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Conversion of Moroccan phosphogypsum waste into nano-calcium fluoride and sodium hydrogen sulfate monohydrate

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Abstract

The phosphoric acid production in the world generates a large amount of phosphogypsum with the emission of toxic acid fluorine gas into the atmosphere, which forms a significant source of environmental contamination. In this work, a novel and a simple procedure allows converting phosphogypsum waste by using hydrofluoric acid and sodium fluoride into valuable products. The obtained results confirm well the efficiency of this procedure, which permits to synthesize at room temperature, the sodium hydrogen sulfate monohydrate and a relatively pure nano-calcium fluoride from the exact stoichiometric proportions of the phosphogypsum, hydrofluoric acid, and sodium fluoride. The total phosphogypsum conversion is achieved after reaction time equal to 1.5 h. Generally, this procedure offers not only a solution for reducing phosphogypsum waste but also permits to obtain valuable products, which interest several sectors of industry.

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Abbreviations

AHF:

Anhydrous hydrofluoric acid

cc:

Concentered acid

da:

Dilute acid

FSA:

Hexafluosilicic acid H2SiF6

HF:

Hydrofluoric acid

P:

Pump

PA:

Phosphoric acid H3PO4

PG:

Phosphogypsum

PR:

Phosphate rock

rpm:

Rotation per minute

S:

Constant stirring

SA:

Sulfuric acid H2SO4

STF:

Silicon tetrafluoride SiF4

t:

Time reaction (h)

T:

Temperature (°C)

TC:

Temperature control

WL:

Weight loss

wt:

Weight

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the responsible of the technological platform of the Faculty of Sciences El Jadida, and the center CAC of Cadi Ayyad University Marrakech for different analyses.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry, Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Materials (LPCM), Faculty of Sciences, Chouaib Doukkali University, El Jadida, Morocco

    Yassine Ennaciri, Mohammed Bettach & Hanan El Alaoui-Belghiti

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  1. Yassine Ennaciri
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  2. Mohammed Bettach
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  3. Hanan El Alaoui-Belghiti
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Correspondence to Yassine Ennaciri.

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Ennaciri, Y., Bettach, M. & El Alaoui-Belghiti, H. Conversion of Moroccan phosphogypsum waste into nano-calcium fluoride and sodium hydrogen sulfate monohydrate. J Mater Cycles Waste Manag 22, 2039–2047 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10163-020-01088-1

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