THE

HEMI ERA
IN PHOSPHORIC ACID

JOHN H. WING
VICE PRESIDENT
HITECH SOLUTIONS, INC.
LAKELAND, FLORIDA, USA

Presented at the

American Institute of Chemical Engineers

Clearwater Convention
Clearwater Beach, Florida, USA
June 10, 2006

Contents of this paper Copyright 2006 by John Wing, Professional Engineer

THE

HEMI ERA
IN PHOSPHORIC ACID
JOHN H. WING
Vice President
HiTech Solutions, Inc.
American Institute of Chemicals Engineers
CLEARWATER CONVENTION
June 10, 2006
SUMMARY
This article explains why Hemi (hemihydrate) has become the preferred process for
making phosphoric acid in the 21 st century. The related Hemi-Di process begins like
the Hemi process and adds process steps for extra benefits. The Dihydrate (Di)
process served as the standard of the industry for several decades. Other
phosphoric acid processes including Di-Hemi and a short-cut Hemi-Di have also
found their niche.
The term hemi refers to calcium sulfate hemihydrate. A phosphoric acid plant
produces far more gypsum (calcium sulfate) than phosphoric acid. A dihydrate
process makes the dihydrate form of gypsum, and a hemi plant makes hemihydrate
gypsum - involving higher combination of temperature and concentration. During the
last few decades people have developed ways to enjoy hemis high concentration
advantage without suffering its potential chaos.
HEMI PROCESS
The Hemi (hemihydrate) process produces phosphoric acid directly from filtration at
typically 40-43% P 2 0 5 concentration. Most Hemi plants use phosphate rock as
received without drying or grinding. Two entire plant sections are usually rendered
unnecessary evaporation to ~42% P 2 0 5 and rock grinding (when using concentrate
or other rock smaller than 2 mm). Cooling water, acid storage, clarification, and
steam distribution systems are reduced to a small fraction of their conventional size.
1

Capital cost for the phosphate complex is roughly 20-25% less than for a dihydratebased complex, which would require rock grinding, evaporation, larger cooling water
and steam distribution systems, and often elaborate acid clarification systems.
Modern Hemi phosphoric acid plants tend to be easier to operate and require less
cleaning than dihydrate plants. One reason is that the reaction takes place in a
stable range of hemihydrate crystals. In contrast, dihydrate plants must (out of
economic necessity) operate near the unstable transition between dihydrate and
hemihydrate.
Hemi
C
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process advantages include:

Minimum capital cost
Energy benefit from needing little or no steam to concentrate acid
Eliminate 26-42% evaporators
Usually eliminate rock grinding
Low cooling water requirement
Moderate phosphate recovery
Added recovery benefit where gypsum water is recirculated
Low sulfuric acid requirement
Easy to run and maintain; tolerant of process upset
Higher analysis fertilizer

HEMI-DI PROCESS
This advanced process begins with a Hemi reactor and filter section, but adds a
transformation reactor and a second filtration. The payoff for the added cost and
complication is extremely high recovery and high quality gypsum.
Hemi-Di advantages include:
C
98-99% recovery
C
Very low sulfuric acid requirement
C
Energy benefit from needing little or no steam to concentrate acid
C
Eliminate 26-42% evaporators
C
Usually eliminate rock grinding
C
Low cooling water requirement
C
Gypsum purity is suitable for making a variety of by-products
C
Higher analysis fertilizer

DIHYDRATE PROCESS
This was the conventional process for most of the 20 th century. Dihydrate plants
have made the phosphoric acid for most of the high analysis phosphate fertilizer that
has ever been produced. This process has a long track record or reliable operation,
but it lacks the energy efficiency and many of the operating advantages of the Hemi
process. Most phosphate rocks must be finely ground before processing. The filter
product phosphoric acid is typically only 25-28% P 2 0 5 , so further concentration is
required before making phosphate fertilizers. Innovations have been used to expand
capacity of some dihydrate plants to more than double their original capacity.
Dihydrate process advantages include:
C
Long track record of experience
C
Predictable performance
C
High capacity relative to equipment size
C
Moderate recovery and sulfuric acid requirement
Disadvantages include:
C
Fine grinding of rock is normally required
C
Acid must be further concentrated to make most phosphate fertilizers.
C
Large cooling water requirement

THE HEMI ERA IN PHOSPHORIC ACID

TABLE OF CONTENTS
PAGE
1

SUMMARY
TABLE OF CONTENTS

THE HEMI PHOSPHORIC ACID PROCESS

HIGH ACID CONCENTRATION
ENERGY ENHANCEMENT
NO EVAPORATION OR STEAM REQD TO MAKE DAP
AVOIDING ROCK GRINDING
PHOSPHATE ROCK CONSUMPTION
LOW H 2 SO 4 CONSUMPTION
OPERATING STABILITY
GYPSUM CRYSTALLIZATION GRAPH
LESS COOLING WATER REQUIRED
SIMPLER ACID STORAGE AND CLARIFICATION
CORROSION
PURER PHOS ACID YIELDS HIGHER
FERTILIZER ANALYSES
PROCESSING IMPURE ROCK

