Individual element mapping of baghouse phosphate dust collector deposits

In light of evaluating the performance of the baghouse phosphate dust collector. The distribution of elementary composition of phosphate dust withdrawn from baghouse dust collector installed in the drying unit of Beni-Idir located at Khouribga, Morocco has been determined. Dust deposits on the polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) filter surface, upstream, and downstream of the filter bag, and untreated phosphate powder were collected, sampled, and analyzed. Investigation on a particle scale was conducted by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) SEM coupled to energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) to determine the morphology and the distribution of the mineral elements over the sample surface. SEM results exhibited the creation of coarse and large agglomerates formed by particles of different sizes. Element mapping by SEM/EDS reinforced the result that phosphate dust is mainly composed of calcium, phosphor and a small percentage of silica, sulfur, and iron that varies according to the locations of the sample collection. Besides, elemental cartography shows different spatial distribution and concentrations of elements inside the samples. EDS analysis confirmed that calcium and phosphor were the main components of the phosphate samples and showed the presence of other trace elements.