A detailed geotechnical investigation on redmud and chemical

analysis of it’s leachate

Sarath Chandra K & S Krishnaiah
Department of Civil Engineering, Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, Andhra Pradesh, India

ABSTRACT
Bauxite residue or red mud is the iron-oxide rich waste produced when bauxite ore is processed by the Bayer
process to extract aluminium . Red mud characteristics and production depends on origin, quality and composition of
bauxite. Storage and disposal of red mud is the biggest problem faced by the aluminium industries. Red mud residue
is associated with being chemically basic, high in heavy metals and low level of naturally occurring radioactive
materials. The objective of this study was to characterize red mud which is collected from HINALCO, Belgaum on the
basis of traditional geotechnical methods that may contribute to the behaviour of the material, and to analyse the
chemical constituents of its leachate which helps to understand the leachate characteristics. The characterization of
the material included index properties like moisture content, specific gravity, grain size distribution, liquid limit, plastic
limit and their indices, engineering properties like Shear strength by Cohesion intercept and angle of internal friction,
Compaction characteristics by OMC and MDD, chemical properties by SEM, XRD and TCLP. The findings, in terms
of leachate characteristics, showed that red mud has undergone reactions during the leaching process giving
leachate with sodium, silica and calcium in highest concentration. Red mud shows acceptable characteristics for
potential reuse as a civil engineering material.

1 INTRODUCTION On the other side deficiency of hand truck materials,

worry over utilization of best soil, force of directions by
As industrialization and urbanization has boomed government associations on the utilization of virgin
majorly, so did the negative impacts which puts a materials, and so on., frequently urge the use of
debatable question on the safe disposal methods of the mechanical waste (viz., fly fiery remains, red mud,
industrial waste and one has to look into their negative Phosphogypsum, waste foundry sand and so on.).
impacts on the global environment and social life. Out “According to Gangadhar et al. (2016)”. for the
of many elements, Aluminum is the third most abundant sustainable development of infrastructure. Many
element on Earth and extraction of this element has researchers worked on converting the different types of
drastically increased over time. The increase in industrial and infrastructure waste into an asset in the
extraction is due to the diversity of uses for aluminum in form of making bricks, tiles, filling materials and etc
today’s society in both industries and products. Red “According to Sneha et al. (2013)”. In this process red
mud is a bauxite residue generated from the aluminum mud also used to make bricks with some additives and
industries during the bayers process of extraction of as an embankment material as it shows the properties
aluminum from the bauxite ore. India alone had a mine of sand to clay with good compaction characteristics.
generation of 15.4 million tons of bauxite in the year According to Panda et al. (2017) and Rout et al.
2014 and expanded to 19 million tons in the year 2015 (2012)”
from only 540 thousand stores. The creation of alumina As such, very limited work has been carried out to
in 2010 to 2011 by HINDALCO was 1.35 million tons. In establish geotechnical properties of RM waste as filling
India, around 4.71million tons/annum of red mud is material in road sub base or as a backfill material
delivered which is equivalent to 6.25% of world's particularly in India. With this in mind, a detailed
generation. “According to Patel et al. (2015)” investigation was made on geotechnical properties of
Due to the presence of large amount of fine particles red mud and chemical analysis of its leachate to satisfy
in red mud, it is always not recommended to dump in an it as a good backfill material in both embankments and
open areas and the high alkalinity (pH > 11) favours road sub bases. To achieve this, a series of sieve
leachate and thwarts the sedimentation of red mud if it analysis, Atterberg’s limits, standard proctor tests,
is placed in storage tanks for a longer periods. unconfined compression tests were performed to
Incidental fall of a red mud repository dam like Ajka in confirm it as a satisfying sustainable construction
Hungary leaves an unfavourable effect on the more material with the comparison of standard values. An
noteworthy region because of spreading of red mud attempt also made to study chemical analysis of its
particles over a huge territory. In this exploration, an leachate with a possible leachate process and
endeavour has been made to control the dispersive compared with the WHO standards of ground water to
idea of red mud and quickening sedimentation by avoid the chemical imbalance of ground
including distinctive added substances. “According to water.”According to Yan et al. (2014)”
Shamshad et al. (2018)”

