Hazardous Phosphor-Gypsum Chemical Waste As A Principal
Hazardous Phosphor-Gypsum Chemical Waste As A Principal
Hazardous Phosphor-Gypsum Chemical Waste As A Principal
A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T
Article history: Phosphor-gypsum (PG), lime production and gold mining wastes were used to fabricate solid bricks. The
Received 20 November 2014 PG waste had a high content of heavy metals and a pH value near 13. The purposes of this research were to
Accepted 8 February 2015 develop new composites from these wastes; to research the physicochemical processes of developed
Available online 4 May 2015
materials structure formation. The representative samples were supplied by local Brazilian plants. The PG
waste had a high content of heavy metals and a pH value near 13. The chemical and mineralogical
Keywords: compositions of the raw and final materials were studied by complex of complementary methods: XRD,
Phosphor-gypsum waste
XRF, SEM, EDS, AAS and LAMMA methods. Developed materials exhibited axial strengths of 8.3 MPa on
Lime production waste
Chemical interaction
the 3rd curing day and of 13.7 MPa on the 365th day. After 28 days, the water resistance coefficient was
New compositions 0.95, the water absorption ranged from 9.2% to 17.5%, the shrinkage was 0.75% and the leaching and
Construction materials solubility levels of heavy metals were very low. These values meet the demands of Brazilian materials like
Environment protection bricks, blocks, etc. It was determined, that mainly amorphous new formations are responsible for the
materials strengthening. The biggest benefit of the developed materials produced at the industrial level is
the environmental protection.
ã 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Introduction for its monitoring [3]. The use of PG in road building applications is
based on technical, economic, and ecological criteria [5].
Industrial production processes and numerous human activi- Youqiang [6] published a review of 24 Chinese literature reports
ties share at least two characteristics: the waste of raw materials of consumers that used large amounts of PG to produce blocks,
and of energy, which generally result in the generation of a boards, standard bricks, cementing materials, high-strength
considerable amount of wastes. John [1] described the utilization gypsum powder, ecological wall materials and other new building
of a variety of industrial wastes in civil engineering applications materials, sulfuric acid and cement, and to manufacture potassium
and their influence on the construction quality. sulfate using a two-step technique, among others.
The production of phosphoric acid (P2O5) from natural The potential of using PG with fly ash and lime in the
phosphate rock using the wet process results in an industrial construction industry was investigated [7–9]. Shen [10] prepared a
byproduct called phosphor-gypsum (PG) [2]. Approximately 5 tons new type of binder with an optimum formulation, which consisted
of PG is generated per ton of phosphoric acid produced, and the of 8–12% modified lime, 18–23% PG and 65–74% fly ash. Beretka
amount of PG generated worldwide is estimated to be approxi- et al. [11] reviewed the main sources, properties and uses of
mately 280 Mt/year. Much of this waste is highly beneficial for crop phosphor-gypsum, blast-furnace slag and fly ash and the
production as fertilizer substitutes and soil ameliorants [3]. Up to possibility of their utilization. When heated at 1000 C, PG
15% of the PG produced worldwide is used to create building transforms to phosphate, the fluoride–anhydrite impurities
materials, as a soil amendment, and to produce Portland cement become inert, and anhydrite cement is produced [12]. Stout
[2,4]. The reuse of this waste is discussed in terms of both its et al. [13] investigated the possibility of converting water-soluble
agricultural benefits and the requirements for analyses required phosphorus to less-soluble forms with lime or calcium-containing
coal combustion byproducts to reduce the release of soil
phosphorus in surface runoff.
* Corresponding author. Tel.: +55 41 3279 4518; fax: +55 41 3232 2568.
Nayak et al. [14] studied the influence of PG when used as a
E-mail addresses: seva6219@gmail.com, almaz.mymrina@gmail.com calcium supplement in agriculture as fertilizer on the soil
(V.A. Mymrin). physicochemical properties, bacterial and fungal counts and
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jece.2015.02.027
2213-3437/ ã 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
2612 V.A. Mymrin et al. / Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering 3 (2015) 2611–2618
activities of soil enzymes. Guo et al. [15] studied the melting and used spectrometer of X-Rays Fluorescence Philips/PANalytical
decomposition behaviors of PG to produce sulfuric acid. Garcia- model PW2400.
Dias et al. [16] developed a new type of phosphogypsum–sulfur The studies of mineralogical composition by powder method
polymer cement (PG–SPC) for use in the manufacturing of building were done by X-Rays Diffractometer Philips, model PW1830, with
materials with uniaxial strength until 62 MPa. monochromatic wavelength lCu-Ka, at 2u range of 2–70 .
