Basic introduction and use of phosphate

Phosphate is one of the natural ingredients of almost all foods and is widely used in food processing as an important food ingredient and functional additive. The naturally occurring phosphate is phosphate rock (containing calcium phosphate), which reacts with sulfuric acid to produce calcium dihydrogen phosphate and calcium sulfate, which can be absorbed by plants. Phosphate can be divided into orthophosphate and condensed phosphate: phosphate used in food processing is usually sodium salt, calcium salt, potassium salt and iron salt and zinc salt as nutrition enhancer. There are more than 30 kinds of commonly used food grade phosphate. Sodium phosphate is the main consumption type of domestic food phosphate. With the development of food processing technology, the consumption of potassium phosphate is also increasing year by year.

chemical fertilizer industry

Phosphates are commonly used in detergents as water softeners, but phosphate detergents are regulated in some areas because the algal boom-bust cycle affects phosphate emissions in the watershed.

In agriculture, phosphate is one of the three main nutrients for plants and is the main component of fertilizers. Phosphate rock is mined from the phosphorus layer of sedimentary rock. Previously, it could be used without processing after mining, but now unprocessed phosphate is only used in organic farming. Generally, it is chemically processed into lime superphosphate, double superphosphate or ammonium dihydrogen phosphate. Their concentration is higher than phosphate and they are more soluble in water, so plants can absorb them quickly.

There are generally three numbers in the fertilizer series: the first refers to the amount of nitrogen, the second refers to the amount of phosphate, and the third refers to alkaline water. So a 10-10-10 fertilizer has 10% of each component, and the rest is filler.

Phosphate runoff from over-fertilized agricultural land can be a cause of eutrophication, red tides and subsequent hypoxia. This, like phosphate detergents, causes anoxia in fish and other aquatic organisms.

refractory material

Phosphates are used as binders in refractory materials. Phosphate binder is a refractory binder with acid orthophosphate or condensed phosphate as the main compound and has gelling properties. The binding form of the phosphate binder is chemical reaction binding or polymerization binding. Phosphoric acid and alkali metal or alkaline earth metal oxides and their hydroxides made by the reaction of the binder is mostly air hard binder, that is, without heating at room temperature can occur condensation and hardening. Most of the binders made by the reaction of phosphoric acid with amphoteric oxides and hydroxides or acidic oxides are hot hard binders, which can only be produced by heating to a certain temperature to react before setting and hardening. Phosphate used as a binder for refractory materials has a strong bonding strength in the middle and low temperature range before ceramic bonding is produced, so it is widely used as a binder for monolithic refractory materials and unfired refractory materials.

Food Industry

Phosphorus is an important mineral element necessary for the human body. The main source of phosphorus intake is natural food or food phosphate additives. Phosphate is one of the natural ingredients of almost all foods. Because phosphate can improve or give a series of excellent properties of food, it has been used in food processing as early as more than 100 years ago, and it has been widely used in 70 years after the 20th century. Phosphate is one of the most widely used and large amount of food additives. As an important food ingredient and functional additive, it is widely used in the processing of meat products, poultry products, seafood, fruits, vegetables, dairy products, baked products, beverages, potato products, seasonings, convenience foods, etc. The phosphates used in food processing are usually sodium salt, calcium salt, potassium salt, and iron salt and zinc salt as nutritional supplements. There are more than 30 kinds of commonly used food grade phosphates. Sodium phosphate is the main consumption type of food phosphate in China. With the development of food processing technology, the consumption of potassium phosphate is also increasing year by year.

In order to give full play to various phosphates and the synergistic effect between phosphate and other additives, and to meet the development needs of food processing technology, various compound phosphates are often used as food ingredients and functional additives in practical applications. The research and development of compound phosphates has increasingly become the development direction of the development and application of phosphate food additives.