1
2 EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION developed to investigate the compatibility of a waste
material with the environment. The most general
Red mud waste used in this study was collected from approach involves the application of standardized
the disposal pond of HINDALCO INDUSTRIES leaching tests which provide an indication for the
LIMITED, Belgaum, Karnataka. All samples have been possible reuse of the waste material “According to
collected in dry state having more amount of fines and Brunori et al., (2005)”. In leaching, soluble constituents
at a moisture content of 2-3% at room temperature .The
specific gravity of sample was determined by using are removed from a solid material (such as rock, soil, or
density bottle as per the IS code 2720-3 and the results waste) by a fluid by percolation or diffusion. Therefore,
were show Table 1. For accuracy, average value when fill materials come into contact with the leaching
obtained from tests conducted in triplicate was liquid (maybe percolating rainwater, surface water,
considered representative, as listed in Table 1. groundwater, and liquids present in the fill material),
Consistency limits, grain size distribution, pH, constituents from the solid phase dissolve into the liquid
compaction tests and CBR tests of RM was determined forming a leachate.
in accordance with the Indian standard codal provisions Table 2. shows the different test methods that are
IS-2720-PART-5, IS-2720-PART-4, IS-2720-PART-26, used to collect the leachate in the laboratory. Based on
IS-2720 –PART- 7-1980, IS -2720 –PART-16-1979 the presence of metals, volatiles, semi volatiles and
respectively. The results obtained are presented in PCB’s in the red mud waste and the availability of the
Table 1. Based on coefficient of uniformity and apparatus and laboratory equipments, the procedure
coefficient of curvature of the sieve analysis and chosen for the collection of leachate from the red mud
consistency limits, the Red mud waste was classified as waste is Toxicity Characteristics Leaching Procedure
per Indian standard classification system. It has been (TCLP- U.S EPA- Test Method 1311). The TCLP test
found that the waste falls under the category of silt of involves the extraction of contaminants from a 100-g
low plasticity (i.e. ML) soil. The optimum moisture sample of waste material with an appropriate extraction
content and maximum dry density obtained from the fluid. A 20:1 liquid to solid (L/S) ratio is employed, and
compaction tests indicates the density of the Red mud the mixture is rotated for 18 ± 2 hr at 30 rpm using a
waste is high at an optimum moisture content to accept rotary agitation apparatus as shown in Figure 1. The
this waste as a geotechnical asset. The CBR values of extraction fluid used for the extraction depends on the
unsoaked and soaked red mud waste are presented in alkalinity of the waste material. Very alkaline waste
Table 1 shows the appreciable range of bearing materials are leached with a fixed amount of acetic acid
capacity to use as a subgrade or sub base material and without buffering the system (pH 2.88 ± 0.05), while
as backfill material. Shear parameters called Cohesion other waste materials are leached with acetic acid
and angle of internal friction were determined as per the buffered at pH 4.93 ± 0.05 with 1-N sodium hydroxide.
standard procedure of unconfined compression test. After rotation, the final pH is measured, and the mixture
is filtered. The filtrate is collected in an appropriate
container, and preservative may be added if needed.
Table 1. Physical and Geotechnical Properties of Red The filtrate is analyzed for a number of constituents. If
mud these constituent concentrations equal or exceed the
Property Values concentrations described standards, then waste is
Specific gravity 2.85 characteristically hazardous for toxicity.
pH 11.04
Liquid limit 39%
Plastic limit 28.5% Table 2. Procedures to collect the Leachate
Seive analysis
Coefficient of uniformity(Cu) 0.67 Test Procedures Extraction Fluids Appropriate
Coefficient of curvature (Cc) 0.71 for
IS classification Silt of low Toxicity Characteristic Buffered acetic Metals, semi-
plasticity (i.e. ML) Leaching Procedure (TCLP) acid, pH 2.88 or volatiles,
Compaction test EPA Method 1311 4.93 pesticides,
Optimum moisturcontent 31.39% PCB’s,
(OMC) 1.60kg/m3 volatiles
Maximum dry density (MDD) 5.28% Synthetic Precipitation Fluid : H2SO4 and Metals, semi-
California Bearing Ratio (CBR) Leaching Procedure (SPLP) HNO3 at pH 4.02 volatiles,
4.17%
Unsoaked EPA Method 1312 pesticides,
Soaked 16.82kPa
PCB’s
Cohesion 22.8o
Angle of internal friction ASTM D3987-85 (ASTM Reagent water Semi
Neutral Leach) volatiles,
pesticides,
PCB’s,
In the present study along with the detailed
cyanide,
investigation of geotechnical properties of red mud sulphide,
waste, the elements that are present in the red mud hex.chromiu
waste were identified through SEM, XRF and XRD m
methods. It is also investigated that if the red mud ASTM D5233-92 (ASTM Buffered acetic Metals, semi-
waste is used in embankments as a backfill material, Single Batch) acid, pH 2.88 or volatiles,
what are the problems associated with the red mud 4.93 pesticides,
waste when its leachate comes in contact with the PCB’s
ground water. Different approaches have been

