Bauxite Mining (Uidbauxiteatmine) : Chemistry

Rereviewed by Michael Overcash 10-5-08
Rereviewed by Michael Overcash 11-2-08

Rereviewed by Michael Overcash 11-3-08 Final
Rereviewed by Michael Overcash new information 11-13-09
Rereviewed by Michael Overcash 11-13-09 Final
Bauxite mining [UIDBauxiteAtMine]

CONTENTS OF FACTORY GATE TO FACTORY GATE
LIFE CYCLE INVENTORY SUMMARY
Chemistry ....................................................................................................................................................... 1
Process Summary ........................................................................................................................................... 2
Summary of LCI Information ........................................................................................................................11
Process Diagram or Boundary of LCI ...........................................................................................................14
Mass Balance of Chemicals in Each Process Stream ....................................................................................17
Graph of Cumulative Chemical Losses through Manufacturing Process ......................................................19
Graph of Cumulative Contaminated Water Use / Emission through Manufacturing Process .......................20
Graph of Cumulative Non-Contaminated Water Use / Emission through Manufacturing Process ...............21
Energy Input for each Unit Process, Cumulative Energy Requirements, Cooling Requirements (exotherms),
and Assumed Heat Recovery from Hot Streams Receiving Cooling ............................................................22
Graph of Cumulative Energy Requirements ..................................................................................................23
Authors M. Luhrs
Peer reviews, name (date) MRO (11-3-2008); MRO (11-13-2009)
Gtg report last modified on 9-25-2010
Additional notes
Checked for database consistency on 9-25-2010

First gtg version finalized on 11-13-2009
Modification history, Author (date) EMG (9-25-2010), MKL (11-13-2009), and MKL (11-3-2008)
Products bauxite, at mine

Standard inputs bauxite, in ground
Methodology: Environmental Clarity gtg lci reports are based on industrial practice information, standard
methods of engineering process design, and technical reviews. These reports are intended to be
representative of industrial production based on the stated route.
Terms of use: Environmental Clarity does not assume any liability due to use of these lci data. Integration
of these data with lci data based on other methodologies is the responsibility of the user. Each report may
be updated to improve model accuracy or representativeness.
Users of this report should cite: E. Griffing and M. Overcash, Chemical Life Cycle Database,
www.environmentalclarity.com, 1999 - present.
Chemistry
Primary reaction: No reactions. Mining.
updated on 9/25/2010 1
Griffing and Overcash, Chemical Life Cycle Database, www.environmentalclarity.com, 1999-present.
Process Summary
Literature
Materials that depend on Bauxite:
Aluminum is found in the earth as bauxite ore. The bauxite ore is sometimes sold as mined, and sometimes
beneficiated to produce bauxite concentrate. The bauxite can be further processed into calcined bauxite,
aluminum hydroxide (Al(OH)3), aluminum oxide (Al2O3) [this is often referred to as Alumina], and
aluminum chloride (AlCl3). Aluminum metal is produced by refining aluminum oxide using
electrochemical reactions.
Boundary defined:
This GTG LCI report includes all steps for mining the ore through beneficiation to obtain bauxite
concentrate in preparation for shipping.
Ore composition:
Bauxite ore is primarily composed of one or more of the common aluminum hydroxide minerals: gibbsite,
boehmite, and/or diaspore. These aluminum minerals are given in Table 1 with their chemical formulae,
which are hydrated forms of Alumina: Al2O3.
Table 1. Aluminum containing minerals found in bauxite.

Mineral Chemical formula Expressed as Al2O3 Percent Al2O3
Gibbsite Al(OH)3 - Al2O33 H2O 65
Boehmite AlO(OH) - Al2O3 H2O 85
Diaspore AlO(OH) - Al2O3 H2O 85
In the above table, each mineral (left column) is listed with its weight percent of alumina within the mineral
(right column).
One mole of Boehmite (for example), is equivalent to two moles of aluminum oxide hydroxide: AlO(OH).
1[Al2O3 H2O] 2[Al O H O ] 2[AlO2H] 2 [AlO(OH)]

