RT journal article
T1 Valorisation diagnosis of waste from the decontamination of phosphogypsum leachates through a combined calcium carbonate/hydroxide process
A1 Soto Cruz, Francisco Javier
A1 Pérez-Moreno, Silvia María
A1 Ceccotti, E.
A1 Barba Lobo, Alejandro
A1 Bolívar, J. P.
A1 Casas Ruiz, Melquiades
A1 Gázquez González, Manuel Jesús
A2 Física Aplicada
K1 Environmental impact
K1 Neutralisation
K1 NORM waste
K1 Phosphogypsum leachate
K1 Valorisation diagnosis
AB Phosphogypsum is an industrial waste considered as naturally occurring radioactive material. Stack disposal and exposure to the environmental condition involve the production of acid leachates with high potential pollutant loads as heavy metals and radionuclides. In this study, a sequential neutralisation process was applied for cleaning the generated releases, and the two obtained residues were characterised from the physical-chemical and radiological point of view before their valorisation. The cleaning process was made up of two steps: the first one using calcium carbonate until pH = 3.5, and the second one using calcium hydroxide until pH = 12. The residue obtained in the first step was mostly calcium fluoride, while in the second step most phosphates were precipitated, mainly as hydroxyapatite. The final liquid was treated to reduce pH lower than 9, which is the limit included in the current directive for discharges of liquid effluents into coastal waters. The main conclusion was that the solids from the first step could be valorised as an additive in the manufacture of commercial Portland cements and ceramics, while the solids from the second step could be used as raw material for the phosphoric acid manufacture.
PB Elsevier Ltd
SN 2405-8440
YR 2024
FD 2024
LK http://hdl.handle.net/10498/33759
UL http://hdl.handle.net/10498/33759
LA eng
DS Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Cádiz
RD 11-nov-2026