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Innovative pyrometallurgical processing technology for red mud

from alumina industry and melting unit for


the technology implementation
Yuri A. Gudim and Anatoly A. Golubev
Industrial company Technologiya Metallov, LLC, Russia

Abstract
Red mud processing technology has to provide:
Iron oxides recovery in order to obtain a valuable product for iron and steel
industry;
Manufacture of a slag product usable for the construction industry.
Only the use of pyrometallurgical processing technology can meet these conditions. Our
studies confirmed the possibility of obtaining cast iron and slag products (for cement and
building industries) out of red mud by liquid-phase carbon reduction.
The red mud processing melting unit has to:
Be a continuously running unit;
Have high-capacity;
Operate on various types of fuel, using cheap reductive agents.
Technologiya Metallov has a project of a fuel-oxygen continuously operated MAGMA
melting unit with kish lining. Housing of the melting unit is cooled by liquid-metal heat
carrier. The technology provides conditions needed for kish formation in the slag-line area
and in free space of melting unit. Use of oxygen fuel heating allows reaching necessary high
temperatures of slag (up to 1650) and metal (up to 1500). Design of the unit provides
separate tapping of metal and slag. Innovative technology of continuous red mud processing
provides drying and heating of charge material with waste-gas heat and heat removed from
housing of melting unit. The charge melts in pre-melted slag metal bath. Iron oxides are
recovered by carbon. Marketable products are cast iron and slag materials for construction
use. Red mud (moisture content of 25%) processing capacity for MAGMA unit is 300,000
TPA. Estimated capital expenditure for construction of red mud processing plant is 70
million EUR with up to 6 years payback period.
Keywords : red; mud; technology; MAGMA; unit.

1. Introduction
Aluminum production unavoidably leads to the formation of a large volume of red mud
(side-product from alumina production process). Red mud is finely divided material,
environmentally harmful high-alkali (NaOH) product with moisture content of up to 50%.
Traditional methods of processing can lower the moisture content only to 25%. Red mud
storage is costly, requires continuous monitoring of sludge depository and represents a
serious threat for the environment.
At the same time red mud contains a significant amount of iron oxides (up to 55%) which is
comparable with the iron content of iron ores of average quality. Furthermore red mud
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contains a considerable quantity of titanium oxide and alumina. Therefore processing of red
mud with extraction of iron and other valuable components can be economically feasible.
Large-scale red mud processing can be performed by hydrometallurgical or
pyrometallurgical methods. Known hydrometallurgical red mud processing methods are:
Inefficient;
Complicated;
Unavoidably lead to the formation of secondary wastes;
Must be combined with pyrometallurgical methods for complete utilization of red
mud.
Pyrometallurgical methods for red mud processing have a number of advantages; the main
advantage is the possibility of nearly waste free red mud utilization with production of
marketable products which can be sold at open market.
The disadvantages of pyrometallurgical methods or red mud utilization are:
Necessity to use coolants to control the high temperatures of the process;
Necessity to dry red mud before loading into the melting unit (humidity to 10%).
Down to recent times there were no serious achievements in implementation of effective and
efficient drying of red mud on an industrial scale.
Lack of efficient melting units was the main problem of the industrial use of
pyrometallurgical methods for red mud utilization. There were unsuccessful attempts to
implement the solid phase iron recovery out of mud in rotary furnaces followed by
processing of metalized iron product in blast furnaces or in arc furnaces in order to
implement high-temperature separation of the metal and the slag parts of the metalized iron
product. This process was not economically efficient.
Metalizing of raw materials with low content of iron oxides and with high moisture content
in the rotary kilns requires significant energy consumption for moisture evaporation and
heating up of the slag part of red mud. The uncontrolled interaction processes exist between
slag and refractory lining in the melting unit. This leads to destruction of lining of the slag
bath and unpredictable changes of final slag composition.

2. Process selection
In our opinion, a pyrometallurgical method for utilization of red mud has to be a single-stage
and continuous process. This will allow getting stable composition of metal product (cast
iron) with high technical-and-economic indexes of the process.
Rational technology of red mud processing has to provide:
Effective iron oxides recovery and production of cast iron;
Simultaneous production of a marketable slag product which can be used in the
construction industry (raw material for cement industry, slag cast stones, mold
slag casting etc.)
Our studies confirmed the possibility of obtaining cast iron and slag products (for cement
and building industries) out of red mud by liquid-phase carbon reduction.
Y. Gudim & A. Golubev : Innovative pyrometallurgical processing technology for red mud 269

Traditional metallurgical melting units (arc furnaces, induction furnaces, flame furnaces in
nonferrous-metals industry) cannot be effectively used in the continuous single-stage red
mud processing. Using of these units is possible only at a second stage of duplex process:
solid phase iron recovery out of mud re-melting of metalized iron product in order to
separate metal from slag. Application of such scheme will unavoidably lead to the
accelerated run-out of melting units lining as a result of impact of large quantities of
aggressive slag. Technical-and-economic indexes of mud processing will also deteriorate.