5
5
5
6
7
7
8
9
10
11
11
11
13

THE HEMI-DI PROCESS

15

CASE HISTORIES
BELLEDUNE HEMI CONVERSION
ARCADIAN HEMI CONVERSION
INDO-JORDAN HEMI PLANT
LARGE HEMI-DI CONVERSION
YARA (HYDRO) HEMI & HEMI-DI EXPERIENCE

16
16
17
18
19
20

REFERENCES

22

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

23

14

THE HEMI PHOSPHORIC ACID PROCESS

As in nearly all commercial phosphoric acid plants, phosphate rock reacts with
sulfuric acid to produce phosphoric acid and gypsum crystals. The Hemi process
operates at a high concentration of phosphoric acid, where the gypsum crystals exist
as the hemihydrate form of calcium sulfate (CaSO 4 .H 2 O).
The most widely used Hemi process was developed by Fisons in the 1960's and
later became the Hydro process. The process name was changed from Hydro to
Yara in 2004, but staffing of the licensing division was not changed. Hemi and
Hemi-Di plants have been built using processes by Nissan, OXY, PCS, and others.
The alternative dihydrate process operates at a much lower concentration of
phosphoric acid, where the gypsum crystals exist as the di-hydrate form of calcium
sulfate (CaSO 4 .2H 2 O).
HIGH ACID CONCENTRATION
Hemi and Hemi-Di plants can produce phosphoric acid directly from filtration at
concentrations ranging from 38% to 50% P 2 O 5 , but optimum is usually around 42%.
Most dihydrate phos acid plants make 25-28% P 2 O 5 product.
ENERGY ENHANCEMENT
The source of energy for a typical phosphate chemical complex is sulfuric acid
production. Surplus heat from burning of sulfur is absorbed by steam, which is used
to generate all electric power required by the complex plus an export of power.
Energy efficiency of a phosphate complex is greatly enhanced by use of the Hemi
phosphoric acid process. W hen the final product is DAP, no steam heating is
required to concentrate the phosphoric acid, because the acid as produced is more
than strong enough. A 1,500 T/D P 2 O 5 phosphoric acid plant will save about 2500
T/D in evaporator steam by making filtered acid at ~42% P 2 O 5 , which is strong
enough for DAP feed, compared to dihydrate process acid at 26% P 2 O 5. Over 3
megawatts of electric power is saved by not having to grind most types of rock, and
by having a much smaller acid evaporation section - or perhaps none at all.
This surplus steam would typically be used to generate electric power. Total electric
power production is near 60 megawatts for a 1500 metric T/D P 2 O 5 phosphate
complex - worth roughly $40 million annually (based on 8 cents/kwh). The energy
advantages of the hemihydrate process account for about 16 megawatts of this
5

power - worth roughly $10 million/year - approximately $20/ton of P 2 O 5 . The surplus

electric power could be exported to the power grid for sale, or it could be wheeled
to the owners mine or other nearby facilities.
It is important to note that any utilization of energy from waste heat is
environmentally friendly. This electric power is produced with incremental net results
of no pollution, no solid waste, and no consumption of fuel. No other source of
energy can top this for ecological responsibility - whether it uses coal, oil, gas,
nuclear fuel, wind, or solar energy.
NO EVAPORATION OR STEAM REQUIRED WHEN MAKING DAP
If the only product is DAP, it is not necessary to concentrate phosphoric acid. Thus
no phosphoric acid evaporators would be required, and no steam would be needed
to concentrate the acid. Filter product acid from a Hemi plant is more than adequate
for DAP feed acid.
This was clearly demonstrated at Belledune, Canada, where phos acid evaporators
and process steam boilers were never needed. The Belledune DAP plant diluted
some of the Hemi filter product acid to 38% P 2 O 5 and used that as DAP scrubber
acid. However, in many situations it may not be practical to meet modern
atmospheric emission regulations at the DAP stack when scrubbing fumes with 38%
P 2 O 5 phosphoric acid, because scrubbing efficiency suffers when such a high
concentration of scrubber acid is used.
W here DAP air emission standards are rigorous (as with the US EPA, W orld Bank,
and other modern standards) more efficient DAP scrubbing is required. The
recommended procedure to meet the DAP plant air emission requirement is to use
30-35% P 2 O 5 for scrubbing at the DAP plant. Further scrubbing improvement can
be attained by using Double Mole fume scrubbing (2-stage countercurrent acid
scrubbing) for fumes from the DAP pre-neutralizer and granulator. The 30-35% P 2 O 5
acid for DAP scrubbers would be withdrawn as #2 filtrate from the Hemi filter(s).
Most of the DAP plant feed acid would be provided as #1 filtrate (with or without
clarification) at approximately 42% P 2 O 5 concentration fed directly to the DAP preneutralizer (reactor). Average phosphoric acid feed to the DAP plant would exceed
the 38% P 2 O 5 concentration that is required in many modern DAP plants.
If products such as MAP or TSP are made, some evaporation of phosphoric acid
would be required. However, the Hemi process would still retain the same
concentration and energy efficiency benefits relative to a dihydrate plant.

