Pictorial Diagram of the Bayer Process

History of the Process The Bayer process was developed in 1887 by Karl Josef Bayer. Working in Saint Petersburg, Russia to develop a method for supplying alumina to the textile industry. Bayer's years in Russia were his most fruitful and creative years. He joined the Tentelev Chemical Plant near Saint Petersburg to work on problems of production of pure aluminum hydroxide for the dyeing of fabrics. The plant, presently known as "Red Chemist Plant, was using the Le Chatelier Process to produce aluminum hydroxide which was used as a mordant for dyeing cotton, wool, and silk. The textiles to be dyed were soaked in a solution of the hydroxide dissolved in a weak acid, then squeezed, dried and steamed whereupon the hydroxide precipitated on the fibers. Thus treated, the textiles could be immersed in a dye solution to form a colored "lake. This was the method of dyeing in those days. It was then that he made the discovery that aluminum hydroxide could be precipitated from sodium aluminate solution if a seed of a freshly precipitated aluminum hydroxide were agitated vigorously in the cold solution. The pure product could be collected by filtration and washed. The process was soon adopted by the Tentelev Plant.

In 1887 he made his second discovery that alumina contained in bauxite could be dissolved selectively by heating with a solution of sodium hydroxide under pressure in an autoclave to form sodium aluminate solution. He found also that the alkaline mother liquor obtained after the precipitation of aluminum hydroxide could be used. A few years earlier, Henri Sainte Claire Deville in France developed a method for the making alumina by heating bauxite in sodium carbonate, (Na2CO3), at 1200C, leaching the sodium aluminate formed with water, then precipitating aluminium hydroxide by carbon dioxide, CO2, which was then filtered and dried. This process was later abandoned for the Bayer process. The process began to gain importance in metallurgy (the branch of science that deals with the properties of metals) the Bayer process marks the birth of the modern field of hydrometallurgy. Raw Materials Bauxite is the major raw material of the processIt is found in the tropics and sub-tropical region around the world.Soils are classified as bauxitic based on their alumina content , this will determine the Alumina ( Aluminium oxide Al2O3 is found in red dirt call bauxite. Bayer process, procedure for obtaining alumina from the aluminum ore bauxite: use to refine alumina. The alumina can then be used for various industrial purposes or smelted to provide aluminum suitability for mining. It is normally dark red or light brown in colour. The process stages are:

1. Milling The bauxite is washed and crushed, reducing the particle size and increasing the available surface area for the digestion stage. Lime and "spent liquor" (caustic soda returned from the precipitation stage) are added at the mills to make a pumpable slurry.

2. Desilication Bauxites that have high levels of silica (SiO2) go through a process to remove this impurity. Silica can cause problems with scale formation and quality of the final product.

3. Digestion A hot caustic soda (NaOH) solution is used to dissolve the aluminium-bearing minerals in the bauxite (gibbsite, bhmite and diaspore) to form a sodium aluminate supersaturated solution or pregnant liquor.

Gibbsite: Al(OH)3 + Na+ + OH- Al(OH)4- + Na+

Bhmite and Diaspore: AlO(OH) + Na+ + OH- + H2O Al(OH)4- + Na+

Conditions within the digester (caustic concentration, temperature and pressure) are set according to the properties of the bauxite ore. Ores with a high gibbsite content can be processed at 140C, while bhmitic bauxites require temperatures between 200 and 280C. The pressure is not important for the process as such, but is defined by the steam saturation pressure of the process. At 240C the pressure is approximately 3.5 MPa.

The slurry is then cooled in a series of flash tanks to around 106C at atmospheric pressure and by flashing off steam. This steam is used to preheat spent liquor. In some high temperature digestion refineries, higher quality bauxite (trihydrate) is injected into the flash train to boost production. This "sweetening " process also reduces the energy usage per tonne of production.

Although higher temperatures are often theoretically advantageous, there are several potential disadvantages, including the possibility of oxides other than alumina dissolving into the caustic liquor.

4. Clarification/Settling The first stage of clarification is to separate the solids (bauxite residue) from the pregnant liquor (sodium aluminate remains in solution) via sedimentation. Chemical additives (flocculants) are added to assist the sedimentation process. The bauxite residue sinks to the bottom of the settling tanks, then is transferred to the washing tanks, where it undergoes a series of washing stages to recover the caustic soda (which is reused in the digestion process).

Further separation of the pregnant liquor from the bauxite residue is performed utilising a series of security filters. The purpose of the security filters is to ensure that the final product is not contaminated with impurities present in the residue.

