knockdown, and persistence.
• Dosage Optimization: Through testing, determine the minimum effective dosage required to control foam. Overdosing does not improve performance and can be costly. The typical dosage is often in the range of 100-1000 ppm, but should be confirmed.
• Plant Trials: Confirm the results from lab screening with a controlled plant-scale trial to verify performance and optimize the addition point (e.g., to the reactor, flash cooler, or filter feed).