1.5 .5
Weight percent Alumina

Table 2 expresses the weight percent alumina within the entire bauxite material found by region (Ullmans
2005). Included are the calculated average and median values.
Table 21.
Country/location * Al2O3 SiO2 Fe2O3 TiO2 Loss on total
Ignition
Australia Darling Range 37 26.5 16.4 1.1 19.3 100.3
Australia Weipa 58 4.5 6.9 2.5 26.8 98.7
Brazil Trombetas 52 5.1 13.9 1.2 28.1 100.3
France Southern Districts 57 4.6 22.6 2.9 15.1 102.2
Guyana Mackenzie 59 4.9 2.9 2.4 30.4 99.6
Guinea Friguia 49 6.1 14.2 1.6 28.1 99
Guinea Boke 56 1.5 7.9 3.7 30.1 99.2
Hungary Halimba 52 6.6 23.5 2.9 18.1 103.1
India Orissa 46 2.7 22.4 1.1 24.2 96.4
Indonesia Bintan 53.5 3.9 12.1 1.6 29.2 100.3
Jamaica Clarendon 47.8 2.6 17.6 2.3 27.3 97.6
Surinam Onverdacht 59 4.3 3.1 2.5 30.9 99.8
1
Ullmans Aluminum Oxides, 2005 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim, p.8.
Surinam Moengo 54 4.2 10.4 2.8 28.9 100.3
United States Arkansas 51 11.2 6.6 2.2 28.4 99.4
Former Soviet Union Severouralsk 54 6.2 14.8 2.4 15.7 93.1
Former Yogoslavia Mostar 52 3.9 21.2 2.7 16.2 96
total 837.3 98.8 216.5 35.9 396.8 1585.3
average 52.33125 6.175 13.53125 2.24375 24.8 99.08125
median 52.75 4.55 14.05 2.4 27.7 99.5
range 37-59
Table 2(a) below provides the Alumina wt% from the Third Bauxite Mining Report.
Table 2(a).2
Alumina content: %Al2O3
Total Alumina content 36-59

Extractable alumina content 31-59
Mean Extractable 43.4
Production weighted basis,
Average available alumina 41.4
This GTG assumes 47.8% alumina in the total ore material. We distribute the remaining components by
using the percentages breakdown of Jamaica Clarendon as shown in Table 2. We also assume the loss on
ignition to be water. The remaining 2.4% (since the total only comes to 97.6%) was assumed to be clay.
Bauxite ore also contains various mixtures of silica, iron oxide, titania, aluminosilicate, and other
impurities in minor or trace amounts. 3 4 Hawleys encyclopedia (14th edition) lists bauxite content as 30
75% Al2O3, 931% H2O, 325% Fe2O3, 29%, SiO2, 13% TiO2.
Details of operation:
The primary mining steps are: drilling, blasting, overburden stripping and removal, mining excavation and
truck loading, and transportation to the beneficiation facility. Each step is further detailed below.
Drilling:
Developmental drilling entails demarcation of the mining area by drilling cores and then defining the
position of the ore body. 5 Samples of the bauxite are collected from a series of holes drilled by an air-core
drilling rig to an average depth of 3.5 meters, 75 meters apart in a grid formation. The samples are analyzed
for the amount of alumina, silica, and iron oxide to delineate the extraction zones. 6
Blasting:
Blasting may be required to break up overburden prior to excavation and to loosen the ore mass as well. 7
Bulldozers, instead of blasting, are considered as a noise mitigation strategy. Wirtgen excavation machines
in Guinea demonstrated blast free removal: not only could [the Wirtgen surface mining machines]
achieve economical, blast-free and clean removal of bauxite but also, as in applications elsewhere, yield a
small particle size product, thus eliminating the primary crushing process required after conventional drill-
and-blast mining.8 We do not apply blasting in this GTG in lieu of utilizing the surface mining equipment
such as the Wirtgen surface mining excavator.
2
Third Bauxite Mining Rehabilitation report. Published by: International Aluminium Institute, New
Zealand House, Haymarket, London, SW1Y 4TE United Kingdom, p.11.
3
Ullmans, Aluminum Oxide, p. 7.
4
USGS, http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/commodity/bauxite/
5
KOMI, Aluminium, Environmental Assessment, Sosnogorsk, p.5.
6
Calmaco/Rio Tinto Fact sheet
7
KOMI, p. 5.
8
Surface Miners Dig in at Guinea Bauxite Mines, 58 E&MJ - OCTOBER 2005.
Overburden Removal:
Table 3 shows overburden thickness and is divided into open-cut versus underground mining (as reported
by the Third Bauxite Mining Report of 23 mines).
Table 3.
Overburden Thickness range of # mines
Thickness overburden material
(meters)
Open-cut mines (20) <1 8
1-1.5 6
6-10 4
>10 2
Median 2.1 subtotal: 20
Underground (3) 20-100 1
70-105 1
250-350 1
subtotal: 3
Total: 23
Overburden is loaded mechanically to overburden stockpiles. 9 Table 4 shows the diesel required for a
Wirtgen SM2200 surface mining machine, (although bulldozers may also be used to remove the
overburden). The topsoil is assumed to be a sandy clay (assumed to be a 50/50 mix of silica/kaolinite in
mass balance).
Table 4.
Overburden Diesel required conversion kg conversion MJ/1000kg
removal diesel bauxite
210 kg 0.30 liters* 0.85 kg diesel /l 0.26 45 MJ/kg diesel 11.48
Mining:
Actual mining is the mechanical excavation of the loosened ore and loading into trucks. Table 5 shows the
thickness of the ore deposit.
Table 5.
Ore Deposit Thickness of deposit # mines
Thickness (meters)
Average (22/23) 2-30 22

