Cleaning Disposal of High-Iron Bauxite Residue Using Hydrothermal Hydrogen Reduction

Abstract

The hydrothermal hydrogen reduction process for treating high-iron bauxite residue (red mud) was investigated, and the optimum conditions of alumina extraction as well as the enrichment of iron minerals were verified by experiments. Results show that the surface magnetization of Al-goethite under the function of hydrogen reduction accelerates its conversion to hematite and/or magnetite. This conversion releases the substituted Al in goethite as well as the undigested gibbsite/boehmite and further enriches the iron content in residue. After hydrothermal hydrogen reduction with H₂/Red mud ratio of 0.085 mol/20 g at 270°C for 60 min, the alumina relative recovery ratio reaches 95.40% and the grade of iron (total iron in the form of iron element) in the residue can be enriched to 55.85%. Further, co-processing of the obtained iron-rich residue in the steel industry can achieve a significant reduction of red mud discharge.

Keywords: Al-goethite; Bauxite residue; Hydrogen reduction; Hydrothermal; Iron.