Technological Challenges of Phosphorus Removal in High-Phosphorus Ores: Sustainability Implications and Possibilities for Greener Ore Processing

Stanley Udochukwu Ofoegbu
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Stanley Udochukwu Ofoegbu: Centre for Mechanical Technology and Automation (TEMA), Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Aveiro, Campus Universitário de Santiago, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal

Sustainability, 2019, vol. 11, issue 23, 1-38

Abstract: With the present rates of iron ore consumption, currently unusable, high-phosphorus iron ore deposits are likely to be the iron ores of the future as higher-grade iron ore reserves are depleted. Consequently, the design and timely development of environmentally-benign processes for the simultaneous beneficiation of high-phosphorus iron ores and phosphorus recovery, currently a technological challenge, might soon become a sustainability challenge. To stimulate interest in this area, phosphorus adsorption and association in iron oxides/hydroxyoxides, and current efforts at its removal, have been reviewed. The important properties of the most relevant crystalline phosphate phases in iron ores are highlighted, and insights provided on plausible routes for the development of sustainable phosphorus recovery solutions from high-phosphorus iron ores. Leveraging literature information from geochemical investigations into phosphorus distribution, speciation, and mobility in various natural systems, key knowledge gaps that are vital for the development of sustainable phosphorus removal/recovery strategies and important factors (white spaces) not yet adequately taken into consideration in current phosphorus removal/recovery solutions are highlighted, and the need for their integration in the development of future phosphorus removal/recovery solutions, as well as their plausible impacts on phosphorus removal/recovery, are put into perspective.

Keywords: iron ores; phosphorus recovery; green economy; environmental impacts; sustainability (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
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