engleski

Application of red mud in geopolymer technology

Cement respectively concrete is the most commonly used building material. Accordingly, the global demand for cement, from year to year, is growing. After fossil fuels and the conversion of green areas (e.g. logging), cement production is considered to be the third largest source of anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions [1]. Today and in the future a major challenge is to align human activities on earth with the key pillars of environmental management, sustainability and preservation of life forms. With the aim of reducing the impact of Portland cement on the environment respectively the impact of CO2 on the environment and the desire to recover large amounts of waste inorganic (aluminosilicate) material - today, science and industry are increasingly turning to alternative aluminosilicate binders such as geopolymers. Red mud or bauxite residue is a by-product of bauxite ore processing in the Bayer process for alumina production (Al2O3) and as such is considered technological waste. Due to its dangerous corrosive nature, pH = 10.5 – 12.5, red mud is a very serious and alarming environmental problem [2]. It is estimated that approximately 150 million tonnes of red mud is produced annually worldwide ; of which 5 – 6 million tonnes are generated in Europe, and most of this waste is disposed of in open landfills [3]. In this paper, the possibility of application of red mud in geopolymer technology is investigated. Compressive strength of geopolymer material was used as the main parameter of successful geopolymerization and successful application of red mud. Also the influence of the calcination temperature (105, 500, 600 and 700 ℃) of bauxite residue and water to binder ration on the compressive strength of geopolymers was investigated.

red mud, bauxite residue, geopolymer, compressive strength

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