A STUDY ON THE CHARACTERIZATION OF RED MUD

Red Mud (RM) is a solid waste product obtained from aluminum industries via Bayer’s process. India is one of the largest producers of RM producing around 4 million tons annually. Its disposal is one of the major concerns as it is highly alkaline in nature and is a potential threat to air, water and land. Currently RM is being dumped on land or in RM ponds near the alumina refineries and with the cost of the land going high it is becoming a big problem for the industries. Due to the differences in the ore type in its production process, there is a variation in the mineralogical composition between the residues from India and other countries. Its properties such as iron content in the form of ferric oxide (Fe2O3), high surface area etc. makes it attractive potential reactants for many reactions. In this paper the structural and phase compositions of RM is being studied with the help of PSA, XRD, FESEM, EDX, BET and FT-IR techniques.