Process for recovering phosphorous from phosphoritic materials

A process for recovering phosphorus from phosphoritic materials, the process comprising the steps of:

• providing a furnace comprising a slag bath and a headspace above the slag bath, wherein the furnace is configured to facilitate submerged injection of a fluid into the slag bath, the fluid comprising a mixture of combustion agents to produce reducing conditions in the slag bath and post-combustion oxidising conditions in the headspace;
• smelting a mixture of a phosphoritic material and a carbonaceous material in the furnace to produce a molten slag in the slag bath and phosphorus vapour in the headspace, wherein the post-combustion oxidising conditions in the headspace favours retention of ferrous oxides in the molten slag to minimise deportment of phosphorus to a ferro-phosphorus alloy;
• oxidising the phosphorus vapour in the headspace to produce phosphorus pentoxide;
• and,
• passing the phosphorus pentoxide from the headspace to a reactor to recover a phosphoric acid solution.