Amine detection and process control within potash processing systems

钾肥是一种含有可溶性钾的初级工业产品，在加拿大和国外广泛用作维持农业生产所需的肥料。在Mosaic公司目前的工艺中，钾肥是通过浮选从盐水溶液中选择性去除KCl来回收的，这需要使用处理过的胺分子与KCl结合并使其被去除。另一种胺在成品装运前使用，以避免粉尘污染并改善处理特性。在这两个过程中，在引入之前了解胺含量和状态对于提高效率和最小化从采矿作业中回收钾肥的净环境和经济成本非常重要。通过NSERC资助的Engage项目，Mosaic和Dalhousie大学已经确定了一些潜在的测量方法，这些方法可以解决目前Mosaic对这些胺的监测过程中的局限性，从而更好地控制过程中使用的添加速率和调节程度。这项初步工作还确定了一种处理这些胺的新方法，通过减少库存和减少日常操作中的人工参与，使它们的使用本身更加安全。该项目正在扩大这些初步结果，并打算充分发展测量技术和处理方案，以提高加拿大和国外钾肥业务的监测和效率。

Potash is a primary industrial product containing soluble potassium, and is used extensively within Canada and abroad as fertilizer needed to maintain agricultural production. Within the Mosaic Company's current process, potash is recovered through selective removal of KCl from a brine solution via floatation, which requires the use of a treated amine molecule to bind with the KCl and allow for it to be removed. Another type of amine is used prior to shipment of finished product to avoid dust pollution and improve handling characteristics. In both processes, knowledge of the amine content and state prior to introduction is important to improve efficiency and minimize the net environmental and economic cost of recovering potash from mining operations. Through an NSERC funded Engage program, Mosaic and Dalhousie University have identified a number of potential measurement methods which can address current limitations within Mosaic's monitoring process for these Amines, enabling better control of both the addition rates and degree of conditioning for use within the process. This preliminary work has also identified a new approach to working with these amines which will make their use inherently safer through inventory reduction and reduced manual involvement during routine operation. This project is expanding on these preliminary results, and is intent on fully developing both the measurement techniques and processing options needed to improve monitoring and efficiency in potash operations within Canada and abroad.