Phosphate

In the present study, the recovery of rare earth elements (REE) from an apatite concentrate in the nitrophosphate process of fertilizer production has been studied. The apatite concentrate has been recovered from iron ore tailings in Sweden by flotation and was delivered by LKAB. Digestion of the phosphate mineral in concentrated nitric acid, is the first step in the nitrophosphate process after which Ca(NO 3) 2 .4H 2 O is separated from the nitrophosphate (NP) solution by cooling crystallization. Neutralization the NP solution with ammonia is the final step where the REEs can be separated. The solubility of calcium nitrate tetrahydrate (CNTH) in acidic nitrophosphate solutions in the temperature range-2°C to 20°C has been determined. Further, the degree of rare earth coprecipitation during seeded cooling crystallization of CNTH has been studied. It was shown that the calcium elimination and the final pH in the partial neutralization step, play an important role in determining the content of REE in the precipitates.

Introduction: In October 2015, the Cluster of Excellence Image Knowledge Gestaltung. An Interdisciplinary Laboratory at Humboldt Universität zu Berlin staged a symposium entitled Science meets Comics. Academics from various disciplines converged along with artists from all over the world in order to discuss the future of global nutrition – and the medium of the comic strip as a communication tool for the complex issues in this  field. The open two-day symposium was followed by a closed, three-day workshop wherein the artists and cluster members took up the issues raised at the symposium and worked on possible directions for the future.
How did this somewhat unusual meeting come about? To answer this question, we must look back to 2013 and the inception of the cluster. The Cluster of Excellence assembled 25 different research disciplines from the areas of Gestaltung and science – natural, cultural, and social as well as the humanities. This combination of disciplines allows relationships to germinate that would unfold in new perspectives on the objects and processes of our times. The laboratory created a forum for academic work that previous rigid disciplinary limits and institutional barriers had precluded; until then, universities were, for the most part, organised in disciplinary departments and faculties. The aim of the cluster was, and is, to discover possible synergies through new collaborative methods and interlinked interdisciplinary (i.e. not simply multidisciplinary) research approaches; it aims to unearth their potential and consolidate knowledge gains with the help of the subjects more readily associated with Gestaltung.
One of the cluster base projects, The Anthropocene Kitchen: A laboratory connecting home and world, was part of the Interdisciplinary Laboratory. We (the editors, together with other project scientists) investigated the kitchen as an in influential locus for the exchange of energy in the 'Anthropocene' age – our current geological era, the era of humankind. Our focus was the kitchen as one of the most energy- and resource-intensive loci, the terminal of a global production chain and logistics systems, through whose daily practices – native or general – the Anthropocene takes shape. Two levels of observation and measurement were involved and interlinked: on the one hand, the cultural level of preparing and eating food; on the other, the level of natural science, where resources, energy, and material  ows are itemised on the balance sheet. The overriding aim was to highlight the fact that the Gestaltung of everyday life itself requires the contemporisation of global chains of effect which involve individual actions and a consideration of outsourcing practices that have persisted until now. The topic of food, which a ects everyone in equal measure, is a perfect candidate in this endeavour.
Ten experts from the  fields of geology, biology, geo-ecology, architecture, design, and geo-informatics worked on the base project, concentrating on themes that had augmented over the years and setting out to  find solutions for the future of the global food supply. A conscious decision was taken to select diverse forms of publication.
Our group, with a focus on global resource  ows and a working title of 'Welt' (world), decided to take the comic as a communicative medium of Gestaltung. The possibilities it provided for combining word and image gave us the necessary means to represent complex contexts in a visual and appealing way, without having to simplify things. The use of narrative and personalisation can moreover convey factual information along diverse channels of perception. The embedding of facts within a narrative seems more than necessary, particularly at a time frequently described as 'post-factual'. This interlacing is especially evident in the cultural and artistic diversity of the comic which was implemented by 12 international graphic artists. A further emotional level of meaning transpired through this project, which could not have been carried by words alone.
