Nonfertilizer Uses of Phosphorus

Abstract

Although quite a substantial amount of mined phosphate (P) (about 12 %: see Chap. 4 ) is used for purposes other than fertilization, this issue is not reviewed in detail in this book. Although the variety and intricacy of the nonagricultural applications of P bear witness to the complex and interesting chemistry of this basic element, these applications are not considered in detail here for the following reasons: • • • • These applications constitute a relatively small part of the current use of phosphorus. The forecasts indicate that the amounts used for all these purposes are growing slower than use as fertilizer, which is expected to rise at least in proportion to human population growth, some 50 % in the next 40 years. Prices for the ultrapure phosphates that are used in these applications depend somewhat less upon the price of the raw phosphates; the main production costs are borne by phosphate purifi cation and other operations. For many of these applications, alternative chemo-technical solutions are found. However, for the sake of the curious reader, the most important of the nonfertil- izer uses of phosphorus are mentioned (see also, for example, Valsami-Jones 2004 )