System for processing red mud and method of processing red mud

Abstract

A system for processing red mud including at least one heating section controlled to heat red mud to a predetermined temperature, a crusher configured to grind the red mud to a predetermined particle size, a first separator for physically extracting iron components from the red mud, and a second separator for physically extracting one or more of aluminum components and titanium components from the red mud, wherein the first and second separators do not require addition of chemical additives to perform the separation.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A system for processing red mud comprising:
 at least one heating section controlled to heat red mud to a predetermined temperature;   a crusher configured to grind the red mud to a predetermined particle size;   a first separator for physically extracting iron components from the red mud; and   a second separator for physically extracting one or more of aluminum components and titanium components from the red mud,   wherein the first and second separators do not require addition of chemical additives to perform the separation.   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one heating section includes a first heating section controlled to heat the red mud to a first temperature and a second heating section controlled to heat the red mud to a second temperature lower than the first temperature, and wherein the second heating section is configured to receive the red mud output from the first heating section. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 2 , wherein the first temperature is at least 1400° C. and the second temperature is between 600° C. and 1500° C. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one heating section includes a first heating section and a mixing conveyor configured to convey and mix the red mud within the first heating section, said mixing conveyor extending along a majority portion of a length of the first heating section. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 4 , wherein the mixing conveyor is an auger screw conveyor. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 4 , wherein the first heating section includes a plurality of burners arranged along the length of the first heating section. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising an outer housing at least partially enclosing the at least one heating section, the crusher and at least one of the first separator and the second separator. 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 7 , wherein the outer housing comprises a rotating tube furnace including a plurality of areas enclosing the at least one heating section, the crusher and at least one of the first separator and the second separator. 
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the first separator comprises a magnetic separator for extracting iron components from the red mud and the second separator comprises one or more of a cyclone separator and a gravity separator for extracting one or more of the aluminum components and titanium components from the red mud. 
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the first separator comprises a first magnetic separator for extracting iron components from the red mud and the second separator comprises a second magnetic separator operating at a higher magnetic intensity and configured to receive iron-separated red mud from the first magnetic separator and to extract titanium components from the iron-separated red mud. 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one heating section is controlled to heat the red mud so as to substantially remove caustic soda from the red mud. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 2 , wherein the first heating section and the second heating section are controlled to heat the red mud so as to convert silicon components in the red mud to glass. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising a third separator configured to physically extract one or more of vanadium, manganese and chromium from the red mud.