Production of high-quality liquid fertilizers from wet-process acid via urea phosphate

A pilot-plant process is described that purifies wet-process phosphoric acid for the production of a high-quality urea-ammonium polyphosphate base solution. An intermediate product, crystalline urea phosphate, is produced from urea and merchant-grade (54% P₂O₅) wet-process phosphoric acid. The urea phosphate crystals contain only about 15 to 20% of the objectionable impurities (iron, aluminum, and magnesium) originally contained in the feed wet-process acid. The urea phosphate crystals are pyrolyzed, converting orthophosphate to polyphosphate with very little energy consumption. The resulting melt is dissolved and neutralized with ammonia to produce 14-29-0 liquid product of high polyphosphate content.