AVOIDING ROCK GRINDING

The Yara (Hydro) Hemi phosphoric acid process can use rock which is much coarser
than that required for conventional dihydrate processes, so grinding is not required
for most of the worlds phosphate rock sources. Particle size requirement for Yara
Hemi is typically -9 mesh (-2 mm), versus -35 mesh (0.42 mm) for typical dihydrate
processes. The Hemi process can handle damp rock with up to about 15-20%
moisture. Most commercial phosphate rock sources worldwide are suitable in
particle size and moisture content for feeding directly to a Hemi plant without drying
or grinding. This includes coarse concentrate and some screened phosphate rocks.
An important exception is that the pebble rock which makes up a significant (but
decreasing) portion of central Florida phosphate is much too coarse to feed directly
to any phos acid plant. Pebble rock could be ground to -2mm size in relatively low
energy impact, hammer, or roller mills, with closed circuit screening. This pebble
rock is available dripping wet with about 10% moisture, and drying would be quite
expensive. Consequently, the recommended method would be to grind the rock
without drying, followed by wet screening and recycle of damp +2 mm material to the
mill. Such milling requires only a fraction of the power and capital cost that a ball mill
requires. Rod milling of the damp pebble would also be acceptable, but is probably
unnecessarily expensive in capital and power cost.
Dry grinding with a ball mill would be acceptable, but unnecessarily expensive,
because the Hemi process does not require the fine grinding that is inherent with use
of a ball mill. Conventional wet ball milling would not be possible, because wet ball
mill slurry containing about 38% water is too wet for the Hemi plant water balance.
PHOSPHATE ROCK CONSUMPTION
Recovery of P 2 O 5 as measured in the filter cake will be roughly equal for the Hemi
or dihydrate process (varying considerably with type of rock, condition of the plant,
and how hard the plant is pushed for capacity). The Hemi process benefits from less
loss of product elsewhere in the plant, which should help recovery by at least 1%.
This comes from elimination of any losses relating to handling of 26% P 2 O 5 acid, or
from the evaporation facilities that can be eliminated.
There is an added recovery benefit for plants which recirculate gypsum pond water.
Dicalcium phosphate which crystalizes within the gypsum crystals will re-dissolve in
the recirculated pond water. Much of this re-dissolved phosphate is recovered when
the same pond water is used to wash the filter cake. This amount to nearly 2%
recovery benefit. Overall P 2 O 5 recovery in a Hemi plant would thus be about 2.3%
7

better than in a dihydrate plant, based on equal filter cake loss for both plants, as
summarized below:

P 2O 5 Recovery Example, Hemi vs. Dihydrate

HEMI
FILTER RECOVERY
(Based on filter cake)

95%

95%

(3.5% CS loss, 1.5% WS loss,

minor CI loss)

(3.5% CS loss, 1.5% WS loss,

minor CI loss)

-1%

-2%

-2%

+1.75%

+1.75%

+2.2%

96.5%(2.3%better)

94.2%

26% Acid Handling &

Evaporation Losses
Miscellaneous Losses:

DIHYDRATE

(From filter pans or belt grooves,

flash cooler entrainm ent, spills,
leaks, and other acid handling)

Recovery from pond water

wash of filter cake:
(@ 50% recovery)

Re-dissolved dicalcium
phosphate (C.S.):
Water soluble (W .S.) losses:

Overall P2O5 Recovery

LOW H 2 SO 4 CONSUMPTION

Sulfuric acid requirement for a Hemi plant is very low for three reasons:
C

The ratio of free sulfate to P 2 O 5 in a hemi plant is far less than in a dihydrate
plant, reducing sulfuric consumption by 2-2.5% (based on the Yara process).

Less sulfuric acid reacts with aluminum impurities in the phosphate rock,
saving a few tenths of a percent.

Better overall P 2 O 5 recovery, as described in the preceding table (~2.3%)

The combined benefit of these effects is that a Hemi plant will use 5% less sulfuric
acid than the dihydrate plant of equal P 2 0 5 recovery.

