Novaphos development- thermal processing of Phosphogypsum for sulfur recovery and production of calcium silicate

Abstract: Phosphorus is essential for life, and phosphate fertilizers play a major role in food production. Traditionally, the wet-acid method for making these fertilizers consumes large amounts of phosphate rock and sulfur, leading to the creation of phosphogypsum—a corrosive and radioactive waste that has inherent hazards and environment risks. Globally, this waste accumulates at approximately 400 tons per minute. In Florida alone, over one billion tons are stored across 24 sites, with 27 million tons added each year. Novaphos has developed a patented thermal process that extracts and recovers sulfur from phosphogypsum, enabling its reuse in fertilizer manufacturing. This process also uses sand to produce safe calcium silicate, which can be used in concrete. Research indicates that calcium silicate performs as well as fly ash when used as a cement substitute. Lab tests have shown that the process effectively immobilizes radioactive substances, reducing radon-222 emissions to levels similar to soil or granite. Third-party risk assessments confirm Novaphos calcium silicates require no special handling. Furthermore, calcium silicate can enhance soils and improve crop resilience, especially for rice and sugarcane. With global sulfur supplies tightening, converting phosphogypsum into reusable sulfur minimizes the hazardous waste associated with phosphate production. As coal consumption drops worldwide, there’s less fly ash available. With reduced CO2 emissions compared to standard cement production, the Novaphos calcium silicates help address both resource shortages and sustainability issues in the cement industry.