Mining activities, including gold mining, involve the removal of Morphological structures – by scanning electron microscopy
topsoil, which leaves behind gold mining waste (GMW) and other (SEM) on FEI Quanta 200 LV; wet samples of raw materials were
materials after the extraction process [17]. In addition to being dried in a vacuum unit. Chemical micro analyses were determined
used to refill ore extraction sites, GMW can be reused in civil by method of energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) on Oxford
construction applications. (Penta FET-125 Precision) X-ACT and by micro-mass analyses
Research in northern Vietnam to obtain new materials using through laser micro-mass analyzer LAMMA-1000, model X-ACT;
industrial wastes employed lime production waste (LPW) in solubility and lixiviation of metals from liquid extracts – by
powder form mixed with low-quality Portland cement to produce method of atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS) on PerkinElmer
a cement composite, which resulted in a high-performance 4100 spectrometer; granulometric composition – by laser diffrac-
material [18]. A method was developed to utilize LPW, demolition tion particle size distribution analysis on Granulometer CILAS
wastes [19] and other types of wastes [20] as binders in the 1064, Brazil; mechanical resistance – by axial compressive
production of cement. strength on EMIC universal testing machine DL10,000 EMIC.
The increase in the production of PG and the need for Water absorption coefficient by immersion was determined on
increasingly large storage areas have led to a considerable need Instrutherm BD 200 according to [22]. Linear shrinkage of TSs was
for the development of new economically and environmentally determined with digital caliper of DIGIMESS. The water absorption
attractive methods to recycle this industrial waste. A review of the (WA) was measured using an Instrutherm BD 200.
literature on the use of PG indicates that the main applications of TSs with different compositions (Table 1) were compacted
PG still remain in agriculture, cement production and in the under a pressure of 10 MPa into 20 20 mm cylinders, which were
construction industry, which is the object of this study. stored in an open air environment. The contents of the components
Therefore, the objectives of this study were as follows: in the TSs varied in the following weight limits: PG 5–70%, GMW
(1) Avoid the pollution of air, soils and groundwater by highly 15–75%, and LPW 10–20%.
alkaline PG waste by developing new economically attractive The values of the mechanical properties and standard devia-
composites of three types of industrial wastes with a maximum tions were obtained as the average from 10 measurements of the
content of PG as the principal component combined with gold TSs. The changes in the mechanical properties and the physico-
mining waste (GMW) and lime production waste (LPW) as a binder chemical processes of hydration and curing were examined at the
to produce construction materials whose mechanical properties following ages: 3, 7, 14, 28, 60, 90, and 180 days; 12 months; and 18
meet the requirements of Brazilian technical standards. (2) Study months.
the physicochemical processes involved in the formation of the The coefficient of water resistance (CWR) values of the TSs was
structures of the developed materials during open air curing and determined according to the [23] using the Eq. (1):
measure their mechanical properties. (3) Develop technologies for
ðRD RSAT Þ
the production of construction materials at the laboratory scale. C WR ¼ ; ð1Þ
RDRY
These objectives are consistent with the third paragraph of the
Twelve Principles [21] of Green Chemistry (Less Hazardous where RD and RSAT are the uniaxial compressive strengths (MPa) of
Chemical Syntheses): “Wherever practicable, synthetic methods the dry and water-saturated TSs, respectively, after 24 h.
should be designed to use and generate substances that possess The water absorption values were measured according to [22]
little or no toxicity to human health and the environment”. using the Eq. (2):
ðMSAT MD Þ
Materials and methods WA ¼ 100 ð2Þ
MD
Materials where MSAT is the mass of the water-saturated sample after 24 h of
immersion and MD is the mass of the dry sample after completely
To achieve the above objectives, the following experimental drying at 100 C.
procedures were performed: collection, preparation and characteri-
zation of the wastes; definition of the compositions of the mixtures;
and fabrication and testing of the mechanical and physicochemical
properties of test specimens (TSs) during their strengthening.
All samples of industrial wastes used as components in this
work were obtained from enterprises in Brazil. The PG sample was
Table 1
supplied by a phosphoric fertilizer plant. The amount of this waste Granulometric composition of PG and GMW.
in the industrial dumps of this fertilizer plant is roughly estimated
to be 60,000,000 tons, and this plant annually produces Sieve, mm Content of fractions, wt.%
Table 2 Table 3
Contents of the main elements (oxides) in the chemical composition of the raw Substantial compositions of the TSs.
materials used in this study.
