Red Mud Silicon Aluminum Aerogel Thermal Insulation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for utilizing red mud, a waste product from the aluminum industry, are inefficient and lead to environmental pollution, with existing recycling methods being energy-intensive and costly, and resulting materials lacking high temperature resistance.
Innovation Solution
A method for preparing high temperature resistant silicon aluminum aerogel composite materials using red mud as the raw material, involving pretreatment to remove soluble alkali, followed by a series of chemical reactions and gelation with a fiber substrate to produce aerogels with improved thermal insulation properties.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If red mud is directly discharged, then disposal cost is reduced, but environmental pollution increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent converts the harmful waste red mud into a beneficial aerogel material through chemical treatment. The red mud undergoes acid leaching to extract aluminum and silicon, followed by sol-gel process to form aerogel with excellent thermal insulation properties. This transforms the waste disposal problem into a resource utilization solution, simultaneously reducing pollution and creating valuable materials.
2Reliability
If conventional aerogel preparation methods are used, then thermal insulation performance is achieved, but raw material cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs inexpensive red mud as the raw material source instead of costly conventional aerogel precursors. The red mud, being a waste product from alumina production, is processed through acid leaching and sol-gel transformation to create aerogel materials with comparable thermal insulation performance, significantly reducing raw material costs.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the chemical composition parameters of the aerogel by incorporating aluminum and silicon from red mud, creating an aluminum-silicon-based aerogel system. This compositional parameter change maintains the desired thermal insulation properties while utilizing abundant, low-cost raw materials.
3Loss of substance
If existing red mud utilization methods are used, then resource recycling is achieved, but high energy consumption occurs
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces high-energy pyrometallurgical processes with chemical leaching and sol-gel methods. Instead of using energy-intensive melting and reduction processes, the method employs acid leaching at moderate temperatures followed by chemical gelation and drying, significantly reducing energy consumption while achieving effective resource recycling from red mud.
4Loss of substance
If red mud is used to prepare roadbed materials, then waste utilization is achieved, but material performance deteriorates due to alkali leaching
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the harmful soluble alkali components from red mud through acid leaching treatment before processing. The acid solution removes sodium and other alkali metals that would otherwise leach out and deteriorate material performance. This extraction step purifies the red mud, allowing it to be transformed into high-performance aerogel materials without the alkali leaching problem.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The method achieves comprehensive utilization of red mud, reducing environmental pollution and producing low-cost, high temperature resistant aerogels with excellent thermal insulation performance, maintaining stability and low thermal conductivity even at high temperatures.
Implementation Method 1
exchanging obtained solution with anion resin until a pH value of the solution is 2-3
Implementation Method 2
adding an alkaline catalyst for solution catalytic reaction
Implementation Method 3
high temperature resistant silicon aluminum aerogel composite materials... excellent thermal insulation performance
Data Source
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AI summary
The present invention discloses high temperature resistant silicon aluminum aerogel composite materials with red mud as raw material, preparation method and applications thereof, relates to a field of safe disposal and resource utilization of red mud. The method comprises step of pretreating the red mud; step of mixing and heating pretreated red mud with dilute acid solution for reaction; step of mixing with ethanol aqueous solution, heating and stirring, exchanging anionic resins, and adding alkaline catalyst for solution catalytic reaction; step of adding a modifier dropwise, heating and stirring, and then adding a chelating agent dropwise for ring opening reaction; Finally, compositing with a fiber substrate, through steps of gelling, aging and drying. The method greatly save preparation cost of aerogels, and also solve problem that current red mud waste cannot be effectively utilized and environmental pollution, and realize comprehensive utilization of the red mud and preparation of low-cost aerogel.