Muri Alumina Refinery
In the Alumina refinery plant at Muri, red mud (bauxite residue) generated from the plant is stored in a red mud pond lined with impervious clay to prevent leakage. The dykes of red mud pond are given a slope by earth filling to protect the dykes from erosion and to give stability to the dykes. The dykes around the red mud pond required slope stabilization. For this, the dykes as well as the groundwater around the red mud disposal area required regular monitoring.
The real-time safety monitoring of red mud pond/dyke involved instrumentation to provide immediate warning for slope stability and groundwater pressures. Encardio Rite was awarded the sub-contract for monitoring works of the project. Scope of works included:
- Supply and installation of geotechnical instruments as per approved drawings & methodology, specifications for work, and instructions of Hindalco‘s Project Manager
- Supply and commissioning of wireless (GSM/GPRS) data logger
- Monitoring and reporting in the initial phase
- Real-time database management system
Instrument used included:
- In-place Inclinometer for monitoring sub-surface lateral movement/deformation surrounding slope of dyke.
- Piezometer for monitoring sub-surface water pressures at different depths, for slope stability evaluation
- Datalogger to collect data from all of the above instruments and transfer to central server
Over a hundred IPI sensors were used for monitoring slope stability. The gage length of the sensors was decided depending on the borehole location, dyke height, and depth up to which the movement was expected. Sensors were placed at 1 m gage length up to a depth of 20 m to 30 m. Below this depth, sensors were placed at 3 m gage lengths. A typical layout of IPI and Piezometer is shown in the adjacent schematic. All the instruments were installed successfully and are giving reliable data at pre-set frequency. Monitored data is available online through Encardio Rite’s in-house developed DRISHTI, a web-based data management system (as of 2021). The data is available in near real time to the stakeholders on their laptops and mobile phones.
| Project Details | Muri Alumina Refinery |
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| Location | Ranchi, Jharkhand, India |
| Client | Hindalco Industries Limited |
| Duration | 2021 |