KINETICS AND STATICS OF STRONTIUM ADSORPTION BY ZEOLITES FROM PHOSPHOGYPSUM

The purpose of this research was to study kinetics and statics of stro ntium (Sr) adsorption by native zeolites (clinoptilolite containing tu ffs) and to evaluate the effectiveness of zeolites as adsorbents in re moving strontium from the ''phosphogypsum-soil-plant'' system. The con centrations of Sr in the initial solutions of SrCl2, were similar to t hose found in native waters and water extracts of alkali soils(1-180 m g L-1). Natural zeolites rapidly adsorbed Sr in large amounts over a w ide range of concentrations. The presence of Ca in the solutions of ph osphogypsum did not prevent the adsorption of Sr by zeolites. A new ap proach for establishing the dose of adsorbent based on the experimenta l determination of the optimum ratio of zeolite to phosphogypsum is su ggested. The 20:1 ratio of phosphogypsum to zeolite was found to give the optimum level of Sr adsorption at the lowest rate of zeolite in th e given rate of concentration.