OPERATING STABILITY
Either a hemihydrate or dihydrate process can operate stably if the conditions are
clearly in either the hemihydrate or dihydrate zone. The hemi/di transition zone is
illustrated in the calcium sulfate crystallization graph on the following page.
Dihydrate plants must limit reactor concentration in order to keep below a wide
transition zone between hemihydrate and dihydrate. When concentration or
temperature gets a little too high, the gypsum crystals form as a mixture of dihydrate
and hemihydrate crystals. These crystals are small, which reduces filtration rate.
W herever the slurry cools, scale forms inside the reactor, pumps and piping. For
economic reasons dihydrate plants must push slightly into the transition zone, but
good control can minimize problems. If a dihydrate reactor is allowed to get
seriously over optimum temperature or concentration, filtration becomes extremely
slow, and equipment scaling is severe. Crystals in a typical dihydrate plant are a
mixture of some hemihydrate among mostly dihydrate crystals. Nevertheless,
dihydrate plants tend to have far more scale formation in reaction and flash cooling
systems than hemi plants.
Hemi reactors have a major advantage, because they operate in a stable zone, well
above the hemi/di transition zone. Substantial changes in temperature and
concentration can be tolerated without getting into the transition zone. Operating
control is less critical, and the reactor is more forgiving to upset conditions or sudden
changes in rock feed characteristics. This accounts for praise by those that operate
the plants that they are easier to operate, more stable, and more forgiving than
dihydrate plants. There is relatively little scale formation in the reactors and flash
coolers, because of operating in the stable zone, and because there is lower
solubility of calcium sulfate.
The crystallization graph shows a hemi/anhydrite transition above the hemi zone.
In actual practice this transition is so high that it is rarely a problem, except in some
hemi-di plants which push reactor acid concentration to 48-50% P 2 0 5 .
In a Hemi plant conditions in filtration pass thru the Hemihydrate/Dihydrate transition
line. Crossing this transition caused problems for early Hemi plants. However,
technology has been developed which allows this transition to be crossed with
minimal scaling in the filter system. Part of this technology has been use of an antiscalant reagent that greatly slows the conversion of hemihydrate crystals to
dihydrate crystals, thus reducing scaling. Anti-scalant is not always necessary, as
was demonstrated at Belledune, where the anti-scalant system was abandoned.

10

LESS COOLING WATER REQUIRED

There is less need for the huge flow of cooling water normally required by phos acid
evaporator condensers - perhaps none at all. A relatively small flow of cooling water
is required for flash cooler condensers, fume scrubbing, equipment washing, etc.
This water does not need to be as cool as the 33-35 0 C (92-95 0 F) required for 5254% P 2 0 5 evaporators in a dihydrate phos acid plant. W ater at around 38 o C (100 0 F)
will be adequate for scrubber water, equipment wash, etc., and more than adequate
for flash cooler condenser water. The cooling pond and associated pumps and
piping are a fraction the size of comparable equipment in a dihydrate plant.

SIMPLER ACID STORAGE AND CLARIFICATION

Phosphoric acid storage and clarification facilities are reduced to about one third that
required for a dihydrate plant. There will be agitated storage tanks for 42% acid (and
possibly some 30% acid for DAP scrubber feed) . Clarification is not necessary
because the 30% and 42% phosphoric acids have both come from filtration, and
because the high purity of Hemi acid makes further clarification unnecessary.
A dihydrate plant would typically require storage and clarification for 26% and 40%
acid, plus agitated storage (and sometimes clarification) for 52-54% acid.
CORROSION
Hotter conditions in Hemi reactors and filters cause faster corrosion to agitators, filter
metal surfaces, etc. Optimum metals for Hemi service are typically one step up from
metals that would be optimum for dihydrate service. Hemi reactor agitators are
typically in the 904L or Ferallium 255 class, although existing 317L agitators have
lasted fairly well in plants that were retrofitted from di to hemi. Upper agitator shafts
in either hemi or di reactors require rubber coating. Filter pans should normally be
at least 317L, or 904L with highly corrosive acids. Belt filter vacuum boxes are
typically 904L.
For the highly corrosive BuCraa acid at Arcadian, we used expensive alloy G-30 for
new agitators, but several existing Ferallium 255 agitators were left in service. After
several years it appeared that the less expensive Ferallium 255 may have been
more cost effective even in that severely corrosive service.