Median (22/23) 4.8 22
Remaining respondent (1) 5-30 1
Table 6 shows the diesel required for a Wirtgen SM2200 surface mining machine, for bauxite excavation.
Table 6.
Mining Diesel required conversion kg conversion MJ/1000kg
diesel bauxite
1000 kg 1.42 liters* 0.85 kg diesel /l 1.21 45 MJ/kg diesel 54.34
*see calculation
In this GTG we utilize the median values: For every 4.8 meters of bauxite ore (median Table 4), 2.1 meters
(median Table 3) of topsoil (overburden) must first be removed. (For every volume of bauxite, 0.4375
9
KOMI Aluminium, p.5-6.
volumes of topsoil is removed.) Thus, the total material removal is 1.4375 volumes per volume of bauxite.
The bulk density of bauxite is about 3.1 g/cm3, while soil (overburden) is about 1.4 g/cm3. Therefore the
mass ratio of over burden to bauxite is: (0.437.5 cm3 overburden/1 cm3 bauxite)*(1.4 g soil/ cm3)/(3.1 g
bauxite/ cm3) =0.197 g overburden/g bauxite, or 0.197 kg overburden/kg bauxite
According to the Department of Energy (U.S. Energy Requirements for the U.S. Aluminum Industry:
Historical Perspective, Theoretical Limits and New Opportunities), Roughly 5,900 kg of earth are mined
to produce the 5,100 kg of bauxite, which is refined into 1,930 kg of alumina.. Using the ratio 5900/5100
we have: x/1000= 5900/5100, x=1156.86 kg of earth to be mined. Using this value the overburden to
bauxite ratio is (5900-5100)/5100 = 0.157 kg overburden/kg bauxite. Appendix F provides a value of a rich
soil of 1,150 kg for 1000 kg Bauxite to support this ratio.
In this LCI we use 0.210 kg overburden/kg bauxite since this value is reflective of the ratio obtained from
an actual mining example discussed below.
Mining rate:
We use the Guinean mining rate in this GTG: 95,000 tons of bauxite and 20,000 tons of overburden mined
in a period of three months, or 900 operating hours respectively using a Wirtgen surface mining machine. 10
This calculates to a 0.210 kg overburden/kg bauxite ratio. The Wirtgen Surface Miner SM2200 uses 165 l/h
of diesel under 1/1 load.11 The 115,000 [overburden and mining] tons/900 op hrs mining rate, and the 165
l/h fuel consumption rate, are used to calculate the diesel requirements for overburden removal and bauxite
removal in Tables 4 & 6. A conveyor, included on the mining machine, sends the material directly into a
dump truck. This is preferred over windrowing (isolated piles) where the material would require handling a
second time with a front end loader.12 While the SM2200 surface mining machine has a 250 ton/hr
capability, we use a lower rate of 127.7 tons/hr (from the Guinean example). Using an even larger capacity
machine, the SM2500 machine, mining rate is 500 ton/hr (see picture captions on p. 152 of this
reference).13 A sample calculation is provided below:
Example calculation:
115000 tons earth excavated/900hrs = 127.7 tons/hr (example mining rate)
127.7 tons/hr*907.18 kg/ton = 115,917 kg/hr
115,917 kg/hr /60 min/hr = 1931.95 kg/min.
1931.57 kg/min /60 sec/min = 32.19 kg/sec
115,917kg/hr /165 l/hr = 702.5 kg excavated earth/liter diesel
1000 kg required /32.19 kg/sec = 31 seconds

165 liters diesel/hr (fuel consumption rate for SM2200 Wirtgen mining machine under full load)
165 l/hr/60 min/hr/60sec/min = 0.046 liters diesel/sec
0.046 liters diesel/sec * 31 seconds = 1.42 liters diesel/1000 kg earth removal
(For 210 kg of overburden required/32.19 kg removed/sec we have 6.52 seconds, and 0.046 liters diesel/sec
* 6.52 seconds = 0.30 liters diesel required to remove 210 kg overburden.)
The amount of material required:

