Red Mud and Bio-Oil: Difference between revisions
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[[File:Redmud_Ireland.jpg|500px|thumb|right|Part of the Aughinish (Ireland) aluminium plant. The waste material is known as red mud and is a by-product of the bauxite processing. It is extremely alkaline and toxic to many plants. Further information can be found [http://www.fli.ie/downloads/Mining%20Industry.pdf here].]] | [[File:Redmud_Ireland.jpg|500px|thumb|right|Part of the Aughinish (Ireland) aluminium plant. The waste material is known as red mud and is a by-product of the bauxite processing. It is extremely alkaline and toxic to many plants. Further information can be found [http://www.fli.ie/downloads/Mining%20Industry.pdf here].]] | ||
==Red Mud and Bio-Oil== | ==Red Mud and Bio-Oil== | ||
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==External Links== | ==External Links== | ||
* [http://www.chembio.uoguelph.ca/schlaf/ Schlaf lab homepage] | * [http://www.chembio.uoguelph.ca/schlaf/ Schlaf lab homepage] | ||
* [http://www.redmud.org/home.html Red Mud Project | * [http://www.redmud.org/home.html Red Mud Project] | ||
Revision as of 15:31, 16 February 2011
Red Mud and Bio-Oil
Red mud is a by-product/waste that derives from the alumina producing industries (during the Bayer process for alumina production). It is composed of a mixture of solid and metallic oxide-bearing impurities, and presents one of the aluminium industry's most important disposal problems. The red color is caused by the iron oxides, which can make up to 60 percent of the mass of the red mud. In addition to iron, the other dominant particles include silica, unleached residual aluminium, and titanium oxide. Red mud cannot be disposed of easily. Based on an Australian report, "the inventory was 2.7Bt at 2007, growing at a rate of 119 Mt per year". In most countries where red mud is produced, it is pumped into holding ponds. Red mud presents a problem as it takes up land area and can neither be built on nor farmed, even when dry. It is estimated that around 1.5 tons of red mud will be made from 1 ton of alumina. In October of 2010, a huge reservoir of red mud collapsed in western Hungary, flooding three villages and killing several people.
While searching for a way to produce higher-grade heating fuel from agricultural and forestry biomass, U of Guelph chemist Marcel Schlaf discovered a technique that might make good use of red mud in the processing of bio-oil. The high acidity of bio-oil makes it unstable, corrosive and very difficult to store. Tests by Schlaf and post-doc Elham Karimi were successful in lowering the acid level of the organic liquid and producing higher-grade oil. The same process changes red mud itself into a neutral magnetic material that is no longer caustic and toxic but that could be used as a building material. Apparently, Prof. Schlaf wants this technology to be open source, non-patentable.
In India, red mud is produced at a rate of about *4 MT/yr* and is disposed as a slurry having a solid concentration in the range of 10-30%, pH in the range of 13 and high ionic strength and contains silica, aluminum, iron, calcium, titanium, as well as an array of minor constituents, namely: Na, K, Cr, V, Ni, Ba, Cu, Mn,Pb, Zn etc. Uses: make building bricks and tiles, lightweight structural blocks, roofing sheets, as an additive to concrete, paint, wood substitute, glass, ceramic flyash/redmud polymer door shutters, furniture, flooring and panelling work, electrical switch boxes and insulating sheets etc. (ex. by making red mud jute fibre polymer composites (RFPC))