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]
First, aluminium oxide (Al 2 O 3) is obtained through the Bayer process by digestion of bauxite with sodium hydroxide (NaOH) at about 240 °C. Second, the aluminium oxide is subjected to a Hall–Héroult process together with cryolite to obtain aluminium that will then be combined with iron to create the ferroaluminum. Last, after the ...
Aluminium smelting is the process of extracting aluminium from its oxide, alumina, generally by the Hall-Héroult process. Alumina is extracted from the ore bauxite by means of the Bayer process at an alumina refinery .
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]
The Hall–Héroult process is the major industrial process for smelting aluminium.It involves dissolving aluminium oxide (alumina) (obtained most often from bauxite, aluminium's chief ore, through the Bayer process) in molten cryolite and electrolyzing the molten salt bath, typically in a purpose-built cell.
The first stage is the calcination of the bauxite at 1200 °C with sodium carbonate and coke. The alumina is converted in sodium aluminate. Iron oxide remains unchanged and silica forms a polysilicate. In the second stage sodium hydroxide solution is added, which dissolves the sodium aluminate, leaving the impurities as a solid residue. The ...
Bauxite was discovered in 1821 by Pierre Berthier who named it after a village named Les Beaux where he found it. [6] To obtain the alumina from the bauxite ore, a process was developed that used acid to dissolve aluminium but resulted in a product that contained large amounts of iron and titanium dissolved within which were difficult to remove. [6]
Aluminium oxide is commonly used as a catalyst for industrial processes; [141] e.g. the Claus process to convert hydrogen sulfide to sulfur in refineries and to alkylate amines. [160] [161] Many industrial catalysts are supported by alumina, meaning that the expensive catalyst material is dispersed over a surface of the inert alumina. [162]