According to the Department of Energy (U.S. Energy Requirements for the U.S. Aluminum Industry:
Historical Perspective, Theoretical Limits and New Opportunities), Roughly 5,900 kg of earth are mined
to produce the 5,100 kg of bauxite, which is refined into 1,930 kg of alumina. (This 1,930 goes on to
produce 1000 kg aluminum. Update 2007 states 5268 kg of bauxite is the input for production of alumina
10
http://www.wirtgen.de/media/redaktion/pdf-
dokumente/05_surface_miner/2200sm/datenblatt/d2200sme.pdf
11
Technical Specifications, Surface Miner SM 4200, (Wirtgen GmbH, pamphlet, p.4)
12
Surface Mining Manual, Wirtgen, 2008, p. 132.
13
Surface Mining Manual, Wirtgen, 2008, p. 152.
(aluminum oxide)14. This suggests the quality of bauxite has decreased. We use the median values as
provided in Tables 3 & 5.
Transport to central blending yard:

Transport is the movement of the ore from the mine pit to central blending yards.15
Energy for 1 dump truck is 1220 btu/ton, (a value taken from Energy and Environmental Profile of the
U.S. Mining Industry p. 9-9). Table 7 shown below is for 2 trucks to permit the surface mining machine to
operate continuously.
Table 7.
Rear-dump truck Btu/ton For 2 trucks conversion MJ/1000kg bauxite
(2) 1,220 2440 btu 1btu=1.05506 kJ 2.57 MJ
Crushing/grinding:
Crushing/grinding may occur at the beneficiation facility or refinery. Blending entails separation and
crushing of oversize bauxite, and sorting to different blend grades. An example of a crushing sequence
follows: In the first step the ore is moved to a primary screen with two levels and are divided into three
parts: (i) <20mm (ii) between 20mm and 10 cm and (iii) >10 cm. The ore with the size >10 cm goes to the
primary crushing subsystem, which consists of two jaw crushers. The output of this phase plus part (ii)
(between 20mm to 10 cm) are divided into two parts: (a) <20mm and (b) >20mm by a secondary screen. In
this stage, the size >20mm is moved to the secondary crusher (cone crusher), which works in closed circuit
with the secondary screen. The ore with size <20mm goes to the end of process, which is out of both the
primary and secondary screens.16
The Wirtgen surface mining manual p. 152 supports using the Wirtgen machine for its grinding and
crushing capability and so crushing and grinding is not applied further in this GTG.
Beneficiation:
Beneficiation may include wet and/or dry processing to improve ore properties. Table 8 shows the
distribution of beneficiation (Third Bauxite Mining Report). During beneficiation the material may be
screened and washed to remove soluble materials.
Table 8.
Beneficiation (Ore treatment) % of ore production
Washing enrichment only 18.9
Washing and drying 3.1
Drying only 11.3
Washed and calcined 0.3
Calcined only 0.1
Unbeneficiated 66.3
Calcined bauxite is made by roasting bauxite ore in a large kiln between 900C and 1200C for 50 - 60
minutes. Calcined bauxite is exported to customers in Europe and North America and is used as an
industrial abrasive.17
The mining report also provides that 3 sites wash their ore (of 23 respondents) these 3 sites account for
22.3% of total ore production of the respondents, with 14.4% of ore dried, 0.4% calcined, as seen in Table
8. A majority amount of ore is unbeneficiated. We do not beneficiate the bauxite in this GTG.
Bauxite loading:
Bauxite is loaded via conveyor belt into rail cars for transport to shipping.
14
IAI, 2007, p.19.
15
KOMI Aluminium, p. 6 & 7.
16
J. Barabady, U. Kumar / Reliability Engineering and System Safety 93 (2008) 647653, p. 649.
17
Fact sheet, 2005 Comalco.
Transport to shipping:
Transport distances to alumina refinery stockpiles or to shipping points range from less than 10 to more
than 320 km (Table 9).
Table 9.
Transport to shipping* Distance, range (km) # Mines with this Energy MJ/1000 kg
2004 distance bauxite
<50 12
51-100 3
2-120 1
100-200 3
200+ 4
Total: 23
1998 198 max
10-30 most 16.66 MJ**
1991 51 max
<10 most
*Third Bauxite Report, 2004
** Calculated energy value. We are using the 10-30 km range from 1998. For conversion to a value of
energy we stipulate an energy amount of 440 MJ per 330 miles of transport. Choosing a 20 km average
distance in this range we have: 440 MJ/330 miles * 20km*1mile/1.6km = 16.66 MJ
The figure 440MJ/330 was obtained from collected 2002 commerce data with an approximate breakdown
of 30% truck, 55% rail, 14.5% water. 18
18
Transportation_by_Mode.xls
The mining energy from a variety of LCI data sources is provided in Table 10 below:
Table 10. Factual mining energy values from the LCI literature for comparison purposes
Ref. Source Energy,
MJ/1000 Energy breakdown Notes
kg
bauxite
1. Choate and Green 228 * units Btu/1000 MJ/1000 Based on
(2003) kg kg data from a
US Energy Report19 bauxite bauxite 1998 report:
Life Cycle
Inventory
fuel oil medium 1.160 50,321 53.09* Report for
(kg) the North
Diesel(l) 4.370 155,865 164.45* American
Aluminum
Gasoline(l) 0.274 8,970 9.46*
Association
Electric (kWh) 0.4 1,365 1.44*
216,521* 228.44*
2. Third Bauxite Range: % From 16
Mining 13-231 fuel oil 21.6 survey
Rehabilitation natural gas 1.8 responses of
Report20 Mean: coal 5.7 23 mining
102 hydro 1.1 operations.
diesel 64.1
Median: gasoline 3.7
78 explosives 0.6
other 1.4
3. Rio Tinto (2006)21 170 Report on Rio Tinto operations at their Weipa, Australia facility. No
detailed energy breakdown is provided.
4. International 36.9- mi max Conver MJ MJ
Aluminum Institute 310.5* n -sion min max
(2007)22 Heavy 0.0 0.9 45 2.7* 40.5* Based on 10
oil(kg) 6 mines
Diesel(kg) 0.5 5.5 45 22.5* 247.5* representing
natural 0.0 0.03 54 1.62* 1.62* 48% of
gas(m3) 3 world
Electricity 2.8 5.8 3.6 10.08 20.88* production
(kWh) *
36.9* 310.5*
*the values with asterisk are calculated
The following is provided as a review of Table 10.

