Defoamers for Phosphoric Acid Production

The entrained gases diminish the pumping efficiency of the system, and the foam itself takes up valuable head space in the reactors, effectively reducing production capacity. Both problems wreak havoc on the designed process parameters of the system, which can result in more rapid scale formation in piping and plugging of filter media, both of which can lead to more shutdowns. When excess entrained gas and foam cause problems with sulfate control in the reaction due to poor circulation, there can also be losses of the valuable P2O5, partly due to poor gypsum crystal formation, which reduces acid filtration rates.

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.