Valorisation of red mud: disclosing the potential of an abundant residue
| dc.contributor.author | Vielma, Carlos A. | |
| dc.contributor.author | Svobodova-Sedlackova, Adela | |
| dc.contributor.author | Chimenos, Josep Maria | |
| dc.contributor.author | Fernández, A. Inés | |
| dc.contributor.author | Berlanga Labari, Carlos | |
| dc.contributor.author | Rodríguez Trías, Rafael | |
| dc.contributor.author | Barreneche, Camila | |
| dc.contributor.department | Ingeniería | es_ES |
| dc.contributor.department | Ingeniaritza | eu |
| dc.contributor.department | Institute for Advanced Materials and Mathematics - INAMAT2 | en |
| dc.contributor.funder | Gobierno de Navarra / Nafarroako Gobernua | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2025-07-21T17:01:40Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2025-07-21T17:01:40Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2025-02-21 | |
| dc.date.updated | 2025-07-21T16:41:12Z | |
| dc.description.abstract | Red mud (RM), the primary waste product of the aluminium industry, is notable for its high concentrations of metals and rare earth elements (REE). Efforts have been made to develop extraction methods for REE recovery from RM, aiming to enhance its valorisation and reduce the European reliance on external REE sources—particularly crucial for technological advancements and the transition to renewable energy. However, these methods have only been limited to low technology readiness levels (TRLs), with no economically or technically viable processing routes yet defined to enable large-scale industrialisation within a circular economy model. This study characterised RM samples from the Seydişehir region in Türkiye using different techniques and explored the experimental process for recovering metals and REE. Moreover, the study assessed the global prospective potential of RM based on technical and economic data, as well as the sustainability of the implemented process through the life cycle assessment (LCA) tool. Results showed a total REE concentration of up to 1600 ppm, with Ce, being the most abundant (426 ± 27 ppm), followed by La, Nd, and Sc. Concentration efficiencies for La and Nd ranged between 240–300%. Sc, Y, Ce, La, and Nd have significant usage in European markets and represent prime RM targets for further prospecting. The LCA revealed that the highest global warming potential of the sequential extraction process was attributed to hydroxylamine hydrochloride and hydrogen peroxide. The findings highlight the need to explore alternative, more eco-friendly reagents to improve RM valorisation. | en |
| dc.description.sponsorship | This research was partially funded by the Gobierno de Navarra (contract 0011-3998-2021-000006), corresponding to the ERA-MIN project JTC-2021_131 “Utilization of aluminum bearing raw materials for the production of aluminium metal, other metals and compounds” (ABTOMAT). Researchers from University of Barcelona belong to DIOPMA group, DIOPMA is a certified agent TECNIO in the category of technology developers from the Government of Catalonia. The authors would like to thank the Catalan Government for the quality accreditation given to their research groups DIOPMA (2021 SGR 00708). Finally, the authors would like to tank to ETİ Alüminyum for providing the samples. | |
| dc.format.mimetype | application/pdf | |
| dc.identifier.citation | Vielma, C. A., Svobodova-Sedlackova, A., Chimenos, J. M., Fernández, A. I., Berlanga, C., Rodriguez, R., Barreneche, C. (2025) Valorisation of red mud: disclosing the potential of an abundant residue. Sustainability, 17(5), 1-24. https://doi.org/10.3390/su17051849. | |
| dc.identifier.doi | 10.3390/su17051849 | |
| dc.identifier.issn | 2071-1050 | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://academica-e.unavarra.es/handle/2454/54426 | |
| dc.language.iso | eng | |
| dc.publisher | MDPI | |
| dc.relation.ispartof | Sustainability 2025, 17(5), 1849 | |
| dc.relation.projectID | info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/Gobierno de Navarra//0011-3998-2021-000006/ | |
| dc.relation.publisherversion | https://doi.org/10.3390/su17051849 | |
| dc.rights | © 2025 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license. | |
| dc.rights.accessRights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess | |
| dc.rights.uri | https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ | |
| dc.subject | Rare earth elements (REE) | en |
| dc.subject | Red mud (RM) | en |
| dc.subject | Sequential extraction | en |
| dc.subject | Prospectivity | en |
| dc.subject | Sustainability | en |
| dc.title | Valorisation of red mud: disclosing the potential of an abundant residue | en |
| dc.type | info:eu-repo/semantics/article | |
| dc.type.version | info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion | |
| dspace.entity.type | Publication | |
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