Bayer Process for Aluminum Production
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ScribdTranslationsBayer Process.
In the Bayer process, bauxite is transformed into alumina and subsequently into
metallic aluminum, although the process conditions are influenced by the
type of bauxite used, there are 5 main stages to obtain the product
desired, the stages of this process are:
1. Preparation of bauxite:
First, the size of the bauxite particle is reduced, to
increase the reaction area and facilitate its handling, this is done through
of the plate crusher and ball mill, both in wet process.
In the plate crusher, it is mixed with lime to reduce the concentration.
of phosphates in the raw material and additionally caustic liquor is added at the entry
from the mill, in order to obtain a solid suspension with 80% by weight of
particles with a diameter of less than 300 microns. From this stage, obtained
bauxite in suspension
2. Digestion or leaching:
For the selective dissolution of alumina with NaOH (sodium hydroxide
sodium) to prevent the iron from dissolving. The load is treated in steel autoclaves.
for a period of 2-8 hours at an average temperature of
140-150 degrees Celsius and at an absolute pressure of 5 bars. The reaction that
It occurs at this stage as follows:
monohydrate (European Bayer Process):
Al2O3H2O + impurities) + 2NaOH 2NaAlO2+ 2H2O + sludge
reds
trihydrate (American Bayer Process):
(Al2O3 . 3H2O + impurities) + 2NaOH → 2NaAlO2 + 4H2O + red sludge
3. Dilution and separation of waste:
At the end of digestion, the suspension that comes out of the last digester contains
the solution of aluminate, sands and red sludges is found at a temperature
bring it to its boiling point at atmospheric pressure, so that it must
pass through an expansion cooling system, in this occurs
a stepwise depressurization and a decrease in the
temperature up to approximately 105-100 degrees Celsius.
The dissolution and separation of these wastes is carried out in three stages which are:
Désandmented: here the pulp is subjected to the separation of sludge and sands
what it contains, the sands that were separated in the previous section are
passed through classifiers and later washed, as soon as the
sludges are sent to storage tanks to feed the thickeners,
In these tanks is where a flocculant is added that will make it easier.
the sedimentation process in the thickeners.
Sedimentation, washing and disposal of red sludge: as mentioned in the
In the previous point, sedimentation takes place in the thickening tanks, and
the red mud deposited at the bottom of these is periodically removed by
a raking system. The red sludge comes out from the bottom of the
thickeners and subsequently washing in order to recover the solution
caustic (alkaline) and the liquor that contains dissolved alumina, resulting in a
mud that must be discarded, while the wash water is sent to the
dissolution area.
Security filtration: The fine particles in suspension must be
separated, otherwise they would contaminate the product, and this is achieved
through a filtration, this process is carried out using pressure filters,
once the solution is filtered, it is sent to a cooling section for
instant expansion, where the liquor is given the required temperature
for precipitation at 50 or 70 degrees Celsius depending on the type of process
Bayer (European or American).
4. Precipitation.
Here the sodium aluminate solution is directed to precipitation tanks
where aluminum trihydrate, sourced from operations, is added as bait
previous ones and is allowed to cool slowly. For the precipitation of alumina
Al(OH)3), the fertile solution is first heated to high temperature and then concentrated
at lower values (65 - 40 degrees Celsius and 100 - 150 g/l of Na2O),
Subsequently, the crystals are classified by size to obtain a cut.
thick known as product and two thinner cuts that determine
the fine and intermediate seeds which are recycled to the precipitation phase.
5. Calcination.
The Thick Hydrate Washed and Filtered is subjected to drying and calcination. The
drying is achieved by utilizing the hot gases from the calciner and, a
when dry, it comes into contact at high temperature (>1000 degrees
Celsius) in an oven. This way, the final product is obtained,
non-hygroscopic alumina (Al2O3). The chemical reaction is as follows:
2Al(OH)3 → Al2O3 + 3H2O
Once the alumina is obtained, it is used primarily to produce
aluminum, this is obtained through electrolysis processed in electrolytic baths
better known as 'reduction cells', these tanks operate with a bath of
ciolite (sodium aluminum fluoride), thus obtaining metallic aluminum. The aluminum
obtained from the reduction cells is molded and processed in furnaces of
concentration for obtaining high-quality aluminum.
References:
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