Different manufacturers understand the varying processes involved when working with materials, regardless of which type of the type of manufacturers you are. Some materials like Aluminum play an essential part of your job. Moreover, it is essential to know the essential properties of different grades and alloys of metal you interact with , and how they respond to different techniques and their application. Among the essential methods of working with Aluminum is Smelting. Today we are going to focus on this Smelting as one of the common methods.
As you continue reading about the Aluminum Smelting process, keep in mind that trained technical professionals at Clinton Aluminum will make more with the help of customers like you. You have to get the right material for every job. .
Why Is Aluminium So Common Yet So Rare?
Certainly, Smelting is a crucial step in aluminum extraction; without it, accessing Aluminum will be very difficult or even using it for building or as commercial material. This is mainly Aluminum is the third most ample element right next to oxygen and silicon in the Earth’s crust. It also hard to find it naturally in its native form. You should also know that pure Aluminum is highly reactive, and its molecules easily bound with nearby elements.
The main reason why Aluminum is in abundance on Earth is that it makes about 1.59% of the planet’s mass. Moreover, it easily forms an oxide and bound into rocks; this means it cannot be easily shed from the atmosphere. Hardly would you find it in pure form, since it forms into oxides and silicates. Some of the common Aluminum containing minerals include beryl, cryolite, spinel, and finally turquoise. You will find rubies and sapphires from impurities in aluminum oxide.
Certainly, Aluminum contains various minerals that have Aluminum, but the Bauxite is the main reason why Aluminum is very valuable in the market. Bauxite is very common in the tropical climate and current mind in abundance in places like Australia, China, India, and not forgetting Guinea. Thus, Smelting is the process where Aluminum is extracted from Bauxite.
What Is The Bayer Process?
The conversion of Bauxite to pure Aluminum takes two distinct steps. To begin with, the mineral is subjected to what is called the Bayer process, used to extract alumina (aluminum oxide) from Bauxite. The Hall-Harold process follows where alumina is dissolved in molten cryolite and molten cryolite at the same time electrolyzing the molten salt bath.
Developed by Carl Josef Bayer back in 1888, the Bayer Process was developed as a cheap method to extract alumna, which is very common for dyeing cotton. Bauxite is mainly composed of hydrated aluminum oxide, which is mixed with other compounds like Iron. Bayer later found out a way to heat the ore in a pressure vessel at the same time adding Sodium hydroxide (caustic soda). The temperatures when it comes to Aluminum Smelting are minted between 150 to 200 degrees Celsius. During the process, aluminum dissolves in sodium aluminate.
Note that Aluminum can be one of the compounds making up Bauxite. Some other compounds you should expect are gibbsite (Al (OH) 3), boehmite (ALO (OH), or even diaspore (AIO (OH). That said, each compound required different forms of extracting, but the general process will remain the same. Moreover, different compounds detect different extraction conditions. On the residue, the gibbsite will be precipitated when the liquid is cooled, at the same time seeding it with fine-grained aluminum hydroxide.
In the extraction process, the aluminum oxide in Bauxite is converted to soluble sodium aluminate. The silica is dissolved as other compounds in Bauxite remain solid. You can then filter the impurities using a rotary sand tray or any other method. Waste products of the process are known as red mud, which is composed of high calcium and sodium hydroxide content.
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