Applications of bauxite residue: A mini-review

Abstract

Bauxite residue is the waste generated during alumina production by Bayer's process. The amount of bauxite residue (40-50 wt%) generated depends on the quality of bauxite ore used for the processing. High alkalinity and high caustic content in bauxite residue causes environmental risk for fertile soil and ground water contamination. The caustic (NaOH) content in bauxite residue leads to human health risks, like dermal problems and irritation to eyes. Moreover, disposal of bauxite residue requires a large area; such problems can only be minimised by utilising bauxite residue effectively. For two decades, bauxite residue has been used as a binder in cement industries and filler/reinforcement for composite materials in the automobile industry. Valuable metals and oxides, like alumina (AlO), titanium oxide (TiO) and iron oxide FeO, were extracted from bauxite residue to reduce waste. Bauxite residue was utilised in construction and structure industries to make geopolymers. It was also used in the making of glass-ceramics and a coating material. Recently bauxite residue has been utilised to extract rare earth elements like scandium (Sc), yttrium (Y), lanthanum (La), cerium (Ce), neodymium (Nd) and dysprosium (Dy). In this review article, the mineralogical characteristics of bauxite residue are summarised and current progresses on utilisation of bauxite residue in different fields of science and engineering are presented in detail.

Experimental Research on the Bearing Properties of Red Mud Geopolymer Foundations

“…According to the strengthening mechanism of composite foundations with mixing piles (Verma et al, 2017;Hu et al, 2018b), geopolymers are formed by fly ash and red mud for mixing single piles as well as composite foundations (Meng et al, 2020;Cui et al, 2021;. Using multistage load tests, the bearing characteristics of single piles (SPs) and composite single piles (CPs) in the red mud foundation were analyzed.…”

Chapter 7. Integrating Remediation and Resource Recovery of Industrial Alkaline Wastes: Case Studies of Steel and Alumina Industry Residues

“…Currently, the bulk of steel slag is reused as aggregate materials for road construction (Figure 7.2), but bulk usage for red mud is yet to be identified. 83 Recent reviews have covered the bulk reuse of red mud as an immobiliser for metal/metalloidcontaminated soil 84 and potential applications in composite materials, cement, geopolymers, ceramics, and as a catalyst. 83 Ferric oxide recovery from red mud is pointed out as the most relevant for bulk utilisation, 78 and the limiting issue of is the alkalinity of the residue.…”

“…83 Recent reviews have covered the bulk reuse of red mud as an immobiliser for metal/metalloidcontaminated soil 84 and potential applications in composite materials, cement, geopolymers, ceramics, and as a catalyst. 83 Ferric oxide recovery from red mud is pointed out as the most relevant for bulk utilisation, 78 and the limiting issue of is the alkalinity of the residue. 35 [Table 7.4 near here] Further opportunities for valorisation of steel slag and red mud focus on mineral carbonation, a promising carbon capture and storage option, which can store carbon permanently as carbonates, thermodynamically the most stable form of carbon.…”

Use of O3 and O3/H2O2 for degradation of organic matter from Bayer liquor towards new resource management: Kinetic and mechanism

“…Also, the generation of red mud has increased, as well as aluminium losses due to the use of laterite bauxite with high reactive silica. [ 11–21 ]…”