2
 3 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

As per the values of sieve analysis and the IS

classification system of fine grained soil, the red mud
waste was categorized under the category of silt with
low plasticity. Red mud waste has a high specific
gravity of 2.85 when compared to normal soil of this
category due to the presence of silica, oxides and other
compounds and the high specific gravity indicates the
better density than the other waste materials. During
the processing of the bauxite, it is treated with caustic
soda. Therefore, it is highly alkaline and the pH value is
11.04. The liquid limit of the red mud waste is very high
Figure 1. Beakers containing mixture with vertical axis it is observed that it varies with the time of conduction of
rotary machine the test. Plasticity is low compared to the materials of
silt and other similar fine aggregates. Standard
compaction test depicts that the red mud waste attains
Calculation that are used to increase the pH with the an appreciable values of dry density at the optimum
addition of more alkaline water inorder to achieve the moisture content. So it can be used as a geotechnical
desired chemical proportions to collect the leachate material in many of the construction sites. The CBR
form the red mud waste. values of unsoaked and soaked doesn’t shows any
Density of acetic acid=1.05 g/mL huge difference, so the effect of water on the
pH of acetic acid=1.58 surrounding will not effect much on the bearing capacity
pH of double distilled water=6.98 of the red mud waste. The cohesion and angle of
internal friction gives a clear picture of acceptability of
this waste in to a back fill material in the retaining wall
V=M/ [1] with or without additives. But many researchers
suggested that the shear parameters can be increased
by using additives.
For 1N, (60/x)/25% (per 1000ml of water) (25% Further tests like Scanning Electron Microscopy
concentration of acetic acid) = (60/1.05)/25% =228.57 (SEM), Powder X-ray diffreaction (XRD), X-ray
ml in 1000ml Florescence (XRF) and chemical analysis of the red
For 0.5N, it is 114.2 in 1000ml mud waste were conducted to understand the chemical
Thus, 114.2ml acetic acid in 1000ml = X acetic acid in constituents of red mud before leachate and after the
100ml leachate. The chemical composition of red mud
X = (114.2x100)/1000 = 11.4 ml acetic acid in 100 ml determined by the XRF analyzer is given in Figure 2.
water. Samples were dried to constant weight at a temperature
of 110 °C (fully dry, no free water) and ground to fine
particles. The main chemical compositions of red mud
Table 3. shows the the trail and error method to are Fe2O3, Al2O3, SiO2, CaO, Na2O, TiO, K2O and MgO.
increase in pH with the addition of more alkaline water The percentage of these chemical constituents may
as per the above mentioned calculations. The alkaline vary depending upon on the process , property and
water added from 100 ml to 600 ml and increased the phase with the type of the bauxite and the alumina, and
pH range from 2.15 to 2.88 which is required to collect will change over time
the leachate from the red mud waste as per the TCPL
method. The filtrate is collected with a help of a glass
fiber filter in a suitable container. The leachate is then
analyzed for the necessary parameters