No Compositions, wt.%
Oxides Chemical composition, wt.%
PG GMW LPW
PG GMW LPW
1 60 25 15
Al2O3 0.20 9.80 0.25 2 70
BaO 2.50 0.20 – 3 65 15 20
CaO 30.67 1.40 47.69 4 60 20
Fe2O3 0.20 1.20 0.24 5 55 30 15
K2O – 4.40 0.05 6 50 40 10
MgO <0.1 0.70 33.10 7 45 45
MnO – <0.1 – 8 40 15
Na2O – 1.40 – 9 25 55 20
P2 O 5 0.90 0.30 0.02 10 15 65
SiO2 0.90 77.53 2.82 11 10 70
SO3 45.00 0.30 0.05 12 5 75
TiO2 0.60 0.30 0.04
P.F. 18.93 2.37 15.74
S 100.00 100.00 100.00 classified as normal (range between 2 and 3 kg/dm3). The GMW
had a moisture content of 17.2%, specific surface area of 1970 cm2/g
and specific mass of 2.57 kg/dm3.
Results and discussion The particle size distribution of the employed GMW (Table 2)
indicates that 63.98% of this material remained on the 0.075 mm
Characterization of the raw materials sieve: only 26.65% of the particles are larger than 0.075 mm, and
9.30% of the particles are smaller than 0.075 mm. Neither PG nor
The PG had a moisture content of 34.31%, a specific surface area GMW possessed a silt fraction (less than 0.05 mm) or clay fraction
of 1200 cm2/g and a specific mass of 2.28 kg/dm3, which is (less than 0.002 mm).
Fig. 1. Diffraction patterns of raw materials: (A) phosphor-gypsum waste, (B) gold mining waste and (C) lime production waste.
2614 V.A. Mymrin et al. / Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering 3 (2015) 2611–2618
Fig. 2. Morphology of the raw materials: (A) PG, (B) GMW, (C) LPW.
Table 3 presents the XRF results, which indicate that the PG not chemically linked but rather have only mechanical contacts
primarily consisted of SO3 and CaO and that the GMW primarily with each other. The PG particles (Fig. 2A) have many layered forms
consisted of SiO2, Al2O3 and K2O. The AAA results indicated that the because they were precipitated during chemical processes for the
PG also contained some heavy metals, such as Cr total 6.36 mg/l, Zn separation of phosphorous; in some cases, they have some
2.17 mg/l, and Cu 3.78 mg/l. inclusions of crystal-like bodies. The GMW particles are distin-
The contents of these heavy metals considerably exceed the guished from the other materials by large grain sizes, which vary
sanitary standards of Brazil. Because of its high pH (12.5–13), from 5 to 45 mm, and by the lack of sharp angles as a result of long
extremely high quantity of production, and its low level of geological processes. The LPW particles (Fig. 2C) have different
utilization, this PG is classified as a hazardous waste. These data are shapes and sizes but are rounded, which is typical for amorphous
partially consistent with the results of [24]; The authors materials.
investigated some PG from Brazil, which contained a larger
number of heavy metals and a smaller percentage of contents. The Mechanical properties of the TSs
Brazilian standard [25] states that quicklime applied as binder in
civil construction must contain a minimum of 88% total nonvolatile Fig. 3 shows the change in the uniaxial compressive strength of
oxides (CaO + MgO) and a maximum carbon dioxide (CO2) content the different compositions during curing.
of 12%. As shown in Table 1, the LPW used in this study contained After 3 days of curing, the strengths of all compositions already
23.6% CO2, 43.1% CaO and 26.3% MgO, characterizing it as waste met the requirements of the Brazilian standard [26] for solid bricks
from the production of quicklime or incompletely burnt limestone. (class A < 2.5, class B 2.5 < 4.0 and class C > 4.0) and for ceramic
The XRD patterns of the PG indicated (Fig. 1) that its blocks (class 15 = 1.5 < 2.5 and class 25 = 2.5 < 4.5).
mineralogical composition was as follows: gypsum – CaSO42H2O, Comparing the strength values of compositions 2 and 8, which
calcium sulfate hydrate – CaSO40.67H2O, dolomite – CaMg(CO3)2 had an equal binder content of 15% LPW, shows that as the content
and magnesium oxide carbonate – Mg3O(CO3)2. The GMW of PG increased from 40 to 70%, the strengths of the samples
consisted of quartz – SiO2, albite – NaAlSi3O8, microcline – increased by almost 4-fold on the 3rd day and by 1.6-fold at 18
KAlSi3O8 and muscovite – (K,Na)(Al,Mg,Fe)2(Si3,1Al0,9)O10(OH)2. months.
