Phosphorus industrial uses

We fool ourselves, however, if we dwell on energy alone. The uses of all natural resources are intertwined. Oil is of little use without engines built of iron, copper, zinc, and other metals. Farmlands will yield maximum crops only if they are tilled by tractors emd plows and fertilized with compounds of phosphorus, nitrogen, and potassium. A failure in the supply of one resource will inevitably influence the use of others. Viewing the panoply of natural resources, we see that one group, metals, occupies a unique position. Without metals we could not build machines to replace human muscle. Without metals we could use little of the available energy. Metals are, in effect, the enzymes of industry. If supplies of metals are limited, then society must ultimately be limited too. It is my contention that the distribution of the chemical elements in nature means, inevitably, that there are natural limits to supplies of metals, and that these limits are much more important to the future of society than limits on energy. I also contend that, with sufficient work, the limits can be predicted. It is the piu-pose of this paper, therefore, to explore briefly the way metals occur and to attempt to place in perspective the limitations they may ultimately impose on us. 

One of the major sources of water pollution in East Africa is human waste. The effluents from untreated mimicipal sewers pose great danger to the conservation of a sustainable ecology in and around Lake Victoria. Municipal sewage contains both faeces and urine that are sources of phosphorus. Therefore let us make two assumptions that will enable us calculate the phosphorus contributions from these sources. Let us assume that each person produces 25-50 kg/yr of faeces which contain 0.18 kg P second, assume that each adult produces about 400 liters of urine per year, depending on liquid consumption, and contains 0.40 kg P. This is because municipal and industrial wastewater treatment plants are known to be the major point sources of phosphorus in urban areas." Waste disposal sites, construction sites, fertilizers and farmyards also make substantial contribution to the total phosphorus load. However, all these have not been adequately evaluated. Given the number of sewered and unsewered municipalities and their populations in Table 2, one is able to calculate the amount of phosphorus produced. 

In the case of patents, US or GB numbers have usually been quoted, although they do not, of course, necessarily represent the country of origin. Cited patents are intended to be illustrative rather than exhaustive. This book does not attempt to provide details of the design and operation of industrial chemical plants. It does, however, acknowledge the importance of the chemical engineer, without whom phosphorus compounds could not not be manufactured and made available, at reasonable cost, to the general public. This is particularly applicable to the products dealt with in Chapter 12. 

Phosphorus is a ubiquitous element and its chemistry is of great importance. The element is in us and around us in the form of many different compounds. Some of these are essential for the regulation, maintenance and reproduction of all forms of life, yet others can most effectively destroy life. Phosphorus compounds play a leading role in several major industries and an auxiliary role in many others, moreover they are usually well represented on the domestic front, in the kitchen, the cupboard or the garden shed. 

Thus, comparison of compositions on the basis of the industrial polycarbonate, containing simultaneously offered by us phosphororganic compounds on the basis of five-valent phosphorus and industrial stabilizer Polygard, allows to approve, that composite materials with improved mechanical properties are received. 

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