Reference 1:
The US Energy Report provides a 0.32 kWhr adjusted for tacit energy based on aluminum. The 217 btu/kg
bauxite value from Appendix F is unadjusted. Tacit energy added to the aluminum based value need not
apply to this bauxite mining GTG since the energy is relatively small compared to aluminum. Adding the
values in the breakdown, we get 216,521 Btu/1000 kg bauxite computes to ca. 228 MJ/kg when converted
to MJ/kg as illustrated in the table. The soil is described as a rich soil of 1,150 kg for 1000 kg Bauxite in
Appendix F. Appendix F also shows that 2,640 kg of Bauxite is then required for 1,000 kg Alumina.
19
Choate and Green (2003), The U.S. Energy Requirements for the U.S. Aluminum Industry: Historical
Perspective, Table F.
20
IAI, Third Bauxite Mining Rehabilitation Survey, 2004, p. 12.
21
2006 Weipa Sustainable Development Report, pp 6-7.
22
IAI year2005 Life Cycle Survey Update, Bernard de Glas, Table 1s, p. 30.
Approximately 5.1 kilograms of bauxite are required to produce a kilogram of aluminum. The energy
requirement per kilogram of mined bauxite is 0.06 kWh for typical extraction.23 (217Btu/kg=0.06kWh/kg)
Reference 2:
The International Aluminum Institute, Third Bauxite Mining Rehabilitation Survey (2004) collected data
from 70% of the total 141 million tonne bauxite mining production (United States Geological
Survey 2002). They provide Estimates of the average energy required to mine and transport bauxite from
the 16 operating mines that reported a figure, give a mean value of 102 MJ per dry tonne of bauxite mined
(range 13-231 MJ per tonne and median 78 MJ per tonne). Diesel fuel and fuel oil provide the bulk of the
energy used to mine and transport bauxite, [see Figure 2 of this reference]. 24 Figure 2 of the survey report
provides the energy breakdown in percentage amounts and are provided in Table 10.
Alumina ranges from 36-59% and extractable or available alumina content ranges from 31- 59% (mean
43.4%). On a production-weighted basis, the average available alumina content is 41.4%.25 (Table 2a).
Reference 3:
2006 Weipa Sustainable Development Report does not provide the data used to arrive at the 170 MJ/tonne
value.
Reference 4:
The Aluminum 2007 update report provided maximum and minimum energy values per tonne bauxite (see
page 30 table 1s). These were converted to MJ and resulted in a wide range.
Combining these four references the average value is about 170 MJ/1000 kg bauxite, while the mine data
(reference 2) for 70% of the world production is a median of 78 MJ/1000 kg bauxite.
BUWAL & Van den Bergh en Jurgens.
Table 11 is from the S. Kim Mining report which includes other ores. Only the columns pertaining to
Bauxite are shown below. The 2 sources are Buwal and Van den Bergh en Jurgens. These values are not
transparent and so it is unclear if transport to the plant or refinery is included and if so how much is that
energy.
Table 11.26
ore Bauxite Bauxite
Data source BUWAL Van den Bergh en Jurgens.
Energy [MJ/kg ore] Energy [MJ/kg ore]
Electricity 7.20E-03
Diesel
natural gas
Light oil
Heavy oil 5.30E-01 5.64E-01
Coal
Thermal Energy 5.30E-01 5.64E-01
Total (E+Th) 5.37E-01 5.64E-01
Input [kg/kg ore] Input [kg/kg ore]
ore 1.00E+00
Water 1.30E-01
Emission [g/kg ore] Emission [g/kg ore]
Dust 5.00E+00 3.20E+00
SO2 1.20E-01
Solid waste
23
Choate, p. 18.
24
Third Bauxite Mining Rehabilitation Survey 2004, p. 12.
25
Ibid. p.9.
26
GTG Folder Mining, Evan 2005, subfolder, Mining data May 2006, file: SeungdoKimMining.xls
LCI design and GTG energy value:
This GTG includes overburden removal, ore removal with Wirtgen mining machine, transport to stockpiles,
