Determination of the coefficient of uranium and thorium distribution in phosphogypsum for their use in sanitary landfills

Phosphogypsum is a byproduct from the production of phosphoric acid, and contain radionuclides, heavy metals and metalloids from phosphate rock. It represents a risk to the environment if improperly stored. Because it is composed mainly of dihydrated calcium sulphate, phosphogypsum can be used in anaerobic environments such as those found in landfills to accelerate microbial processes of decomposition of municipal solid waste and thus increase the life of these facilities. One of the options of your application being studied is the use of phosphogypsum replacing the covers of soil/clay in landfills. Besides reducing the demand for soil and clay, this application would be an alternative to disposal of the waste, since the alternatives are not sufficient for more than five million tons produced per year in Brazil. To ensure the safety of this application, the potential environmental impact of contaminants in phosphogypsum should be evaluated. The rate of leaching of contaminants are being studied by determining the coefficient of distribution of the contaminants in the phosphogypsum. Batch tests were performed by mixing different proportions of slurry and phosphogypsum. This work presents the results for the chain of uranium and natural thorium