Utilization of solidified phosphogypsum as Portland cement retarder

The utilization of the phosphogypsum (PG) as cement retarder is both an economical and an ecological approach to treat this solid waste. Cement using raw PG as retarder has two problems pressing for solution,namely, delaying the setting time and difficulty being fed into the cement mill. The soluble phosphates in PG behave as super-retarder and bring about retarding in the setting process of cement made with PG. Two types of solidified phosphogypsum (SPG) were prepared to solve those two problems. The strength and the water stability of the SPG were good enough to ensure that they may be conveyed easily and fed into the cement mill stably. The cements with SPG had a similar setting time and strength as cement made with natural gypsum (NG). The microstructure of two kinds of SPG were observed with SEM. During factory application of SPG, good techniques and economic benefits were obtained.