and then to a shipping port. The design basis is 1000 kg of bauxite (47.8% Al2O3). This requires removal
of 210 kg of overburden and 1000 kg of bauxite ore. Beneficiation is not included. The product is crushed,
but not ground.
The calculated energy consumption for this GTG is 11.48 MJ (overburden removal) + 54.34 MJ (bauxite
removal and crushing by Wirtgen machine) + 2.57 MJ (Transport to stockpiles) + 16.66 MJ (transport to
shipping) = 85 MJ /1000 kg Bauxite. The conveyors added an additional 0.0084 MJ as seen in the LCI
summary. Grouping the mining processes, we have about 85 MJ/1000 kg bauxite for mining and
preparation. The 85 MJ/1000 kg bauxite for mining and preparation is consistent with the LCI literature
values in Table 10 and resulting discussion
Critical parameters
Product purity
Bauxite Alumina content Comments
Used here 100% 47.8% 47.8% alumina
Ullmann's 47.8% Jamaican Clarendon ore
updated on 9/25/2010 10
Summary of LCI Information
Inputs
Input Input
Input UID Input Name Units Comments
Flow purity
0.0240 kaolin 0.273 water
bauxite, in 0.0260 silica 0.0230 rutile
UIDBauxiteInGround 1000 [kg/hr]
ground 0.176 iron III oxide 0.478
aluminum oxide
Total 1000 [kg/hr]
Non-reacting inputs
UID Name Flow Purity Units Comments
bauxite
UIDBauxOverburden 210 [kg/hr]
overburden
Total 210 [kg/hr]
Ancillary inputs
No ancillary inputs
Products
Product Product
Product UID Purity Units Comments
Name Flow
bauxite, at
UIDBauxiteAtMine 1000 [kg/hr] 47.8 percent aluminum
mine
Total 1000 [kg/hr]
Benign Outflows
bauxite component of topsoil, will
UIDBauxOverburden 210 [kg/hr]
overburden recycle
Total 210 [kg/hr]
updated on 9/25/2010 11
Chemical Emissions
Emission Emission Gas Liquid Solid Solvent
Units Comments
UID Name Flow Flow Flow Flow
Totals 0 0 0 0 [kg/hr]
Mass Balance
Total inputs 1210
Total outflows 1210
Net input 0
Energy use
Energy type Amount Comments
electricity 8.40e-3 [MJ/hr]
diesel (process) 85.1 [MJ/hr]
Net of energies
Net input requirement 85.1 [MJ/hr]
input to system
Net input
Net energy 85.1 [MJ/hr] requirement -
potential recovery
updated on 9/25/2010 12
Inputs
Process Diagram Interpretation Sheet
1) As much as possible, standard symbols are used for all unit processes.
2) Only overall input and output chemicals are labeled on these diagrams. All intermediate information is
given on the attached Process Mass Balance sheet
3) The physical state of most streams is shown (gas, g; liquid, l; solid, s)
4) The process numbering is as follows,
generally numbers progress from the start to the end of the process
numbers are used for process streams
C i , i = 1,..n are used for all cooling non-contact streams
S j, j = 1,...n are used for all steam heating non-contact streams
5) Recycle streams are shown with dotted lines
For most streams, the temperature and pressure are shown, if the pressures are greater than 1 atm
updated on 9/25/2010 13
Process Diagram or Boundary of LCI
Steam enters the process as a gas at 207 oC and leaves as a liquid at 207 oC. Cooling water enters at 20 oC and leaves at 50 oC.
Unless otherwise indicated, all processes are at 1 atm and 25oC.
Samples Drilling Bauxite excavation and crushing with Wirtgen 1 Trucking to CBY 1
3 (s)
478 kg Aluminum oxide
273 kg Water
176 kg Iron (III) oxide
26.0 kg Silica
Topsoil (overburden)
24.0 kg kaolin (dihydrate)
can be removed
0.52 m2 of land 23.0 kg Rutile
by bulldozer
cleared/1000kg 25.0 oC
or surface mining equipment 4 (s)
Bauxite
25.0 oC
1.0 atm
2 (s)
Overburden removal 1
Overburden
1 (s) 105 kg kaolin (dihydrate)
105 kg kaolin (dihydrate) Topsoil 105 kg Silica
105 kg Silica recycle 25.0 oC
25.0 oC
Topsoil storage area
Fugitive Losses (Total) (g)