However, the production of a factual comic strip has one more objective, as yet too seldom countenanced: In order to make social dynamics and processes apprehensible and researchable in a societal context, one needs to remove the distinction between 'producing scientific knowledge' and the 'communication of science'. These two areas are particularly closely linked in the  field of food and nutrition by acquired know-how, itself strongly influenced by culture. The narrative of each chapter was developed from interviews with people from ten different countries on the subjects of food habits and eating cultures. We took this dialogue-driven 'co-design' as a basis for generating the subsequent scientific research need. We did not attempt to formulate hypotheses in advance, in order to then seek empirical backing through interviews; instead, we let our research be directed by the protagonists' answers. Consequently, some unexpected re-combinations, linkages, and new evaluations in our scientific work arose out of that process.
In order to attain the necessary transdisciplinarity, particularly the involvement of society and thus the fusion of knowledge generation and transfer, we deliberately kept the development of the storyboard relatively open, having  first defined a few conditions to the structural framework. This required the theme of nutrition be discussed and tested against potential and possibly expandable options for the future, focusing on three main elements: 1) materials  ows (local, regional, and global), 2) infrastructures (transport routes, markets, the home, and especially, the kitchen), and 3) the greatest possible diversity of cultural contexts. This was presented by means of a 'journey' through various countries. We did not address the three elements in a standard progression but adapted them to the storyboard as drafted together with the protagonists. This was because many aspects crystallised only after an intensive exchange of ideas.
The main part of the comic provide an outline – one might also say an exemplary mapping of the food behaviours in today's Anthropocene era – and thus of the cultural preferences of the protagonists and the resulting outcomes for local, regional and global environments, and the entire earth system. The last chapter on the future of global nutrition was, as mentioned above, undertaken by all the artists involved in the book at the workshop (read more about the content of the book in the epilogue on page 111-117).
This much on the background. Now, to return to the symposium, which the present volume seeks to document. The  first day of the symposium was dedicated to comics studies. Following the welcome speech by Reinhold Leinfelder, Principal Investigator for the project, comics studies scholar Jaqueline Berndt, back then still at Kyoto Seika University, surveyed science manga with a special focus on nutrition and food safety after the Triple Disaster of Fukushima on 11 March 2011. Nick Sousanis, assistant professor of the School of Humanities and Liberal Studies at San Francisco State University, US, who published his doctoral thesis entirely in comics, spoke about the educational potential inherent in the interweaving of image and text. Science journalist Lukas Plank from Vienna invited people to discuss whether scienti c cartoon strips should be subjected to rules and guidelines in order to make sources and facts more transparent. Stephan Packard, a researcher into media culture at Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg and President of the German Society for Comics Studies (ComFor), developed this theme further by asking "How factual are factual comics?". This was followed by a presentation by illustrator Veronika Mischitz and Henning Krause, of the Helmholtz Society's science communication department, of excerpts of their monthly web cartoon strip Klar soweit? (Savvy?). Finally, Reinhold Leinfelder explained the background for the Eating Anthropocene comic as a format for intercultural, cross-discipline, and participative communication.
The second day was dedicated to the subject of nutrition. It was introduced by Arnold van Huis, Emeritus Professor at Wageningen University, Netherlands, a leading expert on insects as animal feed and human food. He expounded the potential of insects as an alternative source of animal protein, both for human consumption and for feeding animals. Cultural scientist Katerina Teaiwa of the Australian National University in Canberra joined the symposium by Skype and talked about the environmental effects of phosphate mining on Banaba, a tiny island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. She also discussed the social and political effects of mining on the population of Banaba in order to provide for rich harvests in the agricultural  fields of Australia and New Zealand. Anne-Kathrin Kuhlemann, Managing Partner of BE Solutions & Blue Systems Design GmbH, spoke about the economic chances of sustainable and modern cycles of food production speci cally in urban settings, citing as an example TopFarmers in Berlin.
The agricultural and nutritional scientist Toni Meier of the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Germany, provided the audience with a lot of theoretical and practical input at the 'Lunchtalk' with reference to the environmental footprint of various foods and diets. This was accompanied by a chickpea stew – a dish with a very tiny ecological footprint. As dessert we served a bee sting cake with drone larvae, made to a recipe featured in the comic.
This volume of symposium proceedings contains contributions from all the participants in a variety of formats including essays, lectures, comics, and an interview. We hope that this blend will foster the promising cooperation between science and the humanities by using the medium comic.
Reinhold Leinfelder, Alexandra Hamann, Jens Kirstein, Marc Schleunitz, Theresa Habermann