3. The MAGMA melting unit


A continuous-running melting unit with kish lining is needed for effective waste-free red
mud processing. The melting unit will provide:
High-temperature liquid-phase iron recovery;
Capability of correction of obtained slag structure by flux addition;
Separate tapping of metal and slag.
Industrial company Technologiya Metallov together with leading Russian engineering
organizations developed the design of a fuel-oxygen continuously operated MAGMA
melting unit with kish lining. The coreless body of the units chamber is made of stainless
steel and is cooled by liquid-metal coolant (Na). Secondary cooling is performed by gaseous
coolants (nitrogen, air) according to the original design. Due to intensive heat removal from
the working area of the melting chamber body, the conditions necessary for kish formation in
slag-line area and in free space are provided. Therefore refractory lining is not required on
the working surface of the melting chamber body.
The use of oxygen fuel heating allows getting the necessary high temperatures of slag (up to
1650) and metal (up to 1500).
Table 1. MAGMA melting unit major characteristics
Parameter Value
1 Heat power, MW Up to 100
2 Fuel type Natural gas, coal, graphite wastes
3 Oxidizer Bulk oxygen
Gaseous phase temperature in free space
4 1800-1850
above melted slag,
5 Melted slug temperature, 1550-1650
6 Metal temperature in metal bath, 1350-1500
7 Melting chamber housing material Stainless steel
Primary cooling liquid-metal coolant.
8 Melting chamber housing cooling
Secondary cooling gaseous nitrogen and air
9 Refractory of metal bath housing High-alumina firebricks
Annual capacity of red mud (moisture
10 300000
content of 25%) processing, ton
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Two modifications of the MAGMA unit have been developed:


Unit using fuel-oxygen burners heating;
Unit using coal, graphites wastes and other solid high-carbon wastes as a fuel
(melting chamber is also equipped with oxygen injection lances in this case).
Design of the unit provides separate tapping of metal and slag. The unit is equipped with
sealed loading devices and equipment for drying and preheating of charge materials. An
oxygen plant with sufficient capacity is needed for the unit operation. MAGMA unit major
technical characteristics are shown in a table 1.
Cross-sections of melting chamber equipped with technological devices are shown in figures
1, 2, 3.

Fig 1. Lances and injectors installation in the unit housing


Innovative technology for continuous red mud processing has been developed for the
MAGMA unit. This technology provides drying and preheating of charge (slag + flux
metal) before loading into the melting chamber with waste-gas heat and heat removed from
housing of melting unit. Melting of charge and iron reduction is made at the surface of
previously pre-melted slag metal bath. There are two options for melting chamber heating:
gas-oxygen burners or coal heating. Coal is oxidized by gaseous oxygen injected into the
melting chamber working space by special lances. Iron reduction and carbonization are
carried out by lump coal loaded at the surface of melted slug and by coal powder injected
into melted slug. Cast iron accumulated at the bottom of chamber is periodically drained off
through tapping hole equipped with special locking device. Deoxidized and exhausted slag is
periodically drained off through tapping hole equipped with special locking device. Dust
captured by gas cleaning system is injected back into the melted slag.
Y. Gudim & A. Golubev : Innovative pyrometallurgical processing technology for red mud 271

Fig 2. A device for metal tapping

Fig 3. A device for flushing of slag


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4. Conclusion
Marketable products are cast iron and slag materials for construction industry. Additional
studies are required to check the possibility and expediency extraction of titanium out of red
mud.
In comparison with other introduced and operating red mud processing methods, technology
using MAGMA melting unit has the following advantages:
The technology provides single-stage, continuous, high capacity and economically
efficient utilization of red mud;
There is no necessity of costly charge material nodulizing process;
The technology is energy efficient due to drying and preheating of charge with
waste-gas heat and heat removed from housing of melting unit;
MAGMA unit can use every type of fuel and consume less crude energy in
comparison with electric and plasma furnaces;
Use of kish lining reduces consumption of refractory material, reduces out-of-
service time for relining of melting unit and provides recovery of slag with desired
properties due to the absence of interaction between slag and refractory material.
Every single part of technology is used effectively in practice. Process of liquid-phase
carbothermic iron recovery from slag material is used in deoxidation of slag in arc furnace.
This process is also used in Romelt technology. Water-cooled melting units with kish lining
is effectively used in metallurgy: Vanukov furnace in nonferrous metal industry, iron-
melting arc furnace with water-cooled panels, ferroalloy furnace.
Fuel-oxygen burners are used in every modern iron-melting arc furnace. Such burners are
more energy efficient than electrical warming installations. Liquid-metal coolant is
effectively used in nuclear-power industry.
Red mud (moisture content of 25%) processing capacity for MAGMA unit is 300,000
TPA. Estimated capital expenditures for construction of red mud processing plant are 70
million EUR with up to 6 years payback period subject to specific local conditions, such as
availability of infrastructure, red mud composition, etc.
Melting unit MAGMA and developed innovative technology allow economically effective
and waste free processing of red mud from alumina industry.

5. References
[1] Leontyev L.I., Vatolin N.A., Shavrin S.V., Shumakov N.S. Pyrometallurgical processing
of complex ore, Moscow: Metallurgy, (1997).
[2] Amosenok I.I., Kolesnik N.F., Kudievsky S.S. Author's certificate USSR SU 1770412
1. Applicant: Zaporozhean industrial institute
[3] Petrov S.I., Utkov V.A., Bytkin V.N., Krylov G.P., Bastryga I.M., Nikolaev S.A.. Patent
RU 2016099 1. Method of iron-ore agglomerate recovery. Patent holder: All-Russian
alumo-magnesium institute
Y. Gudim & A. Golubev : Innovative pyrometallurgical processing technology for red mud 273

[4] Kiselev V.A., Leontyev L.I., Kozhevnikov G.N., Permyakova L.I. Author's certificate
USSR SU 1615205 1. Applicant: Metallurgical institute of Urals scientific centre of
Academy of Sciences
[5] Burkin S.P., Loginov U.N., Korshunov E.A., Zhukov S.S., Shipanov A.A., Nalesnik
V.M.. Patent RU 2086659 1 Method of iron-aluminium recovery. Patent holder: Beliy
Sobol CJSC.
[6] Shyukin V.S., Patent RU 2179590 C1. Method of red mud utilization. Patent holder:
Shyukin V.S.

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