EXTRACTION OF
ALUMINIUM
Seminar Presented By,
SREELAKSHMI OS
3rd DC Chemistry
ALUMINIUM
Aluminium is soft, silvery-white, corrosion-resistant metal.
It is the most abundant metal in the earth’s crust as it makes up 8% of the crust and it is
the third most abundant element after oxygen and silicon.
Bauxite ore (Al2O3.xH2O) is the major source of aluminium till date which is a
mixture of hydrated aluminium oxide.
Aluminium can also be recovered from cryolite (NaзAlF6) and alunite.
It is also found in gemstones such as garnet, topaz and chrysoberyl. The chemical
symbol of this metal is Al.
In the boron group with symbol Al, aluminium is a chemical element and is the most
commonly used non-ferrous metal.
CONTENTS
Ores of Aluminium
Metallurgy of Aluminium
Dressing of ore
Concentration of ore
Bayer’s Process
Hall - Heroult Process
Aluminium Uses
ALUMINIUM ORE
Ores of Aluminium
Aluminium is a highly reactive metal, belonging to the group 13 of the periodic
table.
In nature, aluminium is found in the form of its oxide in its ores.
The important ores of aluminium are:
Bauxite – Al2O3.2H2O
Corundum – Al2O3
1. Cryolite NaзAlF6
Metallurgy of Aluminium
Aluminium is mostly extracted from its bauxite ore
Dressing of Ore
The ore is mechanically crushed and pulverized.
CONCENTRATION OF ORE
The bauxite ore contains ferric oxide and silica as impurities.
Gravity separation removes silica from crushed ore and magnetic
separation separates ferric oxide impurities from the ore.
The ore is then concentrated by a chemical process.
Bauxite is the name given to aluminium ore.
To generate aluminium oxide, bauxite is purified, a white powder
from which aluminium can be extracted.
Aluminium oxide has a very high melting point of more than 2000°
C which makes melting very expensive.
Aluminium oxide in water does not dissolve, but in molten cryolite,
it dissolves
Pure aluminium is a silver-white metal with many desirable
features. It’s light, non-toxic, non-magnetic, and non- sparking.
It’s a bit ornamental. It’s created, machined, and cast readily.
Pure aluminium is soft and lacks strength, but it has very helpful
characteristics for alloys with tiny quantities of copper, magnesium,
silicon, manganese and other components.
BAYER’S PROCESS
Here aluminium ore is treated with concentrated sodium hydroxide
solution to form soluble sodium aluminate which can be filtered
off.
The filtrate is heated with water to get aluminium hydroxide which
on strong heating gives alumina.
HALL-HEROULT PROCESS
The Hall-Heroult process is widely used in the extraction
of aluminium.
In Hall-Heroult process, pure Al2O3 is mixed with CaF2
or Na3AlF6.
This results in lowering the melting point of the mixture
and increases its ability to conduct electricity.
A steel vessel with a lining of carbon and graphite rods is
used.
The carbon lining acts as a cathode and graphite act as an
anode.
When electricity is passed through the electrolytic cell
which consists of carbon electrodes oxygen is formed at
the anode.
This oxygen formed reacts with the carbon of the anode to
form carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide
In this method of production of aluminium, for every 1 kg
of Al produced, approximately 0.5 kg of carbon anode is
burnt
Aluminium ions are created at the adverse cathode from the
aluminium oxide and then sink down because they are heavier than
the cryolite solution.
Then, the liquid shape of the aluminium that has sunk to the bottom.
On the other side, at the positive anode, the oxygen from the
aluminium oxide forms and responds to carrbon dioxide with the
graphite carbon.
The overall reaction is :
During the process of electrolysis, Aluminium ions that are
positively charged gain electrons from the cathode and form molten
aluminium.
Oxide ions lose electrons at the anode and form molecules of
Oxygen.
In the electrochemical sequence i.e., reactivity series, aluminium is
very reactive to be removed from its ore by carbon reduction.
The required temperatures are too high to be economical.
A L U M IN IU M U S E S
1.Aluminium is used in a wide range in the field of transport,
construction, etc.
2. Aluminium foils are used in the food
industries for wrapping food.
3. The dust of this metal is used in
paints.
4. It is used in the extraction of manganese and chromium from its
oxides.
5. As it is a soft metal and can moulded into any be shape it is used in the
manufacturing of storage cans.
6. After iron, aluminium is the most commonly used metal.
7. It is mostly used with another in an alloy, meaning that it is blended
with another metal to create another compound with some desirable
characteristics-like stainless steel.
Aluminium being light a good conductor of heat, corrosion-resistant and
cheap is used In making household appliances.
9. It is used in electric transmission as it is a good conductor of electricity.
Thank You💖