11

PURER PHOS ACID YIELDS HIGHER FERTILIZER ANALYSES

Phosphoric acid from a hemihydrate process is purer than that from a dihydrate
process, with lower sulfate, aluminum, fluoride, and solids content. DAP, MAP, and
TSP produced from this acid will be about 2 percentage points higher in P 2 O 5 than
that from a dihydrate plant. This facilitates production of on-grade DAP and TSP
from phosphate with high impurity levels. MAP grade can be raised to reduce
shipping cost.
Effect of acid purity on DAP nitrogen content is more difficult to predict, because %N
is affected not only by product purity, but also by efficiency of ammonia absorption.
Calculated DAP grade benefit is over 0.5 percentage points in N, but this assumes
adequate ammonia absorption.
Effect of Hemi acid purity on DAP grade was demonstrated at the Belledune plant,
which was converted to Hemi in 1986. The plant used 67 BPL central Florida rock.
Before the Hemi conversion is was difficult to meet 18-46-0 DAP grade, using settled
40% P 2 0 5 acid. Upon startup of the Hemi process, grade jumped to about 47.5%
P 2 0 5 , and easily exceeded the 18%N requirement, using un-settled 40% acid. A
simple modification was employed to prevent over-formulation of DAP. Coarser filter
cloths were used to add solids to filter product acid, thus adding gypsum as a diluent
to bring DAP grade down to the required 18-46-0 specification.
The Hemi process has four effects which improve purity of ~41% acid, compared
with dihydrate process acid that is evaporated to the same concentration. There will
be less sulfate, aluminum, fluorine, and solids, as described:
SULFATE
The Hemi process operates with around 2% free sulfate in 41% P 2 0 5
acid. Sulfate concentration will be much less than in acid from a
dihydrate process, which typically has 2.5% sulfate in 26% P 2 0 5 - equal
to 3.9% sulfate when evaporated to 41% P 2 0 5 .

ALUMINUM
Hemi reaction conditions and solubility situation cause more aluminum
to be insoluble and be discharged with the gypsum. Therefore, there
is significantly less aluminum in the acid. This effect varies with feed
source. Tests can provide quantitative information for any rock source.

12

FLUORIDE
Hemi reaction/solubility conditions cause more fluoride to be
discharged with the gypsum. Also, more fluoride evolves as a gas from
the reaction section. Therefore, there is significantly less fluoride in
Hemi filter product versus dihydrate acid which is concentrated to the
same 41% P 2 0 5 .
SOLIDS
Hemi filter product typically contains less than 1% solids at 41% P 2 0 5 .
Dihydrate acid often contains much more solids, although additional
clarification can compensate.
Effects of Hemi acid on DAP grade can be calculated for any specific situation. The
figures below represent a typical central Florida phosphate plant.
DAP GRADE EFFECT FROM HEMI IN A TYPICAL PLANT
Component
SO 4
Al20 3 0.8
F
Solids

% in 41% Acid
HEM I
DI
Diff.
2.0
1.5
1.2
1.0

TOTAL EFFECT:

3.9
-0.7
2.0
3.0**

Ratio vs. P205

HEM I
DI
Diff.

-1.9
0.020
-0.8
-2.0

0.049
0.037
0.029
0.024

-5.4

0.096 -0.047
-0.017
+0.38
0.049 -0.020
0.073 -0.049
-0.133

Effect on DAP % P205

Calculated Expected
+1.04

+1.0
+0.3

+0.43
+1.09

Nil *
+1.0

+2.94%

+2.3% P 20 5

* The lower %F in 41% hem i acid would provide a different benefit versus dihydrate with a dual-acidstrength DAP process, where the dihydrate acid involved would be a com bination of 26% and 54%
P 20 5 acids.
** Dihydrate % solids is based on 1.9% solids in 26% P 20 5 and no settling of 41% P 20 5 acid.
Sim ilar calculations predict a potential of 0.9% N increase, although in actual practice, am m oniation
absorption is likely to be lim ited to less than this, and am m oniation would be controlled to lim it %N
to that which is required.

The amount of DAP grade boost may be more than a single-plant operation needs.
This can be an added benefit for a large complex where one plant is Hemi, and other
plants are dihydrate plants. The Hemi acid would be blended with dihydrate acid to
provide a more moderate increase in grade of all of the DAP, TSP, MAP, or other
products.

13

PROCESSING IMPURE ROCK

There is increasing evidence that the Hemi process performs well with some types
of phosphate rock that are impractical to process with conventional dihydrate
processes. This includes rock with very low P 2 0 5 concentrations and unusually high
levels of iron, aluminum, and magnesium impurities. Such rock is either left in the
ground, blended with higher grade rock, or processed for further purification. Ability
to process such rock could lead to breakthroughs in utilizing phosphate reserves in
places like South Florida.

