Chemical Analysis Procedures for Determining the Dispersion Behaviour of Red Mud

The present study deals with evaluating the dispersion characteristics of red mud by adapting to chemical analysis methods. For this purpose, the leached aqueous solution has been extracted by suitably diluting the red mud particles with distilledwater. The parameters like sodium absorption ratio (SAR) and exchangeable sodium percentage (ESP), which are strong indicators of flocculation or dispersion stability, pH, zeta potential and electrical conductivity, have been measured and employed to assess the dispersive nature of the red mud. The values of SAR and ESP aremeasured as 54.9% and 98.3%, respectively. The very high values of SAR and ESP demonstrate that the red mud tends to exhibit moderate to high dispersive behaviour. Usually, dispersive soils are not selected as a source material for the construction of earth structures, without adequately stabilizing or treating with chemical additives. As such, the results emphasize that there is a need for treating the red mud with additives like gypsum or alum for mitigating the dispersion behaviour, before its intended use.