Utilization of high-volume phosphogypsum in artificial aggregate by compaction granulation: effects of muck on physical properties, strength and leaching stability

Artificial aggregate is an effective method to recycle for waste phosphogypsum (PG) in large quantity. This article proposes PG-muck artificial aggregates (PMAs) that combine PG and muck using compaction granulation to achieve high-volume utilization of PG. Varied PG and muck contents are applied to prepare PMAs, and the density, water absorption, strength, leaching stability, microstructure, and porosity of PMAs are tested. It is found that addition of muck can improve the PMA properties significantly, especially the leaching stability. Muck showed excellent immobilization capacity on contaminates in PMAs. Effects of muck addition are discussed comprehensively, and an optimized recipe for preparing PMAs is recommended.