Solubilization of Bayóvar Natural Phosphate Rock under the Drain Effect of Calcium and Phosphorus at Two Levels of Acidity

Abstract

Natural phosphate rock (NP) solubilization in soils is dependent on the soil pH and its power to remove or drain (sink effect) P and Ca of the solution that is in equilibrium with the NP. The aim of this work was to evaluate the effect of acidity and P- and Ca-sinks on the solubilization of bayóvar reactive rock phosphate (a phosphorite). Samples of this NP in aqueous suspension were placed in a cassette (Slide-A-Lyzzer G2 Dialysis Cassette) compartment and immersed in a beaker containing 150 mL of an aqueous solution with pH adjusted at 4.5 or 6.0, where P- and Ca-sinks individually or in their combinations, were applied. The tested sinks were: Anionic Resin (AR); Cationic Resin (CR); Mixed Resin (MR: AR + CR); Goethite (Goe); Goe + AR; Goe + CR and one control (NP only) in five replicates. Beakers (experimental units) were shaken for 12 h daily, at 130 rpm, until completing 30 days of equilibrium. The suspensions were filtered to extract solution-P from the residue on the filter paper; the labile-P was extracted from this residue using 0.8 mol·L -1 NH4Cl in 2 mol·L -1 HCl and, finally, the remainder P in the same residue together with the filter paper were subjected to nitric-perchloric acid digestion, to determine the P-residual in the extract. Goe caused greater solubilization of the NP, indicating that this P-sink was more effective than AR, causing similar or greater solubilization than CR. AR and CR, in a similar way, significantly restricted the trait characteristic of Goe (p < 0.05), at both pH values, in the solubilization of NP. Although Goe generally caused greater solubilization of the NP, it also caused the lower formation of labile-P. The CR presented, in general, the highest contents of solution-P, thus it triggered solubilization of NP without the immobilization of the solution-P, unlike the one with the AR that adsorbs it. In the lower pH condition (4.5), the solubilization of NP tended to be higher than at pH 6.0, although in a little effective way, compared to the effects of the sinks.