In the phosphoric acid production process, the time a particle spends inside the chemical reactor (residence time) is of paramount importance to process engineers. Residence time distribution (RTD) gives information  on the efficiency of the chemical reactor, on the efficiency of the process, and also the availabilities of the reactive volume for the reaction (active volume vs. dead volume). Traditionally, chemical engineers used chemical tracer to determine the RTD. However, first disadvantage is that the chemical tracer could not allow an online diagnosis: the samples containing chemical tracer have to go to a lab for analysis, second disadvantage is that the chemical tracer is less sensitive than radioactive ones because of its adsorption onto strata or its retention in rocks. Consequently, chemical tracer results are not always precise and cannot convincingly explain the multiple flow-path model. Radioactive tracers are the only tracers capable of measuring the active RTD with high degree of precision and give information on the internal recirculation rate. In this work, we will describe the application of radiotracer method for RTD measurement in the phosphoric acid production process and give results and discussion of each case encountered.

The Applied Anthropology Laboratories (AAL) of Ball State University conducted an archaeological reconnaissance and reinvestigation project for archaeological materials in Dearborn County, Indiana, for an FY2013 Historic Preservation Fund Grant (Grant 13FFY03). The focus of this Historic Preservation Fund Grant project was three-fold. First, this research targeted Dearborn County, Indiana, specifically focusing on Late Prehistoric period (cf. Fort Ancient) settlement and community organization patterns. AAL targeted previously identified Late Woodland and Late Prehistoric archaeological sites for pedestrian survey, soil phosphate, and geophysical investigations. Second, AAL attempted to identify new archaeological sites through pedestrian survey of agricultural fields in the county. Third, AAL attempted to reinvestigate five archaeological sites (12D200 and 12D272 in Township and 12D202, 12D203, and 12D205 in Township) for the purpose of data correction and enhancement.
Approximately 345.67 acres (139.89 ha) of agricultural land underwent pedestrian survey, encountering 50 archaeological sites (5 reinvestigated sites, and 45 newly defined sites) and 12,363 artifacts. Sites 12D45, 12D396, and 12D480 were subjected to soils (chemical and geophysical) analysis (24.5 acres, 9.91 ha) revealing new details of community organization. The project recovered 12,297 prehistoric artifacts and 66 historic artifacts from the ten survey areas that underwent pedestrian survey. Multiple cultural periods are represented in the artifact assemblage recovered from pedestrian surveys, including diagnostics of the Middle Archaic, Middle Woodland, Late Woodland, and Late Prehistoric. Multiple cultural periods are represented in landowner collections obtained for this project as well. These include the Early Archaic, Middle Archaic, Late Archaic, Terminal Archaic, Early Woodland, Middle Woodland, Late Woodland, and Late Prehistoric. Artifact assemblages from pedestrian survey and landowner collections both contain historic artifacts. Overall, the average site density recorded for the project is one archaeological site per 7.18 acres (0.14 sites/acre). Excluding SA2, this overall site density becomes one archaeological site per 8.60 acres. Density for survey areas within the Uplands is one archaeological site per 31.54 acres. Density for survey areas within the lowlands is one archaeological site per 1.84 acres. The average artifact density for this project is one artifact per 0.03 acres (34.42 artifacts/acre). When excluding SA2, this average artifact density is one artifact per 1.33 acres (0.75 artifacts/acre).
Of all the sites from this project, a total of nine are recommended as potentially eligible for Indiana Register of Historic Sites and Structures (IRHSS) and the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP)

