Conversion of phosphogypsum to potassium sulfate and calcium carbonate in aqueous solution

Laboratoire de Physico-Chimie des Matériaux, Faculté des Sciences, El Jadida, Maroc

Abstract

The dissociation of the phosphogysum by the liquid route which is the object of our work, is most appropriate and little expensive. Indeed, it leads to materials of direct application. The present work has for objective to study the decomposition of the phosphogypsum by the soft chemistry into valuable products such as K₂SO₄ and CaCO₃. K₂SO₄ is a fertilizer which is highly recommended in the field of the agriculture, while CaCO₃ can be used in the fields of the industry (cement) and the environment. According to the obtained results, we notice that the decomposition of the phosphogypsum in aqueous solution is very workable, reproducible, inexpensive and it is an ecologically interesting reaction. This reaction is made at room temperature and in aqueous environment, by giving two valuable products K₂SO₄ and CaCO₃. The reaction is total after one hour and a half.