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Neutralization of bauxite residue with high calcium content in abating pH rebound by using ferrous sulfate

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Abstract

The high alkalinity of bauxite residue and its sustained release impose major limitation on its reuse and ecological disposal. It has been confirmed from sustained rehabilitation that gypsum can effectively reduce the alkalinity of bauxite residue by continuously releasing Ca2+ to react with carbonate and hydroxide. However, the combined bauxite residue with high calcium content exhibits stubborn alkalinity for most alkaline reduction methods employing cations to consume carbonate. In this study, we have aimed to address this knowledge gap by investigating the dose–response relationship in the alkaline reduction induced by ferrous sulfate (FS) neutralization. The pH, exchangeable sodium percentage (ESP), and CO32-/HCO3- of bauxite residue decreased from 10.6, 44.1%, and 42.7/24.5 mg/kg to 8.1, 27.7%, and 0.7/18.0 mg/kg, respectively. Approximately 20–55 days were required for the neutralization reaction to reach equilibrium. The FS induced an increase in free iron oxide (Fed) and amorphous iron oxide (Feo), and partial dissolution of alkaline minerals including calcite, cancrinite, and kaolinite in bauxite residue. Further, addition of FS also affected the kinetic dissolution process of bauxite residue; the acid neutralization capacity of bauxite residue to pH 7 decreased from 0.21 mol H+/kg solid to 0.02 mol H+/kg solid. The results showed FS to be a potential candidate for improving the characteristics of the combined bauxite residue, and guide the FS application for the disposal of the combined bauxite residue.

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All data related to this publication are made available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Funding

This research was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 41907360 and No. 41501350).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Inner Mongolia Key Laboratory of Environmental Pollution Control and Waste Resource Recycle, School of Ecology and Environment, Inner Mongolia University, Hohhot, 010021, China

    Xueqian Ren, Xi Zhang, Pinpeng Tuo, Wei Guo & Jie Ren

  2. Technical Centre for Soil, Agricultural and Rural Ecology and Environment, Ministry of Ecology and Environment, Beijing, 100012, China

    Bin Yang & Juan Chen

Authors
  1. Xueqian Ren
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  2. Xi Zhang
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  4. Bin Yang
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  5. Juan Chen
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  6. Wei Guo
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  7. Jie Ren
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Contributions

Xueqian Ren wrote the original draft, and Jie Ren conceptualized and designed the study. Xi Zhang and Pinpeng Tuo performed the experiment and data analysis. Bin Yang, Juan Chen, Wei Guo commented on and revised the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Jie Ren.

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Ren, ., Zhang, X., Tuo, P. et al. Neutralization of bauxite residue with high calcium content in abating pH rebound by using ferrous sulfate. Environ Sci Pollut Res 29, 13167–13176 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-16622-3

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