Research Projects

Presently aluminium is produced by fused salt electro-winning from fluoride bath. Such production process uses carbon as anode which has limitations of (future) supply and environmental pollution. Apart from CO2 problem, there are several other drawbacks associated with Bayer process and Hall–Héroult process. For example, low energy efficiency, cost of pure aluminium oxide and anode carbon, high plant cost due to the large number of relatively small production units, current losses and other losses due to frequent discontinuities in the cell operation, fluorine disposal problem and red mud problem. To substitute Bayer process and Hall–Héroult process, carbothermic reduction can not used for aluminium production due to high stability of aluminium oxide. However, hydrogen plasma processing provides a unique option to reduce metal oxides to produce their respective metals and alloys, due to the unique thermodynamic and kinetic properties of hydrogen plasma. Also, its combustion product is water which is environmentally harmless unlike CO2. The thermal hydrogen plasma has vast potential to reduce alumina and oxides present in red mud. The present proposal, therefore, aims at making in-depth basic studies of reduction of alumina and oxides present red mud, by hydrogen plasma. In the present investigation, pellets of alumina and red mud will be made and these pellets will be taken in a static bed. The static bed will be exposed to non-transferred thermal hydrogen plasma. The molten metal and metal mixture will be cast. The diagnostics of plasma parameters will be done by optical emission spectroscope and pyrometer. The thermodynamics, kinetics and mechanisms of the process be optimized.