Utilization of Red Mud

as filler
Presented By: Swapnil Kharode and Aditya Sakhre
 Introduction

What is Asphalt?
Asphalt, also known as bitumen, is a sticky, black, and highly viscous liquid or
semi-solid form of petroleum.
What are fillers?
Filler plays a dual role in asphalt mixes; primarily, coarser particles of filler act
as the inert material which fills interstices between larger aggregates in mixes
and influence strength and impermeability of asphalt mix. On the other hand,
finer filler particles with a size smaller than asphalt film thickness, actively
interact with asphalt and modify viscosity and consistency of asphalt-filler mastic.
 Use of Red Mud in Asphalt Concrete Mixes

Prerequisite of Red Mud:

• Red mud must be present in powder form with minimum or no moisture
content present
• Red mud particle must have size less than mesh number 200 (0.075 mm)
• Red must retain its alkaline nature (Because it helps in forming a stronger
bond with asphalt in asphalt mix which subsequently improves the
performance of asphalt mixes)
 Material Balance
• The composition of asphalt concrete which is used in India is
Component % Weight
Aggregates 80
Asphalt 11
Stone Dust 9

• So, here we replace stone dust with red mud

• Considering construction of 1km long highway according to specification given by
Ministry of Roads
• Dimension of road are it’s 1km long, 15m wide and 30mm thick
• So, the volume of Asphalt concrete required will be = 1000*15*0.03
= 450 m³ 
• The density of Asphalt concrete is 2230 kg/m³ 
• So, mass of Asphalt concrete required to construct the specified road:
Mass = Density*Volume
= 2230*450
= 1003500 kg = 1003.5 ton
• Amount of red mud required will be = 1003.5*0.09 = 90.315 ton
• The above weight obtained is weight of dry red mud
• Considering water content in red mud stored is 40 % by weight
• Amount of actual red mud required will be = 90.315 / 0.6
= 150.525 tons
 Process for Preparation of Red Mud
• First the water content of red mud is reduced as much as possible by use of
filter press
• Then the red mud is passed through jaw crusher to break large
conglomerate formed of red mud due to compression.
• The red mud thus obtained is the passed through oven at 105◦C to remove
remaining of water.
• Then its passed through ball mill to reduced the size of particles such that it
passes through a sieve of mesh number 200.
• The crushed red mud is the passed through screening process and large
particle are again send crushing.
• Then the obtained red mud powder is send through a dryer.
Process Flow Diagram for Preparation of Red
Mud
 List of Raw Material and Inventory Needed

• Taking basis as 1 ton of red mud

• Usable red mud in 1 ton considering 40% water by wight is 600 kg
• So, the raw material required for using 600 kg of red mud for asphalt
concrete production will be:
• Mass of Aggregate = (600 / 0.09) * 0.8
= 5333.3 kg
• Mass of Asphalt = (600 / 0.09) * 0.11
= 733.33 kg
• Mass of product or Asphalt concrete formed will be = 6666.66 kg =6.666 ton
 Result and Benefits of Using Red Mud

• As the red mud contain calcium-based water-insoluble minerals like calcite

which promotes asphalt filler adhesion satisfactory stripping resistance is
obtained.
• The measured hydrophilic coefficients of red mud (0.85) were found to be
within optimum range, indicating their superior affinity towards asphalt.
• Alkaline materials form a stronger bond with asphalt due to its acidic nature,
hence offering superior resistance to stripping.
• Previous studies have suggested that stabilizing action of asphalt can
inhibit the leaching of heavy metals.
Test Results of various test conducted to know the performance of Asphalt
concrete containing 9% by weight Red Mud

Parameter Performances of asphalt concrete

OAC OAC Increased by 6.19%
Marshall stability Marshall stability Improved by 8.99 %
Permanent deformation Marginally higher Marshall Quotient

Cracking resistance TS improved by 20.63 %

Moisture resistance RMS reduced by 7.12 %
Adhesion Mixing time increased by 44.73%.
Asphalt coverage reduced by 11.11%
after boiling
Long-term ageing resistance Retained stability after conditioning
reduced by 4.6%
 Potential Demand
• Highway and road construction in India is done by both government and private
companies. Some of major companies on India are :
1. L&T Engineering & Construction Division (L&T ECC), Chennai
2. Shapoorji Pallonji & Co Ltd, Mumbai
3. Gammon India Ltd, Mumbai
4. Gammon Infrastructure Projects Limited (GIPL), Mumbai
5. Tata Projects Ltd, Mumbai
6. Afcons Infrastructure Limited, Mumbai
7. GMR Group, Mumbai
8. Hindustan Construction Company (HCC), Mumbai
9. Reliance Infrastructure
 Potential Demand

• And some of companies producing asphalt and asphalt binders in India are:
1. AIC Infrastructures Pvt. Ltd
2. Asphalt India Co-operation.
3. Sapco Bitumen Company Limited
4. Linnhoff Pvt Ltd
5. Tiki Tar Industries