Reduction of clinkerization temperature by using phosphogypsum

Valorization of phosphogypsum as mineralizer in the burning of Portland cement clinker was studied in our laboratory. X-ray fluorescence, optical microscope technique and powder X-ray diffraction were then used to characterize the synthesized clinker and its raw mixture in terms of chemical composition and clinker mineralogical composition. The effects of phosphogypsum on structural and morphological properties of clinker minerals and on the presence of alite were followed by scanning electron microscopy combined with microprobe analysis. The addition of phosphogypsum to the cement raw mixture shows that the burning temperature decreases and therefore improves the production process of clinker. The addition of 10% phosphogypsum permits a complete clinkerization at low burning temperature (1200 °C), instead of 1470 °C, which increases the cement factory efficiency by 25% and extends the service life of furnace fire brick. Structural and morphological analysis of clinker produced under the new conditions show that phosphogypsum preserve perfectly the crystalline structure of silicate phases, which leads to the improvement of physical and mechanical properties of cement.