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SOURCE ASSESSMENT: PHOSPHATE FERTILIZER INDUSTRY
Citation:
Nyers, J., G. Rawlings, E. Mullen, C. Moscowitz, AND R. Reznik. SOURCE ASSESSMENT: PHOSPHATE FERTILIZER INDUSTRY. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C., EPA/600/2-79/019C.
Description:
The report describes a study of air emissions, water effluents, and solid residues resulting from the manufacture of phosphate fertilizers. It includes the production of wet process phosphoric acid, superphosphoric acid, normal superphosphate, triple superphosphate, and ammonium phosphate. Air emissions from production of phosphate fertilizers include particulates, fluorides, ammonia, and sulfur oxides. Phosphate fertilizer plants control air emissions by a combination of cyclones, baghouses, and wet scrubbers. Material handling operations are generally enclosed to reduce fugitive particulate emissions. Only fluoride emissions from curing and storage at normal superphosphate plants are typically uncontrolled. Water effluents from the production operations arise from wet scrubbers, barometric condensers, steam ejectors, gypsum slurry, and acid sludge. Noncontact cooling water is normally segregated from other wastewater streams. Wastewaters are contaminated with phosphates, fluorides, sulfates and gypsum. Process water is discharged to large gypsum ponds for storage and recycle; it is normally not discharged to surface streams. Solid residues generated at phosphoric acid plants are gypsum from the filtration of wet process phosphoric acid, wet process phosphoric acid sludge, and solids suspended in the wet scrubber liquor.