The enrichment of the low-grade-phosphate ore of the Tozeur-Nefta deposit was investigated using scrubbing-attrition, ball grinding and anionic/cationic reverse flotation in order to separate phosphate-rich particles from their gangue. The choice of the beneficiation process was based on the petrographic, mineralogical and chemical analyses. The petrographic and mineralogical studies have revealed the abundance of phosphatic (carbonate-fluorapatite-CFA) particles) coupled with carbonates (calcite, dolomite,) and silicates (quartz, illite, kaolonite) that constitute the (endo/exo) gangue of these ores. Chemical analysis has demonstrated that the raw phosphate sample contains low amounts of P 2 O 5 (12.0%) and MgO (4.9%) and high amounts of CaO (40.7%) and SiO 2 (20.5%). Microscopic observation/counting has shown that the release mesh occurs in the 71-315 µm size. Scrubbing-attrition, grinding and reverse flotation methods were applied to the +71µm fraction. Scrubbing-attrition tests of the 71-315 µm fraction have helped to improve the P 2 O 5 grade to 15.5%. Ball-grinding tests were used to reduce the coarse fraction +315 µm. Grounded materials were sieved to 71-315 µm and combined with the scrubbed fraction in the flotation feed. Reverse-flotation tests of the phosphate-rich fraction (71-315 µm) have helped to improve the P 2 O 5 grade to 27.1%, with a recovery rate of 92.4%.

This article seeks to evidence the social, environmental and political repercussions of phosphate extraction and transformation on two peripheral Tunisian cities (Gabes and Gafsa). After positing the difference between class environmentalism and political ecology, it addresses the harmful effects of phosphate transformation on the world's last coastal oasis and on various cities of the Gulf of Gabes. It then sheds light on the gross social, environmental and health inequalities brought about by phosphate extraction in the mining region of Gafsa. The confiscatory practices of the phosphate industry are subsequently linked with global production and distribution chains at the international level as well as with centralized and authoritarian forms of government at the national and local level. Dispossessed local communities have few alternatives other than violent protest movements and emigration towards urban centers of wealth. Using the recent experience in self-government in the Jemna palm grove, the article ends with a reflection on the possible forms of subaltern resistance to transnational extractivism and highlights the ambiguous role of the new "democratic state" as a power structure reproducing patterns of domination and repression inherited from the colonial period and cemented under the dictatorship of Ben Ali.

Cet article s'efforce de mettre en évidence les répercussions sociales, environnementales et politiques de l'industrie d'extraction et de transformation du phosphate sur deux villes de la périphérie tunisienne (Gabès et Gafsa). Après avoir exposé la différence entre l'environnementalisme de classe et l'écologie politique, cet article analyse les effets délétères de la transformation du phosphate sur la dernière oasis littorale du monde ainsi que sur plusieurs villes du Golfe de Gabès. L'article met ensuite en lumière les profondes inégalités en matière sociale, environnementale et de santé causées par l'extraction du phosphate dans le bassin minier de Gafsa. Les pratiques confiscatoires de l'industrie du phosphate sont ensuite mises en relation avec les chaînes globales de production et de distribution au niveau international ainsi qu'avec les formes de gouvernement centralisées et autoritaires au niveau national et local. Les communautés locales dépossédées ont peu d'autres choix les mouvements de protestation violents ou l'exil vers les centres de richesse urbains. À partir de l'expérience d'autogestion de la palmeraie de Jemna, l'article s'achève par une réflexion sur les possibilités de résistance subalterne à l'extractivisme transnational et souligne le rôle ambigu du nouvel « État démocratique » comme structure de pouvoir reproduisant les mécanismes de domination et de répression hérités de l'époque coloniale et consolidés sous la dictature de Ben Ali.

