Abstract
Red mud is a polymetallic waste generated during Bayer's process of alumina production. High alkalinity (pH > 11), multiple elements, and micron-sized particles make red mud recycling energy-intensive and challenging. The following work presents a hydrometallurgical flowsheet for separation of different red mud elements and recovery of high purity Fe (II) product using cost-effective reagents, energy-efficient processes, and minimal waste generation. Red mud preprocessing was carried out by mild hydrochloric acid wash (1 M, 13 pct pulp density, 40 °C 15 minutes), followed by leaching of hematite from neutralized red mud in oxalic acid (2 M, 10 pct pulp density, 95 °C, 2.5 hours). UV light-assisted photochemical reduction of oxalic leach solution of red mud separated more than 98 pct Fe in the form of ferrous oxalate (purity more than 99 pct) within 5 hours. The process's material balance shows a overall recovery of more than 85 pct Fe value as solid ferrous oxalate of high purity and concentrating titanium oxide in the residue and aluminum in the leaching solution.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
F. Habashi: In Essential Readings in Light Metals. Springer, Cham, 2016, pp. 85–93.
F. Habashi: Bull. Hist. Chem., 1995, vol. 17(18), pp. 15–9. .
K. Evans: J. Sustain. Met., 2016, vol. 2, pp. 316–31. .
J. Anawati and G. Azimi: Waste Manag., 2019, vol. 95, pp. 549–59. .
H. Gu, J.S.J. Hargreaves, J.Q. Jiang, and J.L. Rico: J. Sustain. Met., 2016, vol. 3, pp. 561–9.
L. Piga, F. Pochetti, and L. Stoppa: JOM., 1993, vol. 45, pp. 54–9. .
C.R. Borra, B. Blanpain, Y. Pontikes, K. Binnemans, and T. Van Gerven: J. Sustain. Met., 2016, vol. 2, pp. 365–86. .
B. Mishra and S. Gostu: Front. Chem. Sci. Eng., 2017, vol. 11, pp. 483–96. .
K. Jayasankar, P.K. Ray, A.K. Chaubey, A. Padhi, B.K. Satapathy, and P.S. Mukherjee: Int. J. Miner. Metal. Mat., 2012, vol. 19, pp. 679–84. .
F. Kaußen and B. Friedrich: Chem. Ing. Tech., 2015, vol. 87, pp. 1535–42. .
J. Anawati and G. Azimi: Rare Metal Technology 2020. Springer, Cham, 2020, pp. 139–50.
C.R. Borra, B. Blanpain, Y. Pontikes, K. Binnemans, and T. Van Gerven: J. Sustain. Met., 2015, vol. 2, pp. 28–37. .
E. Erçağ and R. Apak: J. Chem. Technol. Biotechnol., 1997, vol. 70, pp. 241–6. .
F.I. Azof, M. Vafeias, D. Panias, and J. Safarian: Hydrometallurgy., 2020, vol. 191, pp. 1–12. .
S. Agrawal, V. Rayapudi, and N. Dhawan: Miner. Eng., 2019, vol. 132, pp. 202–10. .
C. Cardenia, E. Balomenos, and D. Panias: J. Sustain. Met., 2018, vol. 5, pp. 9–19. .
X. Liu, P. Gao, S. Yuan, Y. Lv, and Y. Han, Miner. Eng., 2020, vol. 157, pp. 1–10.
M. Samouhos, M. Taxiarchou, G. Pilatos, P.E. Tsakiridis, E. Devlin, and M. Pissas: Miner. Eng., 2017, vol. 105, pp. 36–43. .
S. Agrawal, V. Rayapudi, and N. Dhawan: J. Sustain. Met., 2018, vol. 4, pp. 427–36. .
D. Wei, X. Jun-Hui, P. Yang, S. Si-Yue, and C. Tao: Miner. Process. Extr. Metall. Rev., 2019, vol. 32(3), pp. 1–9.
T.J. Chun, D.Q. Zhu, J. Pan, and Z. He: Can. Metall. Q., 2013, vol. 53, pp. 183–9. .
B. Mishra, A. Staley, and D. Kirkpatrick: Trans. Soc. Min. Metall. Explor., 2002, vol. 19, pp. 87–94. .
M. Rao, J. Zhuang, G. Li, J. Zeng, and T. Jiang: in Light Metals 2013, B.A. Sadler, ed., Springer, Cham, 2016, pp. 125–30.
C. Cardenia, E. Balomenos, P. Wai-Yin-Tam, and D. Panias: Minerals., 2021, vol. 11, p. 222. .
S. Agatzini-Leonardou, P. Oustadakis, P.E. Tsakiridis, and C. Markopoulos: J. Hazard. Mater., 2008, vol. 157, pp. 579–86. .
G. Alkan, C. Schier, L. Gronen, S. Stopic, and B. Friedrich: Metals., 2017, vol. 7, p. 458. .
G. Alkan, B. Yagmurlu, S. Cakmakoglu, T. Hertel, S. Kaya, L. Gronen, S. Stopic, and B. Friedrich: Sci. Rep., 2018, vol. 8, p. 5676. .
C.R. Borra, Y. Pontikes, K. Binnemans, and T. Van Gerven: Miner. Eng., 2015, vol. 76, pp. 20–7. .
