Sequestration of carbon dioxide (CO 2) using red mud

Abstract

Red mud, an aluminium industry hazardous waste, has been reported to be an inexpensive and effective adsorbent. In the present work applicability of red mud for the sequestration of green house gases with reference to carbon dioxide has been studied. Red mud sample was separated into three different size fractions (RM I, RM II, RM III) of varying densities (1.5–2.2 g cm −3). Carbonation of each fraction of red mud was carried out separately at room temperature using a stainless steel reaction chamber at a fixed pressure of 3.5 bar. Effects of reaction time (0.5–12 h) and liquid to solid ratio (0.2–0.6) were studied for carbonation of red mud. Different instrumental techniques such as X-ray diffraction, FTIR and scanning electron microscope (SEM) were used to ascertain the different mineral phases before and after carbonation of each fraction of red mud. Characterization studies revealed the presence of boehmite, cancrinite, chantalite, hematite, gibbsite, anatase, rutile and quartz. Calcium bearing mineral phases (cancrinite and chantalite) were found responsible for carbonation of red mud. Maximum carbonation was observed for the fraction RM II having higher concentration of cancrinite. The carbonation capacity is evaluated to be 5.3 g of CO 2/100 g of RM II.