Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
The Bayer process is the principal industrial means of refining bauxite to produce alumina (aluminium oxide) and was developed by Carl Josef Bayer.Bauxite, the most important ore of aluminium, contains only 30–60% aluminium oxide (Al 2 O 3), the rest being a mixture of silica, various iron oxides, and titanium dioxide. [1]
Bauxite is the main source of the rare metal gallium. [17] During the processing of bauxite to alumina in the Bayer process, gallium accumulates in the sodium hydroxide liquor. From this it can be extracted by a variety of methods. The most recent is the use of ion-exchange resin. [18]
Bauxite forms by the weathering of aluminum-rich and silica-poor rocks in hot, humid, climates, at places with good drainage. Under the proper conditions, weathering disintegrates the aluminium silicate minerals, and dissolves and removes the silica, creating bauxite. The mined US bauxite deposits have all been in the southeastern United States.
This is a list of countries by primary aluminium production in 2023. [1] Primary aluminium is produced from aluminium oxide which is obtained from bauxite and excludes recycled aluminium. Only countries with a minimum production of 100,000 tonnes are listed.
The US imported nearly all the bauxite (the only commercial aluminum ore) used in producing primary aluminum. For years, the US has produced less than 1% of the bauxite used to make aluminum. The US also imported 33 percent of the aluminum that was used in 2014. Of the imported aluminum, 63% came from Canada. [1] [19]
Alumina is extracted from the ore bauxite by means of the Bayer process at an alumina refinery. This is an electrolytic process, so an aluminium smelter uses huge amounts of electric power; smelters tend to be located close to large power stations, often hydro-electric ones, in order to hold down costs and reduce the overall carbon footprint ...
Aluminium oxide is an amphoteric oxide of aluminium with the chemical formula Al 2 O 3. It is also commonly referred to as alumina or aloxite [1] in the mining, ceramic and materials science communities. It is produced by the Bayer process from bauxite.
2023 bauxite production and reserves (thousands of tons) [1] Country Production Reserves World: 400,000: 30,000,000