Numerical Simulation of Red Mud Blended Raw Materials in a Precalciner

The cement industry is a major contributor to global carbon emissions. Therefore, reducing emissions while utilizing industrial wastes is critical for its sustainable development. Red mud, a solid waste byproduct of alumina smelting with main components like SiO₂, Al₂O₃, and CaO, can partially replace limestone as a raw material in cement production. TG-DSC thermal analysis clarified red mud's three-stage weight loss characteristic during calcination (total weight loss rate of 22.11%), and orthogonal experiments identified calcination temperature as the core factor for its CaO content, with the optimal calcination pretreatment process confirmed (0.075-0.09 mm particle size, 1373 K, 1 h residence time, CaO content up to 21.1%). Based on the results, this study uses ANSYS Fluent 2021 R1 to simulate a TTF-type precalciner, establishing a validated multi-physical field model (all relative errors < 5%) to explore red mud blending ratios of 0%, 2.5%, 5%, 7.5% and 10%. Unlike previous experimental studies, this work uses a CFD model to quantify how red mud blending ratios affect the coupled thermo-chemical environment in a TTF precalciner, revealing a mechanism-driven trade-off among decomposition rate, CO₂, and NO_x that experiments alone cannot capture. Results show red mud slightly alters the internal temperature field and reduces the raw meal decomposition rate. The decomposition rate remains within the industrial acceptable range of 85-95% when the red mud blending ratio is no more than 5%, while further increasing the blending ratio to 7.5% and 10% causes the decomposition rate to drop below 85%. Therefore, a blending ratio of 5% is recommended, which balances waste utilization, decomposition rate, and emission reduction, providing solid technical support for red mud's large-scale use in cement production.