Este artículo pretende evidenciar las repercusiones sociales, ambientales y políticas de la industria de extración y transformación del fosfato para dos cuidades tunecinas periféricas (Gabes y Gafsa). Después de plantear la diferencia entre el ambientalismo de clase y la ecología política, este artículo aborda las consecuencias nocivas de la transformación del fosfato sobre la última oasis costera del mundo y sobre varias ciudades del golfo de Gabes. Luego se echa luz sobre las desigualdades sociales, ambientales y en salud que resultan de la extración del fosfato en la cuenca minera de Gafsa. Subsecuentemente se conectan las prácticas confiscatorias de la industria del fosfato con cadenas mundiales de producción y distribución en el ámbito internacional así como también con formas de gobierno centralizadoras y autoritarias en el ámbito nacional y local. Comunidades locales desposeídas tienen muy pocas alternativas aparte de movimientos violentos de protesta o de la inmigración hacia centros urbanos de riqueza. A partir de la experiencia de autogestión en el palmar de Jemna se acaba ese artículo con una refleción sobre las posibilidades de resistancia subalterna contra el extractivismo transnacional y pone de evidencia el papel ambiguo del nuevo "estado democrático" come estructura de poder reproduciendo patrones de dominación y represión heredados del período colonial y consolidados bajo la dictadura de Ben Ali.

To infer the early evolution of mollusc shell microstructures we must know the most
ancient fossil record of molluscs. Fortunately the shells of many early molluscs are preserved via
internal coatings and replacements by apatite that record sub-micrometer structural details that
otherwise would be lost during diagenetic recrystallization. We herein discuss the methodology by
which one can infer original shell microstructure from phosphatized fossils, pointing out the main
problems and solutions in interpreting these traces of original shell crystal morphology. We also
review the information these fossils have provided about the earliest evolution of the mollusc shell.
Our long-term goal is to create a dataset of microstructures in early molluscs, which will be useful
in understanding the incipient evolutionary arms race between molluscs and their predators, and
will help elucidate how the mollusc biomineralization toolkit was built through time.

Abstract
As part of a larger study, the U.S. Geological Survey undertook a study to identify the
potential for phosphate deposits in Afghanistan. As part of this study, a geographic information
system was constructed containing a database of phosphate occurrences in Afghanistan and adjacent
countries, and a database of potential host lithologies compiled from 1:1,000,000 scale maps. Within
Afghanistan, a handful of known occurrences and reports indicate the presence of phosphate in
Permian, Cretaceous, and Paleogene sediments and in carbonatite. With the exception of the
Khanneshin carbonatite, very little is known about these occurrences. In the countries surrounding
Afghanistan, economic phosphate is known to occur in Cambrian, Devonian, and Paleogene
sediments and in Kiruna-type Fe-apatite deposits. Many of the host units may extend into
Afghanistan or equivalent units may be present. Although the possibility of economic phosphate
deposits exist for Afghanistan, the need for detailed exploration for phosphate, the remoteness of
some locations, and the probability that a deposit would not be exposed at the surface mean that one
or more deposits are not likely to be identified in the near future. Even if a phosphate-bearing deposit
is identified in Afghanistan, it is not clear if the probable size, thickness, and grade ranges would
allow economic development of the hypothesized resource.