0 kg/hr
updated on 9/25/2010 14
Transport to shipping or
Optional beneficiation
6 (s)
25.0 oC
4 (s) 5 (s) 1.0 atm
A 25.0 oC 25.0 oC
1.0 atm 1.0 atm
Cnv 1
7 (s)
25.0 oC
1.0 atm
Central Blending Yard

Beneficiation Plant
(OPTIONAL) 11 (l) Mx 2
P1
10 (l)
512 kg Water
12 (l) 25.0 oC
57% recycle H2O
screening
8 (s) washing
Mx 1 15 (l)
0 kg/hr
25.0 oC 16a (s,l)
14 (s,l)
512 kg Water
9 (s) 13 (s,l) 25.0 oC
Cnv 3
Dry 1 Filter 1
16 (s) C
25.0 oC
1.0 atm
updated on 9/25/2010 15
C 19 (s)
1000 kg bauxite, composed of
16 (s) 478 kg Aluminum oxide
25.0 oC 273 kg Water (mostly bound to Al2O3)
1.0 atm 176 kg Iron (III) oxide
26.0 kg Silica
18 (s) 24.0 kg kaolin (dihydrate)
17 (s) 23.0 kg Rutile
25.0 oC
25.0 oC 25.0 oC
1.0 atm
1.0 atm
Stock piles before shipping

Cnv 2
updated on 9/25/2010 16
Mass Balance of Chemicals in Each Process Stream
All flow rates are given in kg / hr Gas
Physical state of chemical losses: Liquid
Solid
kaolin (dihydrate)
Aluminum oxide
Iron (III) oxide
Comments
Total Flow
Temp [C]
Streams
Steam
Phase
Water
Water
Rutile
Silica
Input topsoil 1 25.0 P 1.00 s 210 105 105
Waste topsoil 2 25.0 1.00 s -210 0 -105 -105 0 0 0 0 0
recycle
Input bauxite 3 25.0 1.00 s 1000 273 24.0 26.0 23.0 176 478
excavation
trucking to 4 25.0 1.00 s 1000 273 24.0 26.0 23.0 176 478
blending
yard
5 25.0 1.00 s 1000 273 24.0 26.0 23.0 176 478
conveyor 6 25.0 1.00 s 1000 273 24.0 26.0 23.0 176 478
to rail
rail 7 25.0 1.00 s 1000 273 24.0 26.0 23.0 176 478
transport
16 25.0 1.00 s 1000 273 24.0 26.0 23.0 176 478
17 25.0 1.00 s 1000 273 24.0 26.0 23.0 176 478
18 25.0 1.00 s 1000 273 24.0 26.0 23.0 176 478
Main arrival at 19 25.0 1.00 s -1000 -273 -24.0 -26.0 -23.0 -176 -478 0 0
product port
alumina Product purity 47.8
content (%)
Main product
Overall Rxn
coefficients
Total yield of process
(from reactant)
Waste Fugitive g 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Losses (Total)
17 ML October 20, 2008
kaolin (dihydrate)
Aluminum oxide
Iron (III) oxide
Comments
Total Flow
Temp [C]
Streams
Steam
Phase
Water
Water
Rutile
Silica
P
Input Sum 1210 273 129 131 23.0 176 478
Fugitive Replacement 0
of Reactants
Total Input (Input + Fugitive 1210 273 129 131 23.0 176 478
Replacement)
Product Sum 1000 273 24.0 26.0 23.0 176 478
Main product 1000 273 24.0 26.0 23.0 176 478
flow
Net Input (in - out, 0
omitting fugitives)

