TITLE:
Model for Quantitative Evaluation and Prediction of the Concentration of Phosphorus Removed during Pyro-Hydro Beneficiation of Haematite
AUTHORS:
C. I. Nwoye, M. C. Menkiti, E. Obidiegwu, N. E. Nwankwo
KEYWORDS:
Model, Phosphorus Removed, Pyro-Hydrometallurgy, Potassium Hydroxide, Iron Oxide Ore.
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Minerals and Materials Characterization and Engineering,
Vol.10 No.7,
June
6,
2011
ABSTRACT: This paper presents a model derived for quantitative evaluation and prediction of the
concentration of phosphorus removed during pyro-hydro beneficiation of iron oxide ore.
Potassium hydroxide was used as the leaching solution and the reaction vessel containing the
solution and ore was heated at a temperature of 600℃ for 10 minutes. The results of the
investigation indicates that the model;
P = (e0.7827) S
predicts the concentration of phosphorus removed, based on the concentration of sulphur
simultaneously removed. It was observed that the validity of the model is rooted in the expression
lnP = lnN + lnS where both sides of the expression are approximately equal to 4.
The maximum deviation of the model-predicted concentration of removed phosphorus from the
corresponding concentration obtained from the experiment was less than 3%. The concentrations
of phosphorus removed per unit mass-input of iron oxide ore as obtained from experiment and derived model are 0.8917 and 1.0354 mg/kg g-1 respectively. Similarly, the concentrations of phosphorus removed per unit concentration of removed sulphur as obtained from experiment and derived model are 1.8838 and 2.1874 mg/kg (mg/kg)-1 respectively. This implies that the concentration of phosphorus removed is approximately equal to the concentration of simultaneously removed sulphur during the beneficiation process.