Abstract
With increasing production of red mud, the environmental problems caused by it are increasingly serious, and thus the integrated treatment of red mud is imminent. This article provides an overview of the composition and the basic characteristics of red mud. The research progress of safe stockpiling and comprehensive utilization of red mud is summarized. The safe stockpiling of red mud can be divided into two aspects: the design and safe operation of the stocking yard. The comprehensive utilization of red mud can be further divided into three aspects: the effective recycling of components, resource utilization and application in the field of environmental protection. This paper points out that the main focus of previous studies on red mud stockpiling is cost reproduction and land tenure. The recovery of resources from red mud has a high value-added, but low level industrialization. The use of red mud as a building material and filler material is the most effective way to reduce the stockpiling of red mud. Red mud used for environmental remediation materials is a new hotspot and worth promoting for its simple processing and low cost.
Highlights
Red mud is a reddish-brown colored solid waste produced during the physical and chemical processing of bauxite
While Bayer process red mud possesses the characteristics of fine particles (0.01–0.005 mm accounting for 65%), poor permeability, difficult to dehydrate under natural conditions, difficult to use for chemical cementation, with a low shear strength (40–50 kPa), etc. [6,7]
Erdem [48] and Santona [49] studied the adsorption of activated red mud for heavy metal ions, and the results showed that the adsorption rate of activated red mud for heavy metals was significantly increased
Summary
Red mud is a reddish-brown colored solid waste produced during the physical and chemical processing of bauxite. As to the treatment of red mud, the first choice of most companies from all over the world would be stockpiling it in an open yard or marine dumping. The dike breach at the red mud stockpiling yard at the Ajkai Timfoldgyar Zrt alumina plant in Hungary on October 4, 2010 released between 600,000 and 700,000 m3 of caustic red mud suspension. This incident is unprecedented, given the scale of the release and the type of material involved [3]. The main ways of comprehensive utilization are summarized.
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