Abstract: The decomposition reaction of phosphate rock under the action of microwave plasma was investigated. Phosphate rock and its decomposition products were characterized by x-ray diffraction (XRD), energy disperse spectroscopy (EDS), and chemical analysis. The measurements of electron temperature (T _e) and electron density (N _e) of plasma plume under atmospheric pressure were carried out using optical emission spectroscopy(OES). The electron temperature (T _e) was determined based on the calculation of the relative intensity of the O II (301.91 nm) and O II (347.49 nm) spectral lines. Correspondingly, electron densities were obtained using the Saha ionization equation which was based on the C I (247.86 nm) line and the C II (296.62 nm) line under the assumption of local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE). The relationship between the relative intensity of the active components and the gas output was studied by the spectrometer. Finally the reaction mechanism of the decomposition of the phosphate rock under the action of the atmospheric pressure microwave plasma was proposed. The results showed that with the increase of CO flow and microwave power, the electron temperature and electron density in the plasma show a decreasing and increasing trend. The CO is dissociated into gaseous carbon ions under the action of microwave plasma, and the presence of gaseous carbon ions promotes the decomposition of the phosphate rock.

Key words: microwave plasma, phosphorus decomposition, optical emission spectroscopy, reaction mechanism