Table 3. Trail and Error method to increase in pH

Water in ml pH
100 2.15
120 2.17
140 2.21
160 2.22
180 2.24
220 2.34
300 2.34
320 2.44
520 2.76
600 2.88

3
 present in the red mud waste to observe the minerals
which are retained or dissolved in the leachate after
allowing the water to pass through the red mud waste

Figure 4. XRD graph of red mud waste with peak values

of minerals.

Figure 2.Chemical composition of Red mud waste in Finally leachate was collected from the red mud
powder state by XRF analyzer waste according to the TCLP method of leachate
collection. Research shows that the leachate collected
in the laboratory is more effective than the leachate
The SEM image of red mud waste is shown in collected on site. Based on the literature study and the
Figure 3 Combining with the conclusion obtained from level of toxicity, it was decided to analyse the
the analysis of strength, particle diameter and density, concentration of heavy metals like Arsenic, cadmium,
SEM characterization is helpful for the further chromium, lead, mercury, sodium, calcium, silica and
understanding of the physical performance and the copper in the collected leachate. Table 4. Shows the
microstructure of red mud. The SEM image red mud level of heavy metals present in the leachate from the
waste shows the relatively loose microstructures and red mud waste and it is also compared with the primary
high porosities. drinking water standards, TCLP hazardous waste limits
and WHO standards of drinking water. It shows the
large amount of calcium, silica and sodium will retain
even in leachate.

Table 4. Heavy metals present in leachate and

comparative limits

Heavy Metals Results Primary TCLP WHO

obtained drinking hazardou
stanstandards
mg/l water s wasteof drinking
standar limit mg/l
wwawater mg/
d mg/l
Arsenic <0.01 0.05 5.0 0.01
Cadmium 0.04 0.005 1.0 0.003
Chromium 0.76 0.1 5.0 0.05
Lead 0.70 0.015 5.0 0.01
Mercury <0.001 0.002 0.2 0.001
Copper 0.18 1.3 - 2
Sodium 4.12 20 40 20
Silica 116.09 100 200 100
Figure 3. SEM image of red mud waste Calcium 216.8 20-208 - 20-208

Figure:4. Explicit the XRD pattern which shows that 5 CONCLUSION

the main mineral phases of the red mud waste are
Chantalite(Na5Al3CSi3O15) ,Gibbsite (Al(OH)3), In the present study extensive tests were conducted on
Muscovite ( KAl₂ (FOH)), Calcite (CaCO3), Hematite- red mud waste samples to obtain a detailed
Fe2O3. It gives a clear identity of the minerals that are geotechnical properties and chemical analysis of it’s

4
leachate. From the results it has been observed that it metals leaching in contaminated sediment." An
satisfies all the geotechnical properties which are interdisciplinary response to mine water challenges.
required to use this waste material as a filling material China University of Mining and Technology Press,
which can reduce the large amount of waste. It is also Xuzhou (2014).
noticed the methods to collect the leachate in
laboratory. The results obtained from the XRD and XRF
shows the range of minerals present in the red mud
waste when the waste is dry and on surface and the
chemical analysis the leachate after leaching through
TCLP procedure shows that there is no much effect
even if this waste causes as a leachate and enters into
the ground water. However the presence of heavy .
metals shows that it is acceptable upto certain
concentration only. .

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