Abstract The electrochemical properties and phase transformations during (de)insertion of Li+ in LiFePO4, LiFe0.9Mn0.1PO4 and LiFe0.5Mn0.5PO4 are studied by means of galvanostatic cycling, potential intermittent titration technique (PITT) and in situ X-ray powder diffraction. Different modes of switching between the solid solution and two-phase regimes are revealed which are influenced by the Mn content in Li1-xFe1-yMnyPO4. Additionally, an increase in electrochemical capacity with the Mn content is observed at high rates of galvanostatic cycling (10C, 20C), which is in good agreement with the numerically estimated contribution of the solid solution mechanism determined from \{PITT\} data. The observed asymmetric behavior of the phase transformations in Li1-xFe0.5Mn0.5PO4 during charge and discharge is discussed. For the first time, the crystal structures of electrochemically deintercalated Li1-xFe0.5Mn0.5PO4 with different Li content – LiFe0.5Mn0.5PO4, Li0.5Fe0.5Mn0.5PO4 and Li0.1Fe0.5Mn0.5PO4 – are refined, including the occupancy factors of the Li position. This refinement is done using electron diffraction tomography data. The crystallographic analyses of Li1-xFe0.5Mn0.5PO4 reveal that at x = 0.5 and 0.9 the structure retains the Pnma symmetry and the main motif of the pristine x = 0 structure without noticeable short range order effects.

Der Beitrag stellt die Resultate eines interdisziplinären Forschungsprojektes mittels moderner Technologien vor, das
sich auf archäometrische Untersuchungen an vorgeschichtlicher und mittelalterlicher Keramik sowie auf chemische Bodenanalysen im Bereich des abgegangenen mittelalterlichen Dorfes Sloupek (Kr. Rokycany) konzentrierte. Die dort vorgenommenen Phosphatanalysen führten zur Feststellung der jeweiligen Nutzungsweise der Räume innerhalb verschiedener Gebäude und zur Interpretation der Auflassungsprozesse des Dorfes. Archäometrische Analysen von Siedlungskeramik der Urnenfelderzeit und des mittelalters aus České Budějovice führten zu Erkenntnissen über die Struktur der Keramik und deren Produktionsweise. Die gewonnenen Ergebnisse weisen sowohl auf lokale als auch regionale Herstellung der zeitlich weit auseinander liegenden Keramik hin.

The Applied Archaeology Laboratories (AAL) of Ball State University conducted an archaeological reconnaissance project for archaeological materials in Hamilton County, Indiana, for an FY2012 Historic Preservation Fund Grant (Grant #18-12-41921-4). This Historic Preservation Fund grant project investigated the archaeological resources of Hamilton County, Indiana. This specific project focused on the White River and its associated tributaries, as well as the southern half of the county. Approximately 565 acres (228.55 ha) of agricultural land underwent pedestrian survey, uncovering 230 new archaeological sites and 1625 artifacts. Over 157 acres (63.54 ha) underwent soil phosphate survey, revealing multiple possible prehistoric agricultural fields or gardens. The project recovered 1154 prehistoric artifacts and 471 historic artifacts from 9 different parcels of land within Hamilton County. Multiple cultural periods are represented in the artifact assemblage, including diagnostics of the Early Archaic, Middle Archaic, Late Archaic, Middle Woodland, Late Woodland, and Historic periods. The average site density recorded for the project was one archaeological site per 2.46 acres (0.41 sites/acre). The average artifact density was one artifact per 0.34 acres (2.9 artifacts/acre).
A total of 13 sites are recommended as potentially eligible for Indiana Register of Historic Sites and Structures or the National Register of Historic Places

This study was carried out to determine the levels of nitrate, nitrite and phosphorus in homemade brews, spirits and the raw materials used using the UV-Visible spectroscopy. Nitrate and nitrite were analyzed using a SHADZU (Model No. UV-2550), phosphate was analyzed using and a Philips, Scientific equipment, UP-8700 Series UV-Visible spectrophotometer, measurements were based on ISO Method (N0.6635). This was done by reducing the nitrate to nitrite in the presence of Zn/NaCl. Nitrite produced was subsequently diazotized with sulphonilic acid then coupled with anthranilate to form an azo dye which was then measured at 493 nm. Orthophosphate and molybdate ions condense in acidic solution to form molybophosphoric acid (phosphomolybdic acid). Upon selective reduction with hydrazinium sulphate, a blue color is produced due to molybdenum blue of uncertain composition. The intensity of the blue colour is proportional to the amount of the heteropoly acid at 830 nm. One hundred and thirty t...