14

THE HEMI-DI PROCESS

A variant of the Hemi process is the Hemi-Di process, which employs a second
transformation reactor, followed by a second filtration. The Hemi-Di process
minimizes raw material costs, produces cleaner gypsum, has cleaner cooling pond
water, can accept more cake wash water, and allows product acid concentrations
from 42 to 50% P 2 0 5 .
The transformation reactor provides conditions wherein hemihydrate crystals
dissolve while dihydrate crystals are forming. This allows most of the phosphate that
had been trapped within the hemi crystals to dissolve in the acid solution. These
dihydrate crystals are then washed with water, providing extremely high P 2 0 5
recovery of 98-99%.
Many gypsum utilization process require high purity gypsum, which can be produced
from a Hemi-Di or Di-Hemi process.
A Hemi-Di process provides an opportunity to recover sulfuric and phosphoric acid
by recycling weak solutions, such as raffinate from a phosphoric acid purification
process or from spent scrubber acid.
Uranium recovery from phosphoric acid can be greatly enhanced with a Hemi-Di
process. This occurs because a high uranium-to-P 2 0 5 ratio occurs in a certain weak
acid filtrate stream with the Hemi-Di process.

15

CASE HISTORIES
Four Hemi or Hemi-Di phosphoric acid engineering projects with which the writer
was involved are described here. These include:
C

Engineering for two conversions of existing dihydrate plants to the Hydro Hemi
process.

Consulting as owners engineers for a new Hemi phosphoric acid plant for
Indo-Jordan.

Basic engineering for conversion of a very large dihydrate phos acid plant to
the Yara Hemi-Di process.

A major justification for all four projects was elimination of all of the steam and
processing for concentrating phos acid from about 26% to 42% P 2 0 5 . This was
accompanied by corresponding reduction of cooling water requirement and
elimination of any need to handle 26% P 2 0 5 acid. The Hemi plants made effective
use of the purity benefits of Hemi acid. The Hemi-Di plant was designed to produce
high purity gypsum for further processing.
BELLEDUNE HEMI CONVERSION
The Belledune Hemi conversion proceeded very smoothly and provided what the
client described as one sweet plant to run. It was running at capacity only 19 days
after start-up. Rate increased to 110% of design a few days later. All guaranteed
performance criteria were exceeded. The plant became what some people believe
to be the worlds easiest running phosphoric acid plant. The plant superintendent
observed that Hemi could tolerate upsets like raw material changes far better that
the previous dihydrate process.
Product acid was used to make DAP without the expensive concentration step. The
old concentrators were abandoned, all process steam requirement was eliminated.
Hemi operation resulted in almost none of the serious reactor and flash cooler
scaling that had affected the dihydrate plant. Purity of acid directly from filtration
(without any clarification) was so good that DAP grade immediately jumped to about
18.4-47.5-0 far above the required 18-46-0 analysis. To limit DAP grade, acid
solids content was raised by using very coarse filter cloths.

16

ARCADIAN HEMI CONVERSION

The Arcadian Hemi conversion started even faster than Belledune only 2 days.
Its P 2 0 5 recovery of 96% is the worlds best for a Hemi plant. Within a month the
plant was operating well above design capacity, and all performance criteria were
so good that the client accepted the plant without the usual guarantee test run.
The Hemi process enabled Arcadian to abandon its expensive rock grinding
operation and to reduce steam use for acid concentration by 70%. Maintenance
cost was substantially less than with the old dihydrate operation. Product acid is
used to make food grade phosphoric acid and premium quality liquid fertilizers.
Raffinate from a food grade acid purification plant and spent scrubber acid from a
superphosphoric acid plant were consumed in the transformation section - providing
recovery of most of the phosphoric and sulfuric acid in those streams.
HEMI CONVERSIONS - BELLEDUNE & ARCADIAN
Plant Location

Belledune Fertilizer Ltd

New Brunsw ick, Canada

Arcadian Fertilizer (now PCS)

Geismar, Louisiana, USA

Phosphate Rock

Central Florida (original)

M orocco (later operation)

BuCraa
(w estern M orocco)

Reactor

Prayon - 9 compartments

Prayon - 9 compartments

Bird Prayon 24C

Bird Prayon 24C

Conversion Process

Hydro (now Yara) HH Hem i

Hydro (now Yara) HH Hemi

Capacity, STPD P 2O 5:
Before Conversion
Design
Actual Sustained
Peak

500
550
600+
700

540
720
800+
900

93% / 95%

95.5% / 96%

Sept., 1986
19 days

Sept. 1990
2 days

Filter

P 2O 5 Recovery (filter cake):

Guaranteed / Actual
Startup Date
Time to 100% Capacity
Comments

Very little scale accumulation in

reactor or flash cooler.
No evaporation or clarification
required to make DAP.
Client: One sw eet plant to run.

17

Extremely easy start-up.

Consumes raffinate and scrubber acid form other plants.
Product makes food grade acid
& premium liquid fertilizers.