P. Kasliwal and P.S.T. Sai: Hydrometallurgy., 1999, vol. 53, pp. 73–87. .
A. Sokolov, D. Valeev, and A. Kasikov: Metals., 2021, vol. 11, p. 321. .
Abhilash, S. Sinha, M.K. Sinha, and B.D. Pandey: Int. J. Miner. Process., 2014, vol. 127, pp. 70–73.
A. Akcil, N. Akhmadiyeva, R. Abdulvaliyev, Abhilash, and P. Meshram: Miner. Process. Extr. Metall. Rev., 2017, vol. 39, pp. 145–51.
W. Wang, Y. Pranolo, and C.Y. Cheng: Sep. Purif. Technol., 2013, vol. 108, pp. 96–102. .
S. Reid, J. Tam, M. Yang, and G. Azimi: Sci. Rep., 2017, vol. 7, p. 15252. .
S. Agrawal and N. Dhawan: Miner. Eng., 2021, vol. 160, pp. 1–13.
R.P. Narayanan, N.K. Kazantzis, and M.H. Emmert: ACS Sustain. Chem. Eng., 2017, vol. 6, pp. 1478–88. .
R.M. Rivera, B. Ulenaers, G. Ounoughene, K. Binnemans, and T. Van Gerven: Miner. Eng., 2018, vol. 119, pp. 82–92. .
C.R. Borra, J. Mermans, B. Blanpain, Y. Pontikes, K. Binnemans, and T. Van Gerven: Miner. Eng., 2016, vol. 92, pp. 151–9. .
F. Meng, X. Li, P. Wang, F. Yang, D. Liang, F. Gao, C. He, and Y. Wei: JOM., 2019, vol. 72, pp. 816–22. .
S.O. Lee, T. Tran, B.H. Jung, S.J. Kim, and M.J. Kim: Hydrometallurgy., 2007, vol. 87, pp. 91–9. .
M. Taxiarchou, D. Panias, I. Douni, I. Paspaliaris, and I. Kontopoulos: Hydrometallurgy., 1997, vol. 44, pp. 287–99. .
Y. Yang, X. Wang, M. Wang, H. Wang, and P. Xian: Hydrometallurgy., 2015, vol. 157, pp. 239–45. .
Z. Yu, Z. Shi, Y. Chen, Y. Niu, Y. Wang, and P. Wan: Trans. Nonferrous Met. Soc. China., 2012, vol. 22, pp. 456–60. .
H. Majima, Y. Awakura, and T. Mishima: Metall. Trans. B., 1985, vol. 16B, pp. 23–30. .
P.B. Queneau and C.E. Berthold: Can. Metall. Q., 1986, vol. 25, pp. 201–9. .
F.K. Crundwell: ACS Omega., 2017, vol. 2, pp. 1116–27. .
S. Rai, K.L. Wasewar, and A. Agnihotri: Waste Manag. Res., 2017, vol. 35, pp. 563–80. .
I. Hassan and H.D. Grundy: Acta Crystallogr., 1984, vol. B40, pp. 6–13. .
K. Momma and F. Izumi: J. Appl. Crystallogr., 2011, vol. 44, pp. 1272–6. .
P. Smith: Hydrometallurgy., 2009, vol. 98, pp. 162–76. .
D. Panias, M. Taxiarchou, I. Douni, I. Paspaliaris, and A. Kontopoulos: Can. Metall. Q., 1996, vol. 35, pp. 363–73. .
D. Panias, M. Taxiarchou, I. Paspaliaris, and A. Kontopoulos: Hydrometallurgy., 1996, vol. 42, pp. 257–65. .
S.O. Lee, T. Tran, Y.Y. Park, S.J. Kim, and M.J. Kim: Int. J. Miner. Process., 2006, vol. 80, pp. 144–52. .
R. Salmimies, M. Mannila, J. Kallas, and A. Häkkinen: Int. J. Miner. Process., 2012, vol. 110–111, pp. 121–5. .
P. Vehmaanperä, R. Salmimies, and A. Häkkinen: Trans. Soc. Min. Metall. Explor., 2021, vol. 38, pp. 69–80. .
W.M. Riggs and C.E. Bricker: Anal. Chem., 1966, vol. 38, pp. 897–9. .
D.M. Mangiante, R.D. Schaller, P. Zarzycki, J.F. Banfield, and B. Gilbert: ACS Earth Space Chem., 2017, vol. 1, pp. 270–6. .
Y. Ogi, Y. Obara, T. Katayama, Y.I. Suzuki, S.Y. Liu, N.C.M. Bartlett, N. Kurahashi, S. Karashima, T. Togashi, Y. Inubushi, K. Ogawa, S. Owada, M. Rubešová, M. Yabashi, K. Misawa, P. Slavíček, and T. Suzuki: Struct. Dyn., 2015, vol. 2, p. 034901. .
C. Han, G. Wang, M. Zou, and C. Shi: Metals, 2019, vol. 9(11), 1178.
A. Angermann and J. Töpfer: J. Mater. Sci., 2008, vol. 43, pp. 5123–30. .
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Manuscript submitted March 26, 2021; accepted July 19, 2021.
Supplementary Information
Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Tanvar, H., Mishra, B. Hydrometallurgical Recycling of Red Mud to Produce Materials for Industrial Applications: Alkali Separation, Iron Leaching and Extraction. Metall Mater Trans B 52, 3543–3557 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11663-021-02285-5
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11663-021-02285-5