Graph of Cumulative Chemical Losses through Manufacturing Process
Cumulative Chemical Loss
250
200
kg chemical loss / hr
150
100
50
0
1
16
17
18
19
Fug. loss
Process Stream

Graph of Cumulative Contaminated Water Use / Emission through Manufacturing Process
Cumulative Contaminated Water Use
1
kg contaminated water / hr
16
17
18
19
1
Process Stream

Graph of Cumulative Non-Contaminated Water Use / Emission through Manufacturing Process
Cumulative Non-Contamintated Water Use
1
kg non-contaminated water / hr
0
Process Stream

Energy Input for each Unit Process, Cumulative Energy Requirements, Cooling Requirements (exotherms),
and Assumed Heat Recovery from Hot Streams Receiving Cooling
Energy Input [MJ / hr] Cooling Requirements [MJ / hr]
Diagram Label
recovered [MJ
diagram label
[MJ / 1000 kg
cooling water
Energy Type
Energy input
Energy Loss
energy type)
energy [MJ /
Cumulative
Cumulative
Cumulative
Recovered
Tef [C] (for
efficiency)
determine
Efficiency
Recovery
/ 1000 kg
recovery
(Used to
Product]
Product]
Product]
Process
Process
1000 kg
Energy
energy
To [C]
Unit
Unit
topsoil topsoil 11.5 11.5 0 Ds
removal removal
bauxite bauxite 54.3 65.8 0 Ds
removal removal and
crushing
(Wirtgen)
trucking trucking to 2.57 68.4 0 Ds
to CBY CBY
Cnv1 Conveyer 1 4.20E-03 68.4 E
rail to rail to 16.7 85.1 0 Ds
shipping shipping
Cnv2 Conveyer 2 4.20E-03 85.1 E
Potential 0 85.1
recovery
Net energy 85.1 Potential recovery: 0
Electricity 8.40E-03 E [MJ/hr]

DowTherm 0 D [MJ/hr]
Heating 0 S [MJ/hr]
steam
Direct fuel 0 F [MJ/hr]
use
Heating 0 G [MJ/hr]
natural gas
Diesel 85.1 Ds [MJ/hr]
Energy input 8.51E+01 [MJ/hr]
requirement
Cooling water 0 [MJ/hr]
Cooling [MJ/hr]
refrigeration
Potential heat 0 [MJ/hr]
recovery
Net energy 85.1 MJ/hr
Graph of Cumulative Energy Requirements
Cumulative Energy Input
90
80
70
60
50
MJ / hr
40
30
20
10
Potential recovery
bauxite removal
trucking to CBY
rail to shipping
topsoil removal
Conveyer 1
Conveyer 2
Start
Process Unit

Bauxite Mining (Uidbauxiteatmine) : Chemistry

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Bauxite Mining (Uidbauxiteatmine) : Chemistry

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Rereviewed by Michael Overcash 10-5-08

Rereviewed by Michael Overcash 11-2-08

Bauxite mining [UIDBauxiteAtMine]

Checked for database consistency on 9-25-2010

Products bauxite, at mine

Table 1. Aluminum containing minerals found in bauxite.

1[Al2O3 H2O] 2[Al O H O ] 2[AlO2H] 2 [AlO(OH)]

Weight percent Alumina

Total Alumina content 36-59

Average (22/23) 2-30 22

115,917kg/hr /165 l/hr = 702.5 kg excavated earth/liter diesel

1000 kg required /32.19 kg/sec = 31 seconds

The amount of material required:

Transport to central blending yard:

The following is provided as a review of Table 10.

BUWAL & Van den Bergh en Jurgens.

Topsoil storage area

Fugitive Losses (Total) (g)

Central Blending Yard

57% recycle H2O

Stock piles before shipping

18 ML October 20, 2008

Cumulative Chemical Loss

19 ML October 20, 2008

Cumulative Contaminated Water Use

20 ML October 20, 2008

Cumulative Non-Contamintated Water Use

21 ML October 20, 2008

Electricity 8.40E-03 E [MJ/hr]

Cumulative Energy Input

23 ML October 20, 2008

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