Eco-friendly technology for “Nitrofos” fertilizer obtained from radioactive man-made waste

¹ M.S. Poliakov Institute of Geotechnical Mechanics of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, 2a Simferopolska St., 49005 Dnipro, Ukraine
² Dniprovsk State Technical University, 2a Dniprobudivska St., 51918 Kamianske, Ukraine
³ Masaryk University, 617/9 Žerotínovo nám., 601 77 Brno, Czech Republic

^* Corresponding author: map45@ukr.net

Abstract

The article presents the results of research into the process of purification of phosphoric acid from radioactive isotopes after extraction of uranium, thorium, and REE. It is shown that the main purification of acid is achieved in the process of gypsum precipitation with sulfuric acid and barium nitrate. Additional purification of nitrate-phosphate solution is achieved after uranium extraction and sorption-extraction purification of REE. The sorption raffinate with a concentration of P₂O₅ 25 g/L, REE 0.5 g/L and NH₄NO₃ 300 g/L were used for fertilizer production. Additional purification of NH₄NO₃ solution from isotopes ²²⁶Ra, ²¹⁰Po, ²²⁷Ac is achieved in the process of REE extraction purification. The aggregate of all refining processes of purification of nitrate-phosphate solution from radioactive isotopes provided NP-fertilizer “Nitrofos”, which meets the quality standards. Extraction of P₂O₅ from raw materials into NP-fertilizer – 90%; extraction of REE from raw materials into collective chemical concentrate – 95%; direct commercial extraction of REE from raw materials into the product – 85%.