Reductive decomposition of phosphogypsum with high-sulfur-concentration coal to SO2 in an inert atmosphere

In this study, using high-sulfur-concentration coal as a reducer, we have carried out the thermal decomposition of phosphogypsum to produce SO₂ in a nitrogen atmosphere at different conditions. Scanning electron microscopy and XRD-ray diffraction were used to analyze the solid products and the output gas consisting of mainly SO₂ was analyzed with gas analyzers. Both experiment results and theoretical analysis indicated that the optimum conditions to produce SO₂ were a mole ratio C:CaSO₄ = 1.2:1 and a decomposition temperature about 1000 °C. Under optimum conditions, the maximum SO₂ concentration was 7.6 vol.%, which can be used to produce sulfuric acid. The CaO concentration of the product was 57.13%, which can be recycled to be an alternative CaO sorbent or a raw material of cement. The conversion of phosphogypsum to sulfur dioxide was 92.2%, and the desulfurization rate of phosphogypsum was 95.16%.