Scientists from the Vietnam Science and Technology Academy haveconfirmed that they can make iron from red mud, the waste created duringalumina production, the English language news website VietNamNet Bridgereported on May 22.
Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Haiofficially reported to the National Assembly’s Standing Committee at arecent meeting that the red mud generated from the Tan Rai and Nhan Cobauxite projects could be used to make steel and iron that could meetJapanese standards.
Finished iron samples derived of red mud fromthe Tan Rai factory were brought to the meeting and presented to theStanding Committee’s members.
According to Hai, this initialsuccess has prompted Vietnam to go further by organising industrialproduction. If this project is fully realised, Vietnam would be able toheighten the efficiency of bauxite projects, reduce environmentalpollution and produce marketable metals as well.
Elaborating onthe plan to produce iron from red mud, Deputy Minister of Science andTechnology Tran Van Tung said unlike that of other countries, the ironoxide concentrations in dry red mud in the Lam Dong province of Vietnamare very high (between 46 and 53 percent), which means a total ironcontent of 35.7 percent. Therefore, the red mud with poor iron ore canbe used to make pig-iron and steel.
Besides, also according toTung, Vietnam has large reserves of limestone, an important element inmaking pig iron and steel from red mud.
“These two factors can completely facilitate the production of steel and pig iron from red mud,” he concluded.
TheVietnam Science and Technology Academy was assigned to try producingiron. Scientists of the academy suggested two solutions, which both maylater bring success and create iron.
However, only one has beenchosen – the one which consumes less energy than the other, and bringshigh economic efficiency, thus allowing for production on an industrialscale. With this technology, wet red mud will be pressed to create dryresidues.
“100 tonnes of dry mud was carried from Lam Dongprovince to the Thai Nguyen Steel Mill in Hung Yen province forprocessing. The scientists have used 50 tonnes and have successfullycreated iron,” Tung said, adding that this is a completely Vietnamesetechnology.
It is estimated that 2.4 tonnes of red mud, costing1.5 million VND, is enough to produce one ton of iron ore, with a marketprice of 1.9 million VND. This means that it would be profitable tomake iron ore from red mud. The profits are expected to be higher ifmaking steel from the iron ores.
“Now we can say for sure that the red mud problem can be handled,” Tung was quoted as saying.
“Wemay not need the reservoirs to hold the red mud in the future, becauseit will be processed right after it comes out of the factories. Theenvironmental problem will no longer be a worry, and we will have a newsource of iron ore,” he added.-VNA
Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Haiofficially reported to the National Assembly’s Standing Committee at arecent meeting that the red mud generated from the Tan Rai and Nhan Cobauxite projects could be used to make steel and iron that could meetJapanese standards.
Finished iron samples derived of red mud fromthe Tan Rai factory were brought to the meeting and presented to theStanding Committee’s members.
According to Hai, this initialsuccess has prompted Vietnam to go further by organising industrialproduction. If this project is fully realised, Vietnam would be able toheighten the efficiency of bauxite projects, reduce environmentalpollution and produce marketable metals as well.
Elaborating onthe plan to produce iron from red mud, Deputy Minister of Science andTechnology Tran Van Tung said unlike that of other countries, the ironoxide concentrations in dry red mud in the Lam Dong province of Vietnamare very high (between 46 and 53 percent), which means a total ironcontent of 35.7 percent. Therefore, the red mud with poor iron ore canbe used to make pig-iron and steel.
Besides, also according toTung, Vietnam has large reserves of limestone, an important element inmaking pig iron and steel from red mud.
“These two factors can completely facilitate the production of steel and pig iron from red mud,” he concluded.
TheVietnam Science and Technology Academy was assigned to try producingiron. Scientists of the academy suggested two solutions, which both maylater bring success and create iron.
However, only one has beenchosen – the one which consumes less energy than the other, and bringshigh economic efficiency, thus allowing for production on an industrialscale. With this technology, wet red mud will be pressed to create dryresidues.
“100 tonnes of dry mud was carried from Lam Dongprovince to the Thai Nguyen Steel Mill in Hung Yen province forprocessing. The scientists have used 50 tonnes and have successfullycreated iron,” Tung said, adding that this is a completely Vietnamesetechnology.
It is estimated that 2.4 tonnes of red mud, costing1.5 million VND, is enough to produce one ton of iron ore, with a marketprice of 1.9 million VND. This means that it would be profitable tomake iron ore from red mud. The profits are expected to be higher ifmaking steel from the iron ores.
“Now we can say for sure that the red mud problem can be handled,” Tung was quoted as saying.
“Wemay not need the reservoirs to hold the red mud in the future, becauseit will be processed right after it comes out of the factories. Theenvironmental problem will no longer be a worry, and we will have a newsource of iron ore,” he added.-VNA
