Phosphates are essential to life on Earth, providing the vital nutrient phosphorus, which contributes to a multitude of biological processes that make human, plant, and animal life possible.
Phosphates can be made into an array of products, from fertilizers to food and consumer products, and even animal feeds. And while phosphate production is a well-established industry, testing remains a critical component in the success of many phosphate-based operations.
Why Testing is Important
There are many reasons why testing is both necessary and desirable. The most common reasons for testing phosphate materials include:
To Create a New Product/Process
New phosphate products are constantly being developed in all sectors. When working with fertilizers, it is common to try new blends for custom applications. Similarly with animal feed, new products aimed at better nutrition are tested. With consumer products, testing is used to develop new detergents, cleaners, and other products for consumer use.
To Improve an Existing Product
Improvement of an existing product is perhaps the most common reason for testing. When new market opportunities open up, or a product isn’t performing as intended (or could perform better), a variety of characteristics can be modified to improve performance or enhance the product in some way. This might include adjusting the blend or formulation of the product, or altering physical characteristics such as granule size, crush strength, or bulk density to make the product easier to handle or apply.
To Improve an Existing Process
Testing is also frequently conducted to improve on an existing process. This could be to troubleshoot an inefficient process, work out the incorporation of a new addition to the process, or even test out an improved way of carrying out the process.
What Types of Testing are Available?
Various types of testing can be conducted. In the FEECO Innovation Center, the following types of processes can be tested:
Agglomeration
Agglomeration of phosphates is frequently tested for a variety of reasons. This may be to test a new product for process knowledge or to introduce a product to a new or existing market. It may also include testing feasibility of granulating ground ore fines, recycle or baghouse fines into a usable product, or the blending of phosphates with other materials.
Granulation
Granulation of phosphate products is frequently tested in the Innovation Center for both fertilizer and animal feed applications. The FEECO Innovation Center can accommodate the use of phosphoric acid, sulfuric acid, or ammonia, allowing various reactions in the granulation process to be tested. All pumps, spray systems, heat tanks, and agglomeration equipment is designed to handle both heated and non-heated phosphoric acids and gases.
Thermal Testing
Phosphate rock can be processed in a rotary kiln to accomplish a variety of goals. It can also be processed in a rotary dryer to remove moisture.
Phosphate rock varies considerably in chemical composition and the materials that it is found with from one deposit to the next, and even within the same deposit. This presents challenges when looking to process the phosphate rock, because few samples are alike.
For this reason, thermal testing in a kiln or dryer, depending on the goal, is often conducted to determine the time and temperature profiles required, and collect emissions data for the unique deposit at hand. This not only aids in designing a process that most efficiently processes the material, but it also helps in the design of a commercial size unit.
For all types of testing, depending on what information the customer already knows and is looking to gather, testing commonly starts at batch scale, with small samples of material being tested to gather initial data and determine feasibility of the intended goal. Once batch testing has been successful, continuous pilot-scale testing can be conducted. This is a much larger scale test, where the process is tested as a continuous process loop.
Advantages to Testing with FEECO
Testing in the FEECO Innovation Center offers unparalleled advantages to customers.
FEECO has a long history in the fertilizer and agriculture industry; customers come to us because of our familiarity and expertise in the process of producing the various types of phosphate products and fertilizer blends. The unique capabilities of our testing facility allow us to test nearly any phosphate-based process, be it a common process or a novel one. We can work with you to take your project from idea to full-scale production, and even produce the equipment required to do the job.
We have also partnered with Rockwell Automation to bring our customers the best in automation control and reporting capabilities, both as a service in the Innovation Center, and as part of a system purchase. Our automation system can collect and trend numerous points of data, giving customers complete transparency with their process, and allowing for unmatched reporting capabilities.
Conclusion
Testing is a critical part of the success of many phosphate processes. FEECO has been helping companies to create custom fertilizer products and blends, both organic and inorganic, since 1951. For more information on testing phosphates in the FEECO Innovation Center, contact us today!
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