INDO-JORDAN HEMI PLANT

The Indo-Jordan phosphate chemical complex at Eshidiya, Jordan produces 54-56%
P 2 0 5 phosphoric acid for shipment to India DAP plants. The Hydro (Yara) Hemi
phosphoric acid plant uses a variety of phosphate rocks from the adjacent JPMC
Eshidiya mine. It was designed to use a combination of damp concentrate,
screened dry rock, and rock dust. Phosphoric acid is concentrated from about 43%
to 56% P 2 O 5 . The purity benefit of hemi acid enables the plant to produce 56% P 2 O 5
at the same boiling point as with conventional 54% P 2 O 5 acid. This saves much
freight cost when shipping the acid to India.
The hemi gypsum is conveyed directly from the filters to an advanced design dry
stacking system. Crucial know-how was provided by JPMC (one of IJCs owners)
to enable the conveying and stacking system to operate reliably.
The plant easily exceeds its design capacity of 700 t/d P 2O 5, and has operated
profitably every year since start-up. IJC now successfully uses a substantial portion
of sub-commercial rock that had been considered to be of no practical value.
INDO-JORDAN - NEW HEMI PLANT
Plant
Phosphate Rock

Indo-Jordan Chem icals Co. (IJC), Eshidiya, Jordan

Eshidiya, Jordan - various grades

Reactor
Filters

Hydro - 3 cylindrical tanks

2 @ 85 m 2 Eimco Belt Filters

Process
Capacity (M TPD P 2O 5):
Design
Actual Sustained
Peak

Hydro (now Yara) HH Hem i

700
870 (limited by sulfuric acid supply)
900+

P 2O 5 Recovery (filter cake)

94.2%

Start-up
Comments

1997
Designed for damp concentrate, screened rock, and rock dust.
Now also consum es much sub-com mercial rock.
Remote desert location.
Dry gypsum stacking.

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LARGE HEMI-DI CONVERSION

The client needed to modify an existing dihydrate phosphoric acid plant to produce
high quality gypsum, suitable for further commercial processing. Several process
were available that could meet the gypsum quality criteria. The Hydro/Yara Hemi-Di
process was selected because it provides:
Extremely high P 2 O 5 recovery (~98.5%)
Energy & processing benefits of making 42% P 2 O 5 acid directly from filtration
Avoids the major expense of grinding the phosphate concentrates
Proven track record in several plants worldwide
Excellent technical support - licensing, engineering, and follow-up
W e performed the basic engineering to convert the plant to the Yara HDH Hemi-Di
process. Others have done the detailed design and much of the construction.
Unfortunately, the plant was sold, and this attractive conversion project is on hold.
LARGE HEMI-DI CONVERSION
Plant

Not disclosed

Phosphate Rock

Jordan, Yunnan, Egypt

Reactor

Jacobs Dihydrate

Filters

Delkor Belt Filters

Process

Yara (formerly Hydro) HDH Hemi-Di

Design Capacity

large

P 2O 5 Recovery (filter cake):

Guaranteed / Expected

98% / 98.5%

Startup

Partly completed, but on hold since 2005

Comments

Gypsum would be suitable to be utilized.

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YARA (HYDRO) HEMI & HEMI-DI PROCESS EXPERIENCE

The Hydro or Yara Hemi process has been chosen since 1970 for twelve Hemi
plants and eleven Hemi-Di plants which have been built, converted, or are underway
worldwide. The process name was changed from Hydro to Yara in 2004, but staffing
of the licensing division was not changed. The plants are listed in the following two
tables.

YARA (HYDRO) HEMI PLANTS

CLIENT

Location

Design
t/d P2O5

Windmill **

Holland

HCI

Actual
mt/d P2O5

Year

ROCK

200

1970

C.Fla., Togo, Moroc.

Cyprus

130

1982

Algeria, Jordan, Togo

Windmill **

Holland

330

1983

C.Fla., Togo, Moroc.

Royster

Fla., USA

590

650

1985

C. Fla. Spiral conc.

Belledune

Canada

500

600

1986

C. Florida

Arcadian (PCS)*

La., USA

655

800

1990

BuCraa

Saranya*

Brazil

480

580

1994

Brazil

Indo-Jordan*

Jordan

700

870

1997

Eshidiya Jordan

Western Mining*

Australia

1500

1650

1999

Queensland

Maaden

Saudi
Arabia

3@
1460

Bidding

2009

Al Jalamid, Saudi

* Operating
** Two Windmill Hemi plants were converted into one Hemi-Di plant in 1991.
Royster, Belledune, and Arcadian were converted from Prayon dihydrate plants.

