PROSPECTS OF USING RUSSIAN HIGH-SILICON RAW MATERIALS IN ALUMINA PRODUCTION

Abstract

The relevance of the research is caused by the limited reserves of low-silicon aluminum-containing raw materials for production of metallurgical alumina by the Bayer method in our country. Therefore, the management of alumina plants buys this raw materials abroad (Guinea, Brazil, Jamaica). The cost of transportation of this raw material every year becomes more and more expensive, which increases the cost of metallurgical alumina. Also, do not forget about political risks, which further aggravates this problem. Therefore, it is necessary to switch to the use of domestic high-silicon aluminum-containing raw materials of lower quality, but their reserves, located in close proximity to alumina plants, are hundreds of billions of tons. The aim of the research is to study the domestic ore base of high-silicon aluminum-containing raw materials, to define primary sources of raw materials and their deposits, to investigate the characteristics of raw materials to assess the possibility of their use for production of metallurgical alumina. Object: high-silicon aluminum-containing kaolin clay of Siberian deposits. Conducted research. Chemical, phase, granulometric, microstructural, micro-x-ray spectral and thermogravimetric analyses of kaolin clay of Troshkovsky Deposit were performed. Results. The analysis of the domestic ore base revealed the largest deposits of low-grade aluminum raw materials suitable for production of metallurgical alumina. It is established that the most promising is the Troshkovsky Deposit. The advantages of this field are huge reserves of high-silicon aluminum-containing raw materials, a high degree of study of the field and favorable engineering-geological conditions. The conducted research of the Troshkovsky kaolin clay deposits have led to conclusion that the clay of this field can be used for production of metallurgical alumina by acid-alkaline technology.

Keywords

• high-silicon aluminum-containing raw materials
• kaolin clay
• import substitution
• chemical analysis
• phase analysis
• granulometric analysis
• microstructural analysis
• micro-x-ray spectral analysis
• thermogravimetric analysis