Depending on the requirements of the residue storage facility, further thickening, filtration and/or neutralisation stages are employed prior to it being pumped to the bauxite residue disposal area.

5. Precipitation In this stage, the alumina is recovered by crystallisation from the pregnant liquor, which is supersaturated in sodium aluminate.

The crystalisation process is driven by progressive cooling of the pregnant liquor, resulting in the formation of small crystals of aluminium trihydroxite (Al(OH)3, commonly known as hydrate), which then grow and agglomerate to form larger crystals. The precipitation reaction is the reverse of the gibbsite dissolution reaction in the digestion stage:

Al(OH)4- + Na+ Al(OH)3 + Na+ + OH-

6. Evaporation The spent liquor is heated through a series of heat exchangers and subsequently cooled in a series of flash tanks. The condensate formed in the heaters is re-used in the process, for instance as boiler feed water or for washing bauxite residue. The remaining caustic soda is washed and recycled back into the digestion process.

7. Classification The gibbsite crystals formed in precipitation are classified into size ranges. This is normally done using cyclones or gravity classification tanks (a series of thickeners utilising the same principles as settlers / washers on the clarification stage). The coarse size crystals are destined for calcination after being separated from spent liquor utilising vacuum filtration, where the solids are washed with hot water.The fine crystals, after being washed to remove organic impurities, are returned to the precipitation stage as fine seed to be agglomerated.

8. Calcination-The filter cake is fed into calciners where they are roasted at temperatures of up to 1100C to drive off free moisture and chemically-connected water, producing alumina solids. There are different calcination technologies in use, including gas suspension calciners, fluidized bed calciners and rotary kilns.The following equation describes the calcination reaction: 2Al(OH)3 Al2O3 + 3H2O

Alumina, a white powder, is the product of this step and the final product of the Bayer Process, ready for shipment to aluminium smelters or the chemical industry.

Environmental Impacts

There are environmental impacts associated with each stage of aluminum production, from extraction to processing. The major environmental impact of refining and smelting is greenhouse gas emissions. These gases result from both the electrical consumption of smelters and the byproducts of processing. Air emissions and solid-phase wastes are the primary concerns in the aluminum processing industry. Air emissions depend largely on the quality of scrap used. Emissions can come from smelting, refining, and the furnace effluent gases. Gases can include combustion products, hydrogen chloride and metal chlorides, aluminum oxide metals and metal compounds. To reduce emissions regardless of the type of scrap used, aluminum fluoride can be substituted for chlorine to remove impurities from the molten metal. All systems are usualy connected to emissions control equipment, typically a baghouse for collecting fluorine and other gases. Solid-phase waste from secondary aluminum production is slag formed during smelting. The slag contains chlorides, fluxes and magnesium. The metallics may be separated and reused or sold. Liquid wastes include water that is added to the slag to help separate the different metals. The waste water may be contaminated with salt and fluxes, but can often be recovered and reused. Air emissions come from a number of sources. The grinding of the bauxite, calcinating the aluminum oxide, and handling materials produce particulates. Air emissions equipment is used extensively to capture these particulates. The particulates may be metal rich. If the metallic content is sufficient, the emissions control dust can be remelted to capture any remaining metals or it may be otherwise reused or sold for its metallic content. If the dust is not sufficiently metal rich, it usually landfilled. Another source of air emissions from primary aluminum production processes occurs during the reduction of aluminum oxide to aluminum metal. Hydrogen fluoride gases and particulates, fluorides, alumina, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide and volatile organics are produced. Electrolytic baths often use anode pastes in the cell. The paste must be continually fed into the cell through a steel sheet with an opening. This continual feed allows the gas to escape. One method for reducing gas emissions is the use of pre-baked anodes. Pre-baked anodes must be manufactured in an on-site plant. The pre-baked anodes allow the electrolytic bath to be sealed, allowing gas to be captured. The anodes are then replaced every 14-20 days, containing the gasses for collection. Anode baking furnaces produce fluorides, vaporized organics and sulfur dioxide emissions. The emissions are often controlled using wet scrubbers. Liquid waste is not a great concern in aluminum processing. Wastewater is produced during clarification and precipitation; however, much of the water is directly reused. Solid phase wastes include bauxite refining waste, called red mud, and reduction waste from spent pot liners. Red mud contains

iron, aluminum, silica, calcium and sodium, depending on the ore used. Usually red mud is managed on site and is not hazardous.