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YARA (HYDRO) HEMI-DI PLANTS

CLIENT

LOCATION m t/d

YEAR

ROCK

P2 O5
RMKH Trepka

Yugoslavia

160

1974

Jordan

Albright & Wilson

England

500

1980

Morocco

CSBP

Australia

500

1981

C. Florida

Pivot

Australia

100

1981

C. Florida

Supra***

Sweden

360

1986

C. Fla, Morocco, Togo

Chinhae

South Korea

250

1990

C. Florida, China

Hydro-Agri **

Holland

620

1991

C. Florida, Morocco

Hong He Zhou*

China

210

1993

Jian Chuan China

NFC*

Thailand

700

1997

Jordan, Morocco

Sterlite* ***

India

420

1999

Jordan

Not disclosed****

Large

Holding
since 2005

Yunnan, Egypt,
Jordan

* Operating
** Two Windmill Hemi plants were converted into one Hemi-Di plant in 1991.
*** Much of the Supra plant equipment was relocated to Sterlite in India.
**** Conversion from dihydrate
Additional information on the Hemi and Hemi-Di processes and operating experience
at several of the referenced plants can be found in references cited at the end of this
article, including previous papers which the author presented at Clearwater in 1991,
1995, and 1999.

Contents of this paper Copyright 2006 by John Wing, Professional Engineer

C:\Documents and Settings\John Wing\My Documents\HiTech\Articles\CW06-HemiEra-15Ap.wpd - 14Ap06

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REFERENCES
Pierre Becker, Phosphates & Phosphoric Acid, 2nd Ed., Marcel Dekker Inc., NYC, 1989.
BuShea, et al., Application of BSF Technologies CTC3 to a Phosphate Fertilizer
Complex, AIChE Spring National Convention, Orlando FL, March 90 and AIChE
Clearwater Convention, May 90.
J. David Crerar & Barry T. Crozier, Practical Retrofitting to the Hemihydrate Process and
Plant Performance Data, AIChE Meeting, Lakeland FL, Mar. 87.
B.T. Crozier, Fisons Hemihydrate Process - A Decade of Energy Savings, The Fertilizer
Institute Round Table, Atlanta, Oct.82.
John Gobbitt, Hemihydrate Phosphoric Acid Plant Retrofits at Geismar and Chinhae,
AIChE Clearwater Convention, May, 90.
G.W. Hartman & L.J. Friedman, The Royster Power Program - Start-up and Initial
Operating Experience AIChE Convention, New Orleans LA, April,86.
John H. Wing, From Phosphate Rock to DAP at Lower Cost, AIChE Clearwater
Convention, May,99.
John H. Wing, The Case for Converting Phos Acid Plants to Hemi, AIChE Clearwater
Convention, May,95.
John H. Wing, et al, Hemi or Hemi-Di - Our Future, AIChE Spring National Meeting, New
Orleans LA, April,92.
John H. Wing, et al, Hemi or Hemi-Di? - Arcadian Converts Phos Acid Plant from
Dihydrate to Hemi, AIChE Clearwater Convention, May,91.
John H. Wing, Hemihydrate Phosphoric Acid Plant Conversion at Belledune, Canada,
AIChE Meeting, Lakeland FL, Oct.,87.
John H. Wing, Florida Phosphate Technology - 2000", AIChE Clearwater Conv.,May,89.
Anonymous, HiTech Solutions, Inc. - Contractor Profile. Phosphorus & Potassium
magazine, Jan.-Feb. 93, page 26.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

John H. Wing - Vice President of HiTech Solutions, Inc. - has a Bachelor of
Chemical Engineering degree with Honors from the University of Florida and
a Master of Engineering in Administration from University of South Florida.
He has served the phosphate industry for over three decades in process
design, consulting, project management, technical service, process
development, and production supervision.
He has designed modifications and expansions of several phosphoric acid,
DAP, MAP, & TSP plants. He performed the process design for fluosilicic acid
recovery systems at Conserv in Florida, Sterlite and Hindalco in India, and IJC
in Jordan. He provided conceptual design for six phosphoric acid evaporators
and several dozen fume scrubbers.
For Hemi plants he performed the process design for the Belledune and
Arcadian Hemi conversions and for a large Hemi-Di conversion. He was
project manager for the Arcadian Hemi conversion, and consulted as owners
engineer for the Indo-Jordan Chemical Co. Hemi plant in Jordan.
He has written technical papers on:
Hemi and Hemi-Di processes (6 papers)
The future of the phosphate industry
Phosphoric acid evaporation
Cooling pond systems
Can a Little Altruism Enhance an Engineers Career Satisfaction?
Article segments for Phosphorus & Potassium magazine
(now Fertilizer International)
He is a registered Professional Engineer, Fellow of AIChE, and past Chairman
of the Central Florida AIChE Section.
#
HiTech Solutions Inc., 2086 E. Edgewood Dr, Lakeland Florida 33803, USA
Phone: 1-863-669-1327; Fax: 1-863-669-1328; Residence: 1-863-666-6555
Email: jwing@hts-fl.com ; johnwingpe@earthlink.net ; Web: www.hts-fl.com

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