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Following two years of COVID and virtual meetings, the Removal consortium was able once again to come physically together at the MYTILINEOS headquarter offices in Athens on the 7th of October 2022. The progress of the project was reviewed and activities were aligned among partners in view of the project conclusion in April 2023.

In May ’22 a paper has been published by Tobias Hertel, van den Bulck, Amy; Blanpain, Bart; Pontikes, Yiannis. This paper “Correlating the amorphous phase structure of vitrified bauxite residue (red mud) to the initial reactivity in binder systems” investigates the reactivity of cementitious systems using different slags made from bauxite residue as the main raw material. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0958946522000063?via%3Dihub

The paper “Composition of the reactivity of engineered slags from bauxite residue and steel slag smelting and use as SCM for Portland cement” was published on the 28th of February 22 investigating the composition and reactivity of engineered slags made from industrial waste materials such as bauxite residue and electric arc furnace slag. The researchers used multiple methods to assess the composition of the slags. They also investigated the hydraulic reactivity of the slags when combined with Ordinary Portland cement (OPC) in paste and mortar. They considered the effects of adding limestone and anhydrite to the mixtures. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0950061822000253?via%3Dihub

At the end of the 2021, Michiel Giels, Tobias Hertel and Yiannis Pontikes published the paper “Transforming Bauxite Residue into an Alternative Cement via Vitrification, a Scalable Solution?”. The paper explains that Bauxite residue (BR) has potential for use in the construction industry, but its classification as waste and low reactivity pose challenges in Europe. Vitrification was explored as a solution to transform BR into a reactive and valuable product. This work suggests a need to reconsider cement standards and waste classification for BR, facilitating its industrial implementation. https://icsoba.org/assets/files/publications/2021/Shorts/BR07S%20-%20Transforming%20Bauxite%20Residue%20into%20an%20Alternative%20Cement%20via%20Vitrification,%20a%20Scalable%20Solution.pdf

On 23-24 September, European Aluminium organised the online cross-fertilisation workshop “Towards a more sustainable alumina production in Europe” under the umbrella of the RemovAL and ReActiv EU projects. Over 150 experts from aluminium industry, research and technology organisations, institutions and SMEs express their interest to attend the event. In seven sessions, this online event addressed the outcomes of EU projects related to various processing routes and potentials of alumina and bauxite residue by giving a special focus on the industrial symbiosis concept and the associated enabler Hubs4circularity as promoted by Horizon Europe. The presentations and breakout discussions showed the potentials and synergies of those EU projects. The event indicated the […]

RemovAL research won the best paper award in the BR subject of ICSOBA 2021 for the paper “Transforming Bauxite Residue into an Alternative Cement via Vitrification, a Scalable Solution?” by Michiel Giels, Tobias Hertel and Yiannis Pontikes. This work by the KUL team and the RWTH team helped in the upscaling of RemovAL technologies.

“Recovery of Iron Aluminum from Bauxite Residue by Carbothermic Reduction and Slag Leaching” by Ekstroem, K. E., Bugten, A. Voll, van der Eijk, C., Lazou, A., Balomenos, E., Tranell, G. investigates the recovery of major components from bauxite residue through carbothermic reduction and subsequent slag leaching. Iron is primarily recovered as pig-iron, and the addition of lime helps create highly leachable mayenite phase in calcium aluminate slags. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40831-021-00422-7

In 2021 the report “Slag Valorisation Symposium: shifting gears to a climate-neutral & resource efficient society ” has been published. https://slag-valorisation-symposium.eu/wp-content/uploads/downloads2021/Michiel%20Giels%20-%20Designing%20highly%20reactive%20precursors%20from%20bauxite%20residue%20-%20Can%20the%20Rilem%20R3%20test%20assist.pdf

The full agenda for Innovation Forum 2021 has been published. Download it here or see it in full at h2020innovationforum.com and don’t forget to register. Innovation Forum 2021 is taking place on November 30 in Brussels. For those who can’t make it physically, the event is also going to be available virtually at h2020innovationforum.com