The mineralogical composition of the LPW was as follows: calcium A similar increase in the GMW content from 15 to 75%
oxide (quicklime) – CaO, portlandite – Ca(OH)2, calcite CaCO3, (compositions 3 and 12, with an equal 20% content of the binder
magnesite – MgCO3 and quartz – SiO2. LPW) reduced the strength of the samples by 3-fold on the 3rd day
The SEM images of the employed raw materials show different and by 1.4-fold at 18 months. These results demonstrate that PG
particle sizes and shapes, with widely varying pore shapes and has a positive role in the hardening process of new construction
dimensions. The images of each of the three raw materials materials. The samples with composition 4, which contained 60%
investigated show that all particles in the initial components are PG, 20% GMW and 20% LPW, exhibited the highest compressive
Table 4
Coefficients of water resistance (CWR) and water absorption (CWA) of materials on
the 28th day of curing in the open air.
PG GMW LPW
1 60 25 15 0.79 8.47
2 70 15 0.82 8.36
3 65 20 0.86 8.56
4 60 20 0.95 8.60
5 55 30 15 0.90 8.00
6 50 40 10 0.91 7.69
7 45 45 0.84 7.38
8 40 15 0.77 8.47
9 25 55 20 0.84 8.76
10 15 65 0.87 8.56
11 10 70 0.79 8.45
12 5 75 0.76 8.44
Fig. 3. Uniaxial compressive strengths of the TSs during curing.
V.A. Mymrin et al. / Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering 3 (2015) 2611–2618 2615
Fig. 4. Diffraction patterns of composition 4: (A) before and (B) after the curing process of 18 months of strengthening.
strength at all stages: 8.3 MPa on the 3rd day and 13.5 MPa on the Physicochemical processes of structure formation
90th day of hardening.
The CWR values (Table 4) at 28 days varied from 0.76 to 0.95 and The physicochemical processes for the formation of the
increased as the LPW and PG contents increased. The highest CWR structure of composition 4 listed in Table 1 indicated that this
value (0.95%) was obtained with composition 4, which greatly composition exhibited the best mechanical properties and a very
exceeded the very high demands of the Russian construction high PG content of 60%. The diffraction patterns (Fig. 4A and B) of
standard [23], arising from severe climatic conditions of the the initial dry mixture and of the sample after 18 months of curing
country. also showed a visible difference.
The values of CWA varied (Table 4) from 7.38% to 8.76%, which The analysis, interpretation and comparison of the two
are consistent with the Brazilian standard [23]. Furthermore, these diffraction patterns in Fig. 4 (Table 5) indicated that the peaks
values increased as the LPW content increased, presumably corresponding to muscovite – K,Na(Al,Mg,Fe)2(Si3,1Al0,9)O10(OH)2,
because the samples were not completely hydrated during curing. microcline – KAlSi3O8 and afwillite – 3CaO2SiO23H2O disap-
According to the [23] standards, the average CWA of plain hollow peared, which are unstable aluminum-silicates and hydro-silicates
concrete masonry blocks with lightweight aggregate should be at in extremely alkaline (pH 13 or 13.4) and moist environments. It is
most 13%. clear that the crystal structures were partially or completely
The shrinkage of the TSs of all compositions increased almost destroyed in this environment and that the products were
linearly from 0.75%–1.01% on day 3 up to 1.15%–1.94% at 18 months absorbed by new bonds. Only the peaks corresponding to quartz
in response to increasing LPW content and decreasing PG content. (SiO2) remained stable.
The values of standard deviation of all mechanical properties There was also a visible increase in amorphous substances
usually increased with the increasing of average values, but always during the curing process, which was evident when magnifying
stayed within the range of 0.3–1.8%. the area between zero line of the graph and the diffraction curve.
Table 5
Comparison of the diffractogram patterns (Fig. 4) of composition 4: A – before hydration and B after the curing process during 18 months strengthening.
Fig. 6. EDS spectra of general area and points 1 and 3 of new formations of composition 4 after 18 months of strengthening.
V.A. Mymrin et al. / Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering 3 (2015) 2611–2618 2617
Fig. 7. Lamma specters A, B and C of materials’ new